Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

James Helms Kasler (May 2, 1926 – April 24, 2014) was a senior officer in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

and the only person to be awarded the Air Force Cross three times.Frisbee, John L.(1986). ''AIR FORCE Magazine'', November 1986, Vol. 69
"Valor: Valor In Three Wars"
/ref> The Air Force Cross ranks just below the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

as an award for extraordinary heroism in combat. Kasler was a combat veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. In Korea, as an F-86 Sabre pilot with the

4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

, he was recognized as an

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

, credited with shooting down 6

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...

s.Perry D. Luckett, Charles L. Byler (2005). 'Tempered Steel: The Three Wars of Triple Air Force Cross Winner Jim Kasler' Kasler flew a combined 198 combat missions and was a prisoner of war in

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

from August 1966 until March 1973. He flew a total of 101 combat missions in an

F-86E Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

and scored 6 confirmed air-to-air victories and two more damaged against MiG-15s, becoming among the first jet aces of the Korean War.POW network Biography, Kasler, James H
/ref>

Early life and education

Kasler was born May 2, 1926, in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

. After enlisting in the

U.S. Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 20 ...

on November 24, 1943, he went on active duty with the U.S. Army Air Forces on May 16, 1944. He earned his bachelor's degree in June 1963 from the

University of Nebraska-Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

Vietnam War

Kasler was deployed directly to Southeast Asia. He served as an F-105 pilot with the

354th Tactical Fighter Squadron The 354th Fighter Squadron (354 FS) is part of the 355th Fighter Wing at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft conducting close air support missions. The squadron conducts Close Air Support, Air Int ...

of 335th Tactical Fighter Wing at

Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) facility in central Thailand, approximately 144 miles (240 km) northwest of Bangkok in Takhli District, Nakhon Sawan Province. Units Takhli is the home of the Royal Tha ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, in February 1966. By August 1966, an article in

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

labeled him "the hottest pilot" in Vietnam and his wingmates called him "a one-man Air Force".

Prisoner of war

While flying F-105D-31-RE Thunderchief 62–4343 on his 91st combat mission on August 8, 1966, Kasler was awarded a second Air Force Cross as leader of a formation that was evaluating low-level delivery against a priority target. When his wingman, 1st Lt Fred R. Flom was hit and ejected, Major Kasler located the downed pilot, flew cover at low altitude until his fuel was almost gone, refueled with an aerial tanker, and returned to direct rescue operations. Flying at treetop level in an attempt to relocate his wingman, Kasler's F-105 was disabled by ground fire. He ejected, was captured and singled out for special attention by his captors and tortured repeatedly to get him to cooperate with their propaganda efforts. HanoiHilton

For more than a month in 1967, Kasler was the target of nearly continuous daily torture. He received his third award of the Air Force Cross for resisting torture inflicted on him over a two-month period during the summer of 1968 in an attempt to coerce his cooperation with visiting anti-war delegations and propaganda film makers. Kasler described his worst treatment: At one point, during the fall of 1967, Kasler's captors took his clothes and his mosquito net. For three days, they denied him food and water and they beat his back and buttocks with a truck fan belt, every hour on the hour, 6 a.m. until 10 or 11 p.m. His torturer asked if he surrendered. Kasler finally gasped yes. The guard nicknamed "Fidel" by the POWs returned to Kasler's cell the next day and demanded that he surrender. Kasler refused and the beatings resumed and continued for another two days. Kasler suffered a fractured rib, a ruptured eardrum and broken teeth. He was left with the skin hanging off his rear end down to the floor. His face was so swollen, it hung like a bag, his eyes almost shut. Kasler's mangled and infected leg, which tormented him throughout his captivity and for years afterward, swelled to the point he feared it would explode. He was finally released on March 4, 1973, during

Operation Homecoming Operation Homecoming was the return of 591 American prisoners of war (POWs) held by North Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Operation On January 27, 1973, Henry Kissinger (then assistant ...

, after spending 2,401 days in captivity.

Later life

Kasler was married to his wife, Martha (Rankin), for 65 years. She had moved to Indianapolis from

Macomb, Illinois Macomb is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois, southwest of Galesburg. The city is about southwest of Peoria and south of the Quad Cities. A special census held in ...

, as an eighth-grader. They had a daughter Suzanne and twins James and Nanette. Suzanne operates a nationally known interior design firm in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and Nanette is the owner of NKL Designs. They have four grandchildren. He spent the last 39 years of his life as a resident of

Momence, Illinois Momence is a city and capital of Momence township, Illinois it is located in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,171 at the 2000 census, and 3,310 in 2010. It is part of the Kankakee– Bradley Metropolitan Statis ...

, where he owned and developed South Shore Golf Course in Momence and had interests in banking and real estate, served on a number of boards and received a variety of civic and service awards. In 1973, Kasler received the

Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

’s Golden Plate presented by Lowell Thomas at an awards ceremony in Chicago. In 2007, Kasler appeared on an episode of the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

series '' Dogfights''. In the episode, titled 'No Room for Error', Kasler's "May 15, 1952 mission", where he shot down two

s, action is depicted. The episode was the eighth episode of the second season of the series, which recreated historical air combat campaigns using modern computer graphics. On 15 September 2007 the United States Air Force dedicated a monument to him. He and his wife Martha resided in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Kasler died April 24, 2014, in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

and is buried with full military honors at

Crown Hill Cemetery Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high point ...

Awards and decorations

Included among his 76 awards for valor and service, in addition to receiving three awards of the Air Force Cross, Kasler was decorated twice with the Silver Star and awarded a Legion of Merit, nine Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Bronze Star Medals, two

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

s, and eleven

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

Air Force Cross citation (1st Award)

:Kasler, James Helms :Major, U.S. Air Force :354th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand :Date of Action: June 29, 1966 :Citation:

Air Force Cross citation (2nd Award)

:Kasler, James Helms :Major, U.S. Air Force :354th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand :Date of Action: August 6, 1966 :Citation:

Air Force Cross citation (3rd Award)

:Kasler, James Helms :Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force :Prisoner of War, North Vietnam :Date of Action: June 1968 to July 1968 :Citation:

References

External links

Civil Air Patrol Squadron named for Colonel Kasler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasler, James H. 1926 births 2014 deaths United States Air Force colonels United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War American Korean War flying aces American Vietnam War pilots Shot-down aviators Vietnam War prisoners of war American torture victims Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United States) Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Aviators from Indiana University of Nebraska Omaha alumni