Lieutenant Thomas L. "Bud" Truax:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=43112579

A cross country exercise, led by Major Hughes, became a disaster for the new Group. 25 aircraft left Bradley Field for Washington, with 7 stops on the way. Many incidents quickly took place. The first right after first leaving, with gear trouble, Capt. Pete McGoldrick belly landing, and then joining up quickly in another ship. Their cargo ship, a C-47 loaded with mechanics, tools etc., was grounded with engine squawks. Other P-40's put down with mechanical troubles. In overcast weather, over the Sierra Mountains, near Fresno, Lt. Mears and 4 ships landed at Sacramento. One landed nearby, another bailed out over the Mountains, later rescued, and two others who bailed out spent a week in a cabin before being found. Lt. Birrell and Lt. Long were killed crashing into mountains.

Major Hughes and the rest landed south of Reno. On their return trip to Bradley, Lieutenants Thomas Truax, Russell Speckman, and Walter Radovich, near San Anselmo, California were descending thru clouds. Truax and Speckman crashed and were killed. Radovich bailed out and survived. Of the 25 planes and pilots, 4 were killed, 8 planes destroyed, and 8 returned to Bradley as scheduled.

Major Hughes was relieved of his command as a result of this mission.

More on this episode, and the early days of the 57th Fighter Group can be found in "Bradley Field, the first 25 years." The New England Air Museum Windsor Locks, CT Thomas C. Palshaw, First printing Nov 1998.

ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE ----- Capital Times Newspaper (Madison, WI) November 3, 1941 ------

Plane rams mountain at 400 MPH, ship Is demolished In accident near San Francisco

A 24-YEAR-OLD Madison youth, who escaped death a week ago during a U. S. Army Air Corps flight in California, died Sunday night when his plane crashed at 400 miles per hour into a mountain-side near San Francisco.

He was Lieut. Thomas L. "Bud" Truax, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Truax, 3813 Council Crest, Nakoma. Lieut. Truax and Lieut. R. E. Speckman rode to their deaths in separate planes against the side of Bald Hill on the outskirts of San Anselmo, Calif. near Hamilton Field. Both planes caught fire and were demolished as they struck the mountain barely 20 feet apart, according to The Associated Press. The bodies of the fliers were severely burned. Only a week ago Lieut. Truax escaped death when he led a group of six fast P-40 planes out of a California fog to Smith Valley, Nev., after weather conditions forced a flight of 19 planes to break formation over central California and seek individual safety.

Ten days ago Lieut. Truax left his wife, the former Iona Evelyn Zink of Madison at their home in Long Island, N. Y., to start west for maneuvers on the Pacific coast. With the other army fliers in the squadron, he crossed the country diagonally from Buffalo and Detroit to Memphis, Dallas and the southwestern army fields to reach southern California.

The fliers were headed north to Hamilton field when they ran into fog so thick that the flight commander feared possible collisions in the air. He ordered the planes to scatter and for a few hours nothing was heard from six of the planes. Then Lieut. Truax reported them safe at: Smith Valley, Nev.

On Saturday, a week ago, they rejoined the other planes and headed north for Tacoma, Wash., the scene of the 3-day maneuvers. Sunday they were in route south again to California when the crashes occurred that killed Lieutenants Truax and Speckman.

Bud Truax was an outstanding athlete at Wisconsin high school here in 1935 and 36, he played for Coach Russell Rippe, who is now freshman football coach at the university.

He attended the university but was too light for intercollegiate athletics. He was graduated in 1939 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, having been a member of Chi Psi fraternity. During the early months of his senior year he had taken the physical examinations of both the Army and Navy and passed both. He chose to enter the Army Air Corp.

In August, 1939, he entered primary training school at St. Louis, Mo., and after nine weeks went to Randolph field at San Antonio, Tex. He took his final flying training at Brooksfield, near the same city and was named a First Lieutenant last May. He married Miss Zink here May 27, 1940, and the couple lived at army posts in Virginia and Florida before going to Long Island. They visited here during the past summer.

Surviving Lieut. Truax are his father, a technician at the Forest Products Laboratory, his mother Lena T. Truax, a sister, Mary Eleanor, and two brothers, Donald Truax, and employee of the Madison Newspapers and Paul Truax.

Associated Press Article and Lt Truax's Grave Memorial link courtesy of:

Georgia Zink
Decendent of Iona Evelyn Zink Truax Nelson, Bud's wife.

L to R: Thomas W. Clark, Jack C. West, Russell E. Speckman, Glade S. Bilby, Robert A. Barnum, Wynn D. Miller, Earl B. Young, Clayton B. Hughes, Peter G. McGoldrick, Frank H. Mears, Gordon F. Thomas, Thomas L. Truax, Weldon E. Veteto. Hartford Public Library, Hartford Collection.