This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SSgt Robert Bruce McClelland, Jr.
to remember
McCorkle, Charles Milton, Maj Gen USAF(Ret).
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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
Specifications (Spitfire Mk Vb) Replica Mk VB on display in 2009
Data from The Great Book of Fighters[154] and Jane�??s Fighting Aircraft of World War II[155]
General characteristics
* Crew: one pilot * Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m) * Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) * Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m) * Wing area: 242.1 ft² (22.48 m²) * Airfoil: NACA 2209.4(tip) * Empty weight: 5,090 lb (2,309 kg) * Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg) * Max takeoff weight: 6,770 lb (3,071 kg) * Powerplant: 1�? Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 supercharged V12 engine, 1,470 hp at 9,250 ft (1,096 kW at 2,820 m)
Performance
* Maximum speed: 378 mph, (330 kn, 605 km/h) * Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi, 760 km) * Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,140 mi, 1,840 km) * Service ceiling: 35,000 ft (11,300 m) * Rate of climb: 2,665 ft/min (13.5 m/s) * Wing loading: 24.56 lb/ft² (119.91 kg/m²) * Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)
Armament
* Guns: Mk I, Mk II, Mk VA o (VA) 8 �? .303in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns, 350 rpg
* o (VB on) 2 �? 20 mm (0.787-in) Hispano Mk II cannon, 60 rpg (drum magazine); (VC) 120 rpg (belt loaded, box magazine) o 4 �? 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns, 350 rpg * Bombs: o 2 �? 250 lb (113 kg) bombs