bobdina
08-17-2009, 11:31 AM
When 1st Lt. Conrad Lochocki graduates Aug. 28 from helicopter pilot training, he’ll get to wear a 66-year-old pair of wings that has been in his family through World War II, 13 months in a prisonerof-war camp and a fighter pilot’s 20-year career in the Air Force.
Lochocki’s grandfather, Frank A. Lochocki, was a B-17 pilot attached to the 325th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, in Poddington, England, during World War II.
His father, Frank “Buzz” Lochocki, is a fighter pilot who retired from the Air Force in 2000 as a lieutenant colonel, last flying the A-10 Warthog.
The eldest Lochocki earned his wings in 1943, Buzz Lochocki said. “The wings that we’re bringing for Conrad’s wing ceremony are the same wings my mom pinned on my dad in 1943, the same wings he was wearing when he was shot down over Berlin in 1944,” Buzz Lochocki said.
Conrad Lochocki said he is proud to be able to wear the wings. “It’s an absolute honor to be able to wear those with the history they have behind them,” he said.
On April 11, 1944, Frank A. Lochocki’s B-17 was shot down while he was flying over Germany. He deployed his parachute and landed in the “middle of an intersection in downtown Berlin,” Buzz Lochocki said.
“The local population was a little annoyed because of the bombing, and they were about to lynch him with his parachute cords when Berlin policemen showed up and saved his life,” he said.
The police put the downed pilot in a taxi and took him to a police station. Later, he was taken to Stalag Luft 1, a prison camp in Barth, Germany, Buzz Lochocki said.
One evening during his 13 months in the prison camp, Frank A. Lochocki won 1,500 packs of Lucky Strike cigarettes in a poker game. Afraid the Germans would confiscate his smokes, he traded the packs for a display case that one of the other prisoners had made.
The case bore the pilot wings of the allied countries fighting in the war.
“They’re made from melted down silver quarters and nickels the guys had in their pockets when they were shot down,” Buzz Lochocki said.
The camp was liberated in 1945, and Frank A. Lochocki and his fellow prisoners returned to the U.S. that summer.
When Buzz Lochocki earned the right to wear wings, he proudly wore his father ’s until he earned wings with a star on top for flying 2,000 hours. At the time, he thought about having a jeweler add a star to his father ’s old wings.
“I’m really glad I didn’t do that now,” he said.
He placed the wings at the center of the display case his father had traded for cigarettes at the prison camp.
Now it’s his son’s turn to wear them.
Conrad Lochocki, 25, is a 2007 graduate of the Air Force Academy. He is training at Fort Rucker, an Army base in Alabama, and the family is preparing to travel there for his graduation from pilot train ing later this month.
“If my father could have lived to see that, he would have popped open,” Buzz Lochocki said.
Frank A. Lochocki died before Operation Desert Storm. He was 70.
Conrad Lochocki admits he was n’t sure he wanted to be a pilot until he got to the Air Force Academy.
“I wasn’t [even] planning on going to a military academy,” he said. “The opportunity just kind of came up and I decided I definitely want to fly if I’m going to be in the Air Force.” He also appreciates the fact that each Lochocki pilot flew different aircraft — a bomber, fighters and now helicopters.
“We’re kind of covering all the bases,” he said.
Buzz Lochocki said he is proudly anticipating his son’s graduation.
“It was a very early goal of mine to earn those wings so I could wear them,” he said. “And I’m just ready to burst wide open, that’s how proud I am of Conrad, that he’s getting ready to wear them as well.
AIR FORCE TIMES
Lochocki’s grandfather, Frank A. Lochocki, was a B-17 pilot attached to the 325th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, in Poddington, England, during World War II.
His father, Frank “Buzz” Lochocki, is a fighter pilot who retired from the Air Force in 2000 as a lieutenant colonel, last flying the A-10 Warthog.
The eldest Lochocki earned his wings in 1943, Buzz Lochocki said. “The wings that we’re bringing for Conrad’s wing ceremony are the same wings my mom pinned on my dad in 1943, the same wings he was wearing when he was shot down over Berlin in 1944,” Buzz Lochocki said.
Conrad Lochocki said he is proud to be able to wear the wings. “It’s an absolute honor to be able to wear those with the history they have behind them,” he said.
On April 11, 1944, Frank A. Lochocki’s B-17 was shot down while he was flying over Germany. He deployed his parachute and landed in the “middle of an intersection in downtown Berlin,” Buzz Lochocki said.
“The local population was a little annoyed because of the bombing, and they were about to lynch him with his parachute cords when Berlin policemen showed up and saved his life,” he said.
The police put the downed pilot in a taxi and took him to a police station. Later, he was taken to Stalag Luft 1, a prison camp in Barth, Germany, Buzz Lochocki said.
One evening during his 13 months in the prison camp, Frank A. Lochocki won 1,500 packs of Lucky Strike cigarettes in a poker game. Afraid the Germans would confiscate his smokes, he traded the packs for a display case that one of the other prisoners had made.
The case bore the pilot wings of the allied countries fighting in the war.
“They’re made from melted down silver quarters and nickels the guys had in their pockets when they were shot down,” Buzz Lochocki said.
The camp was liberated in 1945, and Frank A. Lochocki and his fellow prisoners returned to the U.S. that summer.
When Buzz Lochocki earned the right to wear wings, he proudly wore his father ’s until he earned wings with a star on top for flying 2,000 hours. At the time, he thought about having a jeweler add a star to his father ’s old wings.
“I’m really glad I didn’t do that now,” he said.
He placed the wings at the center of the display case his father had traded for cigarettes at the prison camp.
Now it’s his son’s turn to wear them.
Conrad Lochocki, 25, is a 2007 graduate of the Air Force Academy. He is training at Fort Rucker, an Army base in Alabama, and the family is preparing to travel there for his graduation from pilot train ing later this month.
“If my father could have lived to see that, he would have popped open,” Buzz Lochocki said.
Frank A. Lochocki died before Operation Desert Storm. He was 70.
Conrad Lochocki admits he was n’t sure he wanted to be a pilot until he got to the Air Force Academy.
“I wasn’t [even] planning on going to a military academy,” he said. “The opportunity just kind of came up and I decided I definitely want to fly if I’m going to be in the Air Force.” He also appreciates the fact that each Lochocki pilot flew different aircraft — a bomber, fighters and now helicopters.
“We’re kind of covering all the bases,” he said.
Buzz Lochocki said he is proudly anticipating his son’s graduation.
“It was a very early goal of mine to earn those wings so I could wear them,” he said. “And I’m just ready to burst wide open, that’s how proud I am of Conrad, that he’s getting ready to wear them as well.
AIR FORCE TIMES