This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SSgt Robert Bruce McClelland, Jr.
to remember
McCorkle, Charles Milton, Maj Gen USAF(Ret).
If you knew or served with this Airman and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
He destroyed 11 enemy aircraft in aerial combat in the Mediterranean Theater in WWII.
His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean at Point Lobos, California.
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Colonel (Air Corps) Charles M. McCorkle, United States Army Air Forces, for gallantry in action while serving as a Fighter Pilot and Commanding Officer of the 31st Fighter Group, FIFTEENTH Air Force. On 3 January 1944, Colonel McCorkle led a flight of four (4) Spitfires which patrolled the Allied front lines in Italy. While investigating unidentified aircraft near Allied front lines, the Spitfires experienced intense, accurate heavy flak. Colonel McCorkle's aircraft was hit in the right wing and tail assembly, the control surfaces damaged, and the trim tab control cables were shot away. At the same time his radio ceased operating. Since he could not be certain of the full extent of the damage, and his aircraft was extremely difficult to control, he decided to break away from the flight in order to return to base. Before he could break away, he observed twelve (12) enemy fighters diving toward Allied territory. Realizing that to break away at this crucial moment would doubtless confuse his pilots and thereby delay their interception of the enemy fighters, Colonel McCorkle refrained from leaving his flight. Unmindful of the damaged condition and difficulty in maneuvering his aircraft, and disregarding odds of twelve (12) to four (4), he led his flight in an aggressive and superbly executed attack, dispersed the enemy formation and forced them to turn toward base. As the aircraft reached enemy territory, anti-aircraft fire caused both the enemy and the Spitfires to climb. Observing an enemy fighter to his left at six-thousand (6,000) feet, Colonel McCorkle attacked, and despite extreme difficulty in maneuvering his aircraft, he skillfully followed, closed to point blank range and shot it down. The expert flying skill, outstanding gallantry, and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Colonel McCorkle in flying a severely damaged aircraft into combat against numerically superior forces has reflected great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States of America.
General Orders: Headquarters, 15th Air Force, General Orders No. 217 (1944)
Aircraft/Missile Information
Model Curtiss P-40N / Kittyhawk IV Length 33.46 ft | 10.20 m Width 37.47 ft | 11.42 m Height 12.37 ft | 3.77 m Engine(s) 1 x Allison V-1710--81 inline piston engine generating 1,360hp. Empty Weight 6,005 lbs | 2,724 kg MTOW 8,858 lbs | 4,018 kg Max Speed 378 mph | 609 km/h | 329 kts Max Range 240 miles | 386 km Ceiling 38,156 ft | 11,630 m | 7.2 miles Climb Rate 2,142.86 ft/min (653 m/min) Hardpoints 1 Armament 6 x 12.7mm machine guns 1 x 500lb bomb under fuselage Accommodations 1
Major Variants
* Model 75I - Prototype Base Model derived from XP-37A airframe fitted with Allison 1,150hp V-1710-11 inline engine. * P-40 - United States Army Air Corps production version fitted with V-1710-33 powerplant. * Hawk 81-A1 - Export model for French use. * P-40B - Improved model featuring improved armor and armament with seal-sealing fuel tanks. * P-40C - Additional 2 x 12.7mm machine guns added to wings; improved seal-sealing fuel tanks. * P-40D - Fitted with V-1710-39 generating 1,150hp; increase performance at high altitude; improved supercharger. * P-40E - Only 4 x 12.7mm machine guns in wings. * P-40F - Improved supercharger. * P-40L - Similar to the P-40F with improved supercharger and 1,300hp Packard V-1650-1 (license-built 1,300hp Rolls-Royce Merlin) powerplant. * P-40K - Based on the P-40E model with V-1710-33 powerplant. * P-40M - Fitted with V-1710-71 powerplant. * P-40N - Fitted with V-1710-81 OR V1710-99 OR V1710-115 powerplants; improved performance capabilities; decreased overall weight.