Bizare destiny of two 15th Air Force GP CO's

[researcher111]

I am not certain someone knows the answer because all my historical
books don’t. Here goes the puzzle I am trying to entangle not sure
there could be more details on their fate beyond the official versions
but I try anyways.

During WWII in 1944 Col.Thomas Steed and Col.William Litton were group
commanders at the 15th AF, Steed at 456BG and Litton at 82nd FG Group
both graduated military academies and accomplished military pilot training
while Steed got his wings in 1930 and Litton in 1941 .

While Litton graduated West Point ,Steed was washed out of military
military due various insufficiencies though after working in construction
was readmitted and finally graduated.

From veterans who flew with Litton I was told he was an average
pilot not very much liked by his subordinates and some of his
WP friends were glad to get rid of him . Contrary to him Steed
had a smooth bill of lading before and during WWII as pilot and
group commander .

On Aug 4, 1944 Litton became POW in Bucharest primarily due to his
fault, staying there 3 weeks, while Steed commanded and flew operational
till 1945 and ended WWII unscathed.

Litton had a habit of excessive drinking already by mid-1943
and some of his Bucharest companions told me that during Luftwaffe
IV Luftflotte interrogation at Focsani, Romania he disclosed data which
later on harmed the 15th Air Force ops into Western Europe .

Both of them were highly decorated during WWII yet stuck
on their ranks.

In July, 1950 Steed still Colonel was severely injured during a training flight
in UK when a crewman went berserk on his B-29 flight deck. During the attempt to
subdue the airman Steed was struck on the head with a wrench, causing a bone splinter
that eventually forced his early retirement which took place in 1952.

On Nov.2, 1951 while appointed as GP CO of the 51st FTR Wing at
Tsuiki AB, Japan Litton was tragically killed on a landing accident on a
F-80C or the F-86 jet he flew with the interceptor Sqd either out of S.Korea
or Japan . Gen.Hugo Rush also a former 15th AF 47th Bomb Wing GP CO
was the 1st CO of the 52nd FTR WG and seems to have disliked Litton .

Sofar the official USAF versions . Other versions linked to veterans
indicated that Litton did not return to its base but put the fighter on
autopilot until it has run out of fuel over the Sea, thus committing suicide .

As into Steed his crew as well other crews stationed at the base in UK
were highly trained and specially selected as part of a rapid response
nuke task force, therefore is unlikely that someone at post WWII USAF
era would target a murder while airborne more likely looks to me an
attempt to take over . In depth details of both cases are still classified
as we speak .

Ironically on August 7,1994 FEDEX flight 705 a standby crew
an African American USN vet pilot attempted to take over the
MD-11 freighter on purpose to commit suicide aimed at cashing
insurance benefits for his family

He attacked the flying crew members Peterson, Tucker, and Sanders
also ex USN vet pilots .

All three members of the crew received multiple hammer blows. Both
Peterson and Tucker, the first officer, suffered fractured skulls, and Peterson's
temporal artery was severed. The blow to Tucker's head drilled shards of bone
into his brain and initially rendered him unable to move or react, but he was still
conscious. Despite severely injured the 3 crew members overcomed him
while the DC-10 reached near supersonic speed on its dive

Cheers
Alex K