This Military Service Page was created/owned by
A3C Michael S. Bell (Unit Historian)
to remember
Baird, Frank Edward, Maj.
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Contact Info
Last Address Ohio Veterans Home
Date of Passing Jan 27, 2010
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
This Remembrance is based upon and credited to research done by USMF member "kyhistorian" (user name) who collected a grouping named to this officer which may be seen at this link:
"This is a grouping I recieved a couple of years ago pertaining to the career of Major Frank Baird, USAFR. Major Baird worked for Wright Aeronatical before the war as a mechanic's helper, but wanted to fly. He decided to try and get to China to join the AVG and was on a ship heading for China when the war broke out. He made it as far as Pearl Harbor and his ship was turned back. After returning to the states he applied for flight training and returned to work with Wright until he was accepted as an aviation cadet in December of 1942. He recieved his wings and commision in March of 1944 and ended up assigned to the 26th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group in the CBI. He served as a pilot and maintenance officer and from what I can gather from his records he spent a lot of time training Chinese pilots. He appears to have flown about 5 combat missions as a fighter pilot and towards the end of the war he flew several missions flying B-25's with the 341st Bomb group.
He was discharged in 1946 and rejoined the Air Force Reserves in 1948. He served with the reserves as a maintenance officer with the several Air Force Reserve recovery units until his retirement in 1972. While in the reserves he worked for 14 years with General Electric as a test engineer and then as a plant service cooordinator for Christ hospital in Cincinnati Ohio. In 1984 he joined the Ohio Military Reserve and served at the rank of Lt Col as HQ Supply and Procurment officer though 1988. He was a member of the Shriners, P-40 pilots association and the 14th Air Force Association to name a few and in 1978 he was awarded the Nationalist Chinese Medal of Honor with cravat for his work in getting medical equipment and supplies for several hospitals in Nationalist China that were in need.
What you will see is what was left after a bitter divorce and a farm auction that took place when he was placed in the Ohio Veteran's home because of Alzhiemers. I met his second wife after he was in the home at a Veteran's program I had set up and she decided to pass along what was left to me. Sadley he passed away on January 27th so I am posting this as a tribute to his service."
1948-1972, Air Force Reserve Command
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The Air Force Reserve Command is a Major Command of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federally controlled Air Reserve Component of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of duly appointed commissioned officers and enlisted airmen.
AFRC supports the Air Force mission to defend the United States through the control and exploitation of air and space by supporting Global Engagement. AFRC also plays an integral role in the day-to-day Air Force mission and is not strictly a force held in reserve for possible war or contingency operations.
The federal reserve component of the United States Air Force, AFRC has approximately 450 aircraft assigned for which it has sole control. as well as access to several hundred additional active duty USAF aircraft via AFRC "Associate" wings that are collocated with active duty Air Force wings, sharing access to those aircraft.. The inventory includes the latest, most capable models of aircraft that are also assigned to the active-duty U.S. Air Force. On any given day, 99 percent of AFRC's aircraft are mission-ready and able to deploy within 72 hours.
The purpose of the Air Force Reserve as derived from Title 10 United States Code is to:
Provide combat-ready units and individuals for active duty whenever there are not enough trained units and people in the Regular component of the Air Force to perform any national security mission.