January 20, 2009

Jack Rhodes of Washington (left) was the guest speaker at the regular meeting of the Washington Kiwanis Club on Tuesday, January 20. Rhodes gave an informative and interesting program about his World War II experiences - especially his Republic P47 Thunderbolt combat missions. Rhodes, who was 20 at the time, detailed his third combat mission of February 21, 1945, where his plane was hit by ground fire after a dive bombing run. He was jumped by a Messerschmitt 109 and his engine blew up while he tried to gain altitude. (The average number of missions for a fighter before being shot down was three. His new plane had only 10 hours of use.) He bailed out near the village of Stein, Germany, was taken prisoner and put in the local jail. He became a POW at Nuremburg, then Moosberg, Germany, and was liberated by General Patton on April 28, 1945. Debbie Jackson was the program host for the day.