subject: Pilot Flew During Two Wars [print this page] A native of Lima, Ohio, Richard TA native of Lima, Ohio, Richard T. Spencer enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and spent the last six months of World War II in training. It was not until the Korean War that he served overseas after transferring to the Marine Corps to become a jet fighter pilot. Spencer flew 101 missions in Korea in the early 1950s, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, and also completed a seven-month tour of Vietnam in 1966. Now 86, Spencer, who retired with the rank of major, lives in Nokomis with his wife of 25 years, Elizabeth.
'In Korea, I flew 101 missions with VMF-311 in 1952 and 1953. I flew with Ted Williams, and we attacked Pork Chop Hill. I led the flight and I briefed the whole flight, including Ted, that behind Pork Chop Hill was a bunch of anti-aircraft artillery. I said, 'As soon as you make a run, pull up and break hard left immediately, because otherwise they'll pepper you right out of the sky.'
So I went down, made my run, marked the target, pulled back up and came down on my second run, and Ted was right behind me. He came down and made his run, but he flew straight ahead. I looked back and the AA was breaking up right behind him, just catching up with him.
I radioed down, 'Ted, break left now.' He did, and the AA went right by where he was. Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters in baseball. I didn't want to be the leader of the flight that shot down Ted Williams; they would lynch me. So, I got him out of that.
Another time, my flight leader, Capt. Ed Seamus, took a hit, shattering his left arm.
I was his wingman at the time. I saw him taking off for North Korea and I just started chasing him. I said to him, 'We don't want to go that way. South is home. North is not good.'
So, I finally caught him and he was in shock, just out of it and didn't know where he was.
