Look Back: Forty Fort native awarded Distinguished Flying Cross

Mar. 3—It is common at any high school graduation to begin announcing students in order of the alphabet, starting with last names that begin with A and ending in Z.

James L. Youngblood, who grew up on Rutter Avenue, Forty Fort, was the last to be called among 74 graduates of the Class of 1944 from Forty Fort High School but most likely became the most successful who saved countless American lives during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Prior to graduating, Youngblood, at 17, enlisted in the U.S. Army in January 1944, and entered active military service as a private in March 1945.

At the end of World War II, Youngblood was discharged in November 1945, from Lowry U.S. Army Air Force Air Base in Denver, Colo.

Perhaps experiencing and seeing air crafts, Youngblood reenlisted in February 1946, and received an officer's commission as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in June 1948 at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. From the same base where he was discharged in 1945, Youngblood received aerial photography training at Lowry Air Force Base before being transferred to Japan at the outbreak of the Korean War.

"Lt. James L. Youngblood wins Flying Cross for Korean duty," read the headline in the Wilkes-Barre Record on March 10, 1952.

The story described Youngblood's heroics during a reconnaissance mission in May 1951.

"First Lieutenant James L. Youngblood distinguished himself by extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as pilot of an unarmed T-6 type aircraft on 28 May 1951. While on a tactical reconnaissance and air control mission in the vicinity of Inje, Korea, Lieutenant Youngblood observed approximately 3,000 enemy troops retreating from a United Nations counteroffensive," the Wilkes-Barre Record story reported.

The T-6 aircraft were commonly called Mosquitoes.

"In low ceiling and rain showers, Lieutenant Youngblood requested fighters and remained over the enemy positions. His plan was hit with small arms fire and automatic weapons, damaging one cylinder in the engine and breaking the Plexiglas's enclosure. Upon arrival of the fighter type aircraft Lieutenant Youngblood directed their let down through the overcast and around the high terrain, then made several low passes with his damaged aircraft pointing out the targets," the Record story reported.

Youngblood was presented with the Distinguished Flying Cross award during a ceremony at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., in March 1952. It was also at the South Carolina base where he married Horty Kohlenbrender on Sept. 30, 1952.

The couple met on a blind date two years earlier in San Antonio, Texas.

Youngblood completed more than 100 aerial reconnaissance missions while serving in the Korean War and the Vietnam War during his 24 year career with the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

Youngblood and his wife settled in San Antonio, Texas, not far from where they had their first date at a miniature golf course in 1950. He died Sept. 23, 2018, and was buried with full military honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.