Jerry Holsclaw Sr. is enjoying himself at a grandsons' wedding, a happy occasion.
If a person was born on Jan. 17, 1918, what are several educated guesses you could make about him or her?
OK, I’ll start the ball rolling. Jerry was 11 years and nine months old when the New York Stock Exchange collapsed on Black Thursday, Oct. 24, 1929. Five days later on Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, stocks experienced their greatest crash, 25% in one day! As soon as traders heard about utility stocks falling, margin buyers had no choice but to sell their stock and experience deep losses which created panic selling of all stocks.
Those were challenging financial times during the 13 years of the Great Depression. How challenging you ask? Every World War II veteran I interviewed told me, “When I enlisted in the service, my family had it a little easier because there was one less mouth to feed.”
Gerald Reed Holsclaw, Sr., enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940 for pilot training. There was one less mouth to feed in the Holsclaw household. Jerry learned to fly and was involved in a number of missions during his 30 years in the USAF, OSS and CIA that if he told you about any of his missions, he’d have to kill you.
During Jerry’s career in the USAF, he held a number of responsible positions. Some of the highlights were “Chief of Special Projects” at Randolph Field, Texas. He was responsible for establishing the instrument training program at the AAFB in Lubbock, Texas. In another program, he was responsible for the B-29 transition program at the AAFB in Randolph, Texas.
Jerry’s next assignment was B-32 transition training at Tarrant AAFB in Fort Worth. The B-32 Dominator was designed and built by Consolidated who designed and built the B-24. Some of the Dominators had a single tail and some had a dual tail like the B-24 heavy bomber and the medium bomber, the B-25 “Mitchell.” The reason why you never heard of the B-32 is because it had “old technology.” New technology was the B-29. It was pressurized like today’s passenger planes. The plane had the technology for one gunner to operate two 50-caliber gun pods. B-29s were used to bomb Japan especially the firebombing which destroyed a fourth of Tokyo on Feb. 25, 1945.
After World War II, Col. Holsclaw was discharged from the USAAF, he was hired as a pilot for Pan American Airways flying across the Caribbean and South American routes. After a short period of time the Air Force had a new assignment for Jerry. He re-enlisted to learn Chinese at USC. For six months he was completely immersed in Chinese and became fluent in Chinese.
Next, he was flown to China with a wire recorder, old technology before magnetic tape recorders. For two months Jerry was an American adviser to Generalissimo Chiang kai shek. Chiang’s closest adviser was Soong Mei-ling, his Wellesley College graduate Chinese wife. She was fluent in Chinese and English.
In the Chinese language the best compliment to a Chinese mother is to refer to her as a “Tiger Mom.” This is a mother who speaks once and her children do it. A Tiger Mom has strict discipline and expectations. Soong Mei-ling was the best example of a “Tiger Mom and Diplomat.”
Generalissimo Chiang kai shek and his Nationalist government evacuated the Chinese mainland to Taiwan on Dec. 7, 1949. They created a new Chinese government and economy. With well-placed capital investments Taiwan’s and South Korea’s economies are doing well today.
Shortly after the North Koreans invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, Jerry became the executive officer, second in command, of the 8th Fighter Bomber Group in Korea. Although the U.S. Congress did not officially declare war on North Korea, the conflict was referred to as a “Police Action” — 36,574 Americans GIs lost their lives over three years, that’s more than a “Police Action.”
During Jerry’s 30-year U.S. Air Force career one of the decorations he received was the Bronze Star. One of the World War II veterans I know with a great sense of humor after he received his Bronze Star said, “Now I can write the letters BS after my name!” Holsclaw was awarded the Korean Service Medal with three battle stars, the National Defense Medal and the Joint Services Commendation Medal from the DOD, Department of Defense.
Jerry’s final request was in lieu of flowers to please make a generous donation to the EAA, Experimental Aircraft Association. “The Young Eagle Program is designed to give children 8-17-year-old an opportunity to experience flight in a general aviation airplane while educating them about aviation at no cost to the children.”
Aug. 25, 2022 will be the 10th anniversary of Jerry’s passing. If you’d like to do something positive to honor Jerry, get your checkbook and write a generous check to the “EAA Scholarship Program for Young Flyers.” Address the envelope to: EAA Attn: General Scholarship Fund, PO Box 3086 Oshkosh, WI 54903. In the lower left side of your check after the word “For” please write “Gerald R. Holsclaw, Sr.” Honor a vet and give a youth the opportunity to experience flight and change their future.
Your donation may return to you when you meet the pilot of your commercial flight as you’re deplaning and he or she says to you, “I learned to fly because of generous Americans who donated to EAA’s Program for Young Flyers. Learning to fly gave me more opportunities in life.”
