CAPTAIN FLOYD F. BLAIR
U .S. ARMY AIR CORPS (1942-1945)
Floyd F. Blair was born on November 15, 1920, in Fort Payne, Alabama. At age 6, he moved with his family to Tifton, Georgia.
After high school, he attended Georgia Tech and graduated with an electrical engineering degree while a part of the ROTC. In June 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps and trained at airfields in Texas, Florida and South Carolina to become a fighter pilot. He was assigned to pilot a P-47 fighter, nicknamed a “Jug” because of its size.
Floyd was assigned to the 507th Fighter Squadron, 404th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force flying a P-47 under the code name "Ramblin' Wreck." He learned to use the eight .50 caliber machine guns mounted in the wings of the airplane before shipping out to Winkton, England, in April 1944.
Fast forward to D-Day, June 6, 1944, and 1st Lt. Floyd Blair was a participant in Operation Overlord, flying his P-47 over the landing on Normandy. The 404th supported the ground troops at the Battle of the Bulge as they pushed the front line forward. Throughout the next year, he flew mostly low-level ground support missions to support and protect Allied troops. His targets included German tanks, troop trains and other threats to the advancing troops and his radio was tied directly into the US tanks on the ground.
In September 1944, the town of Sint-Truiden, Belgium, was liberated, and the Germans abandoned their air base. The 404th moved out of their tents and onto the base, enjoying decent quarters for the first time since the invasion began. By November, Blair organized a five-piece band after requesting instruments and permission to drive to Holland to purchase a sound system. Blair played the saxophone. The locals spoke Flemish and French, which the Americans did not understand, so they named the band “Nix Compris”, which translates to “nothing understood.” They were a hit with the locals as well as the troops.
Blair was promoted to Captain in January 1945 and continued to fly mission after mission. When he reached his 100th mission in April 1945, he completed his tour, turned in his parachute, and left the 404th. His honorable service awarded him a Distinguished Flying Cross; Distinguished Unit Citation; French Croix de Guerre with Palm; Belgian Fourragere with Palm; Campaign Medals for Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Ardennes-Alsace; and an Air Medal with 15 bronze oak leaf clusters and three silver oak clusters.
Following his WWII service, Blair worked with Westinghouse Corporation, utilizing his electrical engineering degree. He re-entered the military during the Korean War, serving stateside. He later established two electrical product manufacturer’s representative companies, Glenn Associates, which he sold in the 1980s, and Glenn International in Puerto Rico. He retired at the age of 95.
He was awarded the French Legion of Honor Medal in 2016.
The above information was excerpted from the links listed below:
(a) https://bestdefensefoundation.org/veteran/cpt-floyd-f-blair/
(d) https://www.ocala.com/story/news/military/2016/07/03/local-hero-recalls-wwii/27545875007/
(f) https://ece.gatech.edu/news/2023/12/tech-graduate-celebrate-100th-birthday