9 Aug 44 - 3 COs in a day - 353FS/354FG/9AF

[aaatripp]

354FG Friends,


I received word just a little while ago from Cathy that Mike Rogers has passed on....in his 90s from the effects of Parkinson's Disease.


What a great guy!....he took over the 353FS on 9 Aug 44, the day that Don Beerbower & Bud (Wally) Emmer were shot down. Mike
stuck with this business and retired as an Air Force 4-star general.


We'll remember Mike & Cathy from our 2009 Reunion in Las Vegas and his excellent quips on the bus ride out to our tour of the Air
Warfare Center at Nellis AFB.


His BEANTOWN BANSHEE FT-O lives on in a great piece of artwork painted some years ago.

Mike was an ace with 7 aerial victories confirmed. He grew up in Newton, MA. and had retired

to the Montecito/Santa Barbara, CA area.




RIP Mike......



Tripp