First lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

Duane Francies (July 15, 1921 – May 5, 2004) was a military aviator who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service.

Early life

He was the only son of Merritt Charles Francies and Kathleen Horan Francies. Duane witnessed the landing of

Clyde Pangborn Clyde Edward Pangborn ( ''c''. October 28, 1895 – March 29, 1958), nicknamed "Upside-Down Pangborn", was an American aviator and barnstormer who performed aerial stunts in the 1920s for the Gates Flying Circus. He was its half-owner, chief pil ...

and Hugh Herndon after the first nonstop trans-Pacific flight, driving his desire to be a pilot. After graduation from Wenatchee High School in 1939, he attended Seattle Pacific College and

Wenatchee Valley College Wenatchee Valley College (WVC) is a public community college in Wenatchee, Washington. The college provides students with adult education classes, certifications, associate degrees, and four bachelor's degrees. WVC's primary service district is ...

where he had civilian pilot training.

Military service

Three days after

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, Francies enlisted with the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. Along with his observer William Martin, both used their Colt 45 to down a German Storch on April 11, 1945. This story was related in

Cornelius Ryan Cornelius Ryan (5 June 1920 – 23 November 1974) was an Irish-American journalist and author known mainly for writing popular military history. He was especially known for his histories of World War II events: '' The Longest Day: 6 June 1944 D- ...

's book

The Last Battle (Ryan) ''The Last Battle'' is a 1966 book by Cornelius Ryan about the events leading up to the Battle of Berlin in World War II. The book, which was published by Simon & Schuster, is structured as an historical narrative. It is based on interviews wit ...

in 1966. Twice recommended for a Distinguished Flying Cross during the war, it was not until Scoop Jackson took up the issue and the medal was awarded in 1967.(Martin had already been awarded the DFC years before)

Later life

After WW2, Francies worked for Foote Mineral Co. for 23 years. He was a member of

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

fraternity,

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizatio ...

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

, and member of St. Andrews Episcopal Church.

External links

5th Armored Division

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francies, Duane Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) 1921 births 2004 deaths People from Wenatchee, Washington United States Army personnel of World War II