When he reported to his first interview with Air Force Chief of Staff General John P. McConnell, McConnell walked up to him, stuck a finger under his nose and said, "Take it off." "[98] Olds started the mustache in the wake of the success of Operation Bolo and let it grow beyond regulation length because "It became the middle finger I couldn't raise in the PR photographs. [25] In 1985 Olds was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. Zak has shared photos of them all together on Instagram, including in the post seen here in which he wished his wife and son a happy Valentine's Day. Most of their 29-year marriage, marked by frequently extended separations and difficult homecomings, was turbulent because of a clash of lifestyles, particularly her refusal to ever live in government housing on base. The oldest of four, Olds spent the majority of his childhood at Langley Field, Virginia where his father was stationed as an aide to Brig. TogetherWeServed.com Inc. All Rights Reserved | Not a U.S. Government Website. [32] Olds received his pilot's wings personally from Gen. Henry H. Arnold on May 30, 1943,[33] and graduated on June 1 as a member of the Class of June 1943, 194th in general merit of 514 graduates. In Vietnam, he led the Eighth Tactical Fighter Wing, which scored 24 such kills, an unsurpassed total for that conflict. The 81st TFW was a major combat unit in United States Air Forces Europe, having both a tactical nuclear and conventional bombing role supporting NATO. His ashes were interred at the US Air Force Academy. [46] Olds became an ace on both of his combat tours and was twice awarded the Silver Star, for the mission of August 25 and for the achievements of himself and his squadron during his combined tours.[60]. Robin Olds was born on July 14, 1922, in Honolulu. [41] On July 24 Olds was promoted to captain and became a flight and later squadron leader. As a young man he was also recognized for his athletic prowess in both high school and college, being named an All-American as a lineman in college football. After bagging another MiG-21 on May 4, Olds shot down two MiG-17s on the 20th to raise his total to 16, including the four MiGs over Vietnam. Naturally he wanted to follow in their footsteps. Olds did not want to live in that world. Brigadier General Robin Olds passed away 14 June 2007 at the age of 84 years. On February 14, he claimed three victories, two Bf 109s and an Fw 190, but one of the former was credited only as a "probable". [27] During his Academy years Olds also acquired a strong contempt for alumni networking, commonly called "ring knocking",[28] to the degree that he went out of his way to conceal his West Point background. Robyn Brown was in the credits for just one show. This called for 8th TFW F-4s to mimic F-105 operations in an effort to draw enemy aircraft into combat. He also claimed three more unofficial kills that could not be verified by witnesses. As recognized by the American Fighter Aces Association, Olds was the only pilot to "make ace" in both the P-38 (5 victories) and the P-51 (8 victories). Retiring to Steamboat Springs, CO, he became active in public affairs. His mother, his father's first wife, Eloise Karine Wichman Nott (1896-1926), died when Robin was four and he was raised by his father. Beside the case was a fire ax beneath a sign reading: In case of war, break glass.. [106], In 1968, Olds received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. During this time, he brought over former Tuskegee Airman Col. Daniel Chappie James, Jr. to Britain to serve on his staff. The incident left its mark on Olds such that when he became Commandant of Cadets at the Air Force Academy, use of the Honor Code as an instrument for integrity rather than as a tool for petty enforcement of discipline became a point of emphasis in his administration. His instructor was Major William L. Kirk, the 4453rd CCTW's Standardization and Evaluation officer, who had been one of Olds' pilots at RAF Bentwaters, and who later commanded the United States Air Forces Europe as a full general. Receiving his wings from Gen. Henry Hap Arnold, Olds graduated from West Point on June 1, 1943, after completing the academys accelerated wartime curriculum. Robert Olds had asked his son the status of the U.S. Air Force and got a detailed debriefing on whats wrong with the service. In 1978, Robin Olds married his second wife, Abigail Morgan Sellers Barnett. On August 11, Olds conducted a strike on the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi. It is not the President; it is not the Speaker of the House; nor the Leader of the Senate. [100], The incident with the mustache is given credit as the impetus for a new Air Force tradition, "Mustache March", in which aircrew, aircraft maintainers, and other airmen worldwide show solidarity by a symbolic, albeit good-natured "protest" for one month against Air Force facial hair regulations. He was a 2001 inductee of the National Aviation Hall of. Returning to Europe in January 1945, he was promoted to Major the following month on February 9, and received his seventh aerial victory the same day, using his P-51Ds new K-14 gunsight to calculate the deflection and hit a Bf-109 at 450 yards over Magdeburg with his first burst, a result that surprised even Maj. Olds. Olds states that following the shoot down of his fourth MiG, he intentionally avoided shooting down a fifth, even though he had at least ten opportunities to do so, because he had learned in the middle of June that Seventh Air Force, at the direction of Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown, would immediately relieve him of command to return to the United States as a publicity asset if he did. Olds himself shot down one of the seven, for which he and the other aircrew were awarded Silver Stars. Gen. Robin Olds, died June 14 from congestive heart failure one month short of his 85th birthday. Upon return to the U.S., Olds was acclaimed as Americas top gun of the war to date, a record he retained for the next five years. Five years later, young Robin flew for the first time when his father took him up in an open-cockpit biplane. Piloting P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs, he shot down 12 planes during World War II. [65] In late May, the 412th was ordered to undertake Project Comet a nine-city transcontinental mass formation flight. Copied by his men, they referred to them as bulletproof mustaches. During this time, he avoided shooting down a fifth MiG as he had been alerted that should he become an ace over Vietnam, he would be relieved of command and brought home to conduct publicity events for the Air Force. While there, he toured bases and flew several unauthorized combat missions. He served as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air . By the end of World War II, Olds had established his reputation as a talented fighter pilot in the P-51 Mustang, having shot down 12 enemy aircraft and destroyed another 11.5 on the ground, all in . James flew 78 combat missions into North Vietnam and helped Olds to plan and lead the famed . His inability to rise higher as a general officer is attributed to both his maverick views and his penchant for drinking.[4]. He really was "larger than life." His father Robert was an aviation pioneer from the WW I era so the boy grew up in the company of airpower greats like Hap Arnold, Billy Mitchell, and Tooey Spaatz. Olds decided to leave the Air Force when the offer was refused (he was offered another inspection tour instead) and he retired on June 1, 1973. He was a triple ace, with a combined total of 16victories inWorld War IIand theVietnam War. 367K views 7 years ago The USAF F-4 Phantom II, painted up in the colors of triple ace Robin Olds, performs flybys during the Saturday night airshow at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2015. Please check back often for the newest additions. [79] Olds rewarded Kirk by granting him a transfer to his command in Thailand in March 1967. Robin Hugh Gibb was born on 22 December 1949 in Jane Crookall Maternity Home in Douglas, Isle of Man, to Barbara Gibb (ne Pass) and Hugh Gibb.He was the fraternal twin of Maurice Gibb and was the older of the two by 35 minutes. [94][95], Olds was known for the extravagantly waxed (and decidedly non-regulation) handlebar moustache he sported in Vietnam. After downing a Bf 109 over Berlin on Oct. 6, Olds completed his initial combat tour in November and was given two months leave in the United States. A highly decorated combat fighter pilot of World War II and the Vietnam War, he was a triple ace with a combined total of 16 aerial victories in both wars. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, he received an assignment to report to the West Coast for training on P-38 Lightnings. The son of an Army Air Corps general, Robin Olds (July 14, 1922 - June 14, 2007) is best known as a Triple Ace combat pilot who was willing to break a few rules to get the job done. Olds time at West Point proved brief as many older officers resented his rapid rise in rank during the war. When the 479ths first commander was shot down in August 1944, Hub Zemke moved over from the fabled 56th Fighter Group and rejuvenated the Mighty Eighths last fighter outfit. Robin Olds's income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. He flew P-38s and P-51 Mustangs with the 434th Fighter Squadron, becoming the first Ace of the 479th Fighter Group in 1944-45. She was 67. Postwar after VE-Day, he returned to the States and reverted to his permanent rank: a 23-year-old Captain. Ella Raines died on May 30, 1988, Sherman Oaks, California from throat cancer. For his performance, he was awarded the Air Force Cross. 146 AFHRA, Brigadier General Robin Olds. Cape Town - Police in Limpopo have opened a case of murder as well as an inquest docket after the husband shot and killed his wife and, later, turned the gun on himself on Sunday.Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the couple worked as paramedics.Mojapelo said the 44-year-old wife had obtained a protection order against her husband.The pair were estranged at the . Welch may have been one of the most popular sex symbols of 1960s and 1970s. In March 1967, he led a strike against a steelworks in North Vietnam. Your email address will not be published. Your email address will not be published. He was assigned to the European theater, where he flew 107 missions and was credited with destruction of 11 aircraft on the ground another pilot assisted in destroying one of them in addition to the dozen he shot from the sky. Olds toured USAF bases in Thailand (flying several unauthorized combat missions in the process) and brought back a blunt assessment. He retired in 1973 as abrigadier general. He was a "triple ace", with a combined total of 16 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War. [117] On July 12, 2001, Olds was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest near his home in Steamboat Springs. They were divorced in 1993. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general, after 30 years of service. The Bf 109 passed beneath him and as he rolled the nose down he fired, taking the Bf 109 out before heading home. In this first "closed course" jet race, six P-80s competed against each other on a three pylon course 30miles in length. The New York Times that May called him everybodys choice as the hottest pilot of the Vietnam War, and last year the History Channel televised a computer animation, complete with his commentary, of his big Vietnam battle. . "[26], He walked punishment tours until the day of his graduation in June. A triple ace, he achieved a combined total of 16 victories in the Second World War and the Vietnam War. He is most remembered for 16 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War. Required fields are marked *. In a sea of blonde bombshells, Welch broke the mold of what it meant to be a celebrity. Very little attention was paid to strafing, dive-bombing, rocketry, stuff like that. As a result, the new academy superintendent, Maj. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger, replaced the head coach (an Army officer) with Colonel Earl "Red" Blaik, a 1920graduate and head coach at Dartmouth, who had recruited Olds in 1939. Dressed in a child-size air service uniform, he watched his father testify on Mitchells behalf. Five days later, on February 14, he claimed three more kills but only received credit for two with the other listed as a probable., On March 25, less than two years out of West Point and at only 22 years of age, Maj. Olds received command of the 434th. It caught us unprepared because we weren't allowed to learn it or practice it in training. His fourth MiG kill in Vietnam was recreated in the season 2 episode "No Room For Error". [76] James and Olds worked closely together for a year as a command team and developed both a professional and social relationship which was later renewed in combat. [71] He then was made chief of the Weapons Proficiency Center at Wheelus Air Base, Libya, in charge of all fighter weapons training for the United States Air Forces Europe until July 1958.[72]. [53], After returning to the United States for a two-month leave, Olds began a full second tour at Wattisham on January 15, 1945. As viewers may know, the ABC co-host never . Mrs. Stockton was born and reared in. He became an instructor at the Air Corps Tactical School between 1928 and 1931, the crucial period when the theory of strategic bombardment achieved ascendancy within the Air Corps as the most effective use of airpower. [89], The F-4s and their crews, however, proved equal to the situation and claimed seven MiG-21s destroyed, almost half of the 16 then in service with the VPAF without loss to USAF aircraft. Legendary fighter pilot Robin Olds dies Published June 15, 2007 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- Legendary fighter pilot, retired Brig. He had . He remained in this role for much of the Korean War despite repeated requests for combat duty. Brig. [101], We weren't allowed to dogfight. In 1946, while based at March Field, Olds met Hollywood actress (and pin-up girl) Ella Raines on a blind date in Palm Springs. Explore Robin Olds Wiki Age, Height, Biography as Wikipedia, Wife, Family relation. Robin is also best known as, U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who served in both World War II and the Vietnam War. . Scat XXVII (F-4C-24-MC 64-0829) was retired from operational service and placed on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Olds was also selected as an All-American as the cadets compiled a 63 record, beating Lafayette College, Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, VMI, and Princeton, and falling to Notre Dame, Penn, and Navy. Not Robin Olds. He had earlier been treated for prostate cancer. Join us as we chronicle and celebrate this larger-than-life Renaissance man with an informative look into what made Robin Olds the legend that he is today. He later reflected on the hazards of such missions: I was hit by flak as I was pulling out of a dive-strafing pass on an airfield called Tarnewitz, up on the Baltic. It was thought to be unnecessary. Selecting service in the U.S. Army Air Forces, Olds completed his primary flight training in the summer of 1942 at the Spartan School of Aviation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He remained in the service as it became theUnited States Air Force, despite often being at odds with its leadership, and was one of its pioneer jet pilots. Welcome to the official Robin Olds website. He was married to the actress Ella Raines from 1947 to 1976, and he married Morgan Barnett in 1978 and remained married to her until 1993. Dubbing his P-38J aircraft the Scat II (every fighter he flew in combat was named Scat and numbered sequentially), Olds worked closely with his crew chief to learn about aircraft maintenance. The couple started dating in 2005. Olds with his trademark mustache, conducting a pre-combat mission walk around inspection of his F-4 fighter, at, 1971 inspector general tour and 1973 retirement, A private site asserts that this was a derogatory comment, and that they were usually referred to as ". This training ended a year later by Christmas 1942. He chandelled steeply to the left and I shot some more. Gen. Robin Olds, a "triple ace" fighter pilot of World War II and the Vietnam War. Despite intense, accurately directed fire, multiple surface-to-air missile attacks on his force, and continuous harassment by MiG fighters defending the target, Colonel Olds, with undaunted determination, indomitable courage, and professional skill, led his force through to help destroy this significant bridge. Weighing his options, he decided to risk it all and flat planed. Olds replied, "Yes, sir.". Yet every confrontation America faced in the Cold War years was a 'bombs and bullets' situation, raging under an uneasy nuclear standoff." Robin Olds Net Worth: Robin Olds is a famous War Hero who has a net worth of $1-5 million. Olds, Robin, born 14-07-1922 in Honolulu, Hawaii, was an American WWII fighter pilot and later General Officer in the U.S. Air Force. A month before the fall of Nazi Germany, Maj. Robin Olds of the 479th Fighter Group, U.S. Army Air Forces, scored his final aerial victory of World War II, chasing a Messerschmitt 109 through a formation of B-24 Liberator bombers and shooting it down. On August 25, during an escort mission to Wismar, Germany, Olds shot down three Messerschmitt Bf 109s to become the squadrons first ace, making him the last P-38 ace of the Eighth Air Force and the last in the European Theater of Operations. As a result the flow of war materials into this area was appreciably reduced. Nov 09, 2021 01:40 P.M. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Passed away at 10 o'clock Wednesday night at the Menorah Hospital in Kansas City, following an illness of about a week. Returning to the United States after the war, Olds was assigned at West Point as an assistant football coach for Red Blaik. 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