Edward L Stiles
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Edward Lee Stiles was born in McCaysville, Georgia in 1919. He entered the Army Air Corps in 1938, and after a time at Langley Field, joined the AVG in 1941. One of the first thirty ground crew personnel to arrive in Toungoo, Burma, Ed became a crew chief with the Hells Angels squadron. Of these turbulent days, he recalls many moves: 'We went from Toungoo, Burma up the road to Kunming, China, down to Magwe, Burma, bombed out! Up the road to Loiwing, bombed out! To Mangshi, China to Poashan to Kunming. We left China in June to Karachi, Bombay, Ceylon and Capetown; then from to Trinidad to New York City--home September 13, 1942!' After the AVG, Ed re-entered the USAAF, and soon entered the cadet training program. By 1944, he was an instructor on B-25 bombers. After the war, he stayed in the AF Reserve, attaining captain in 1959. Flying C-119 aircraft in the 910th Air Reserve Carrier Group, Major Stiles retired in 1971. |