Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-01-29
Capt. Don Gentle, Ace
Of World War II, Dies
In JET Plane Crash

III JCl I lQtlC NlQSu
Capt. Don S. Gentle, 80. ace of
World War II air battles, died
yesterday in one of two plane
crashes which claimed the lives of
Blk others.
The handsome, black headed
dyer who destroyed 26 German
planes in a sensational career.
was killed when his T-33 Jet
trainer plunged into the woods 2
miles south of Richie in Prince
Georges County.
With Capt. Gentle died Sergt.
Gregory D. Kirsch, 20, who went
along for his first jet plane ride.
Sergt. Kirsch, who was not mar
ried, was from Spangler, Pa, and
was attached to the 19O9th Airway
and Air Communications Squad
ron at Andrews Air Force Base.
The plane crashed at $3.50 pm.
about 20 minutes after Capt. Gen.
tile hoped off from the base on
proficiency fight.
Five Returning to Boiling Killed.
Another crash near Toledo,
Ohio. was fatal to five, including
three colored officers from Howard
University. who were returning to
Boiling Air Force Base from a
mission to Selfridge Air Force
Base, Mich. Two enlisted men
also were killed.
One of the victims was Maj.
William T. Mattison, SO, of 1886
Park place NV, a war ace and
professor of air science and tactics
of Towards Reserve officers
Training Corps.
Maj. Mattisons death brought
double tragedy to the Conway
(Ark0 home of his father. for
only Saturday another son. Enoch
Mattison. had died in Detroit.
Maj. Mattison had permission to
take training flight to Detroit to
make arrangements to send his
brothers body home. His father,
Willie Mattison, is blacksmith
at Conway.
Wreckage Scattered Widely.
The crash near Toledo scattered
wreckage of the twin-engine Cas-
over a wide area, but there was no
fire. Others who died were:
Capt. Albert H. Manning, SO, of
435 Nineteenth street NE, as
sistant professor of air science and
tactics at Howard.
Capt. Lloyd r. v. Taylor, 90, of
S52 Twenty-first street NE, an
other professor.
T/Sergt F. w. Noice, So, of the
Hoist Maintenance Squadron,
Boiling, flight engineer.
Electricians Mate 1fc Charles
Donald Kafader, 81, stationed in
Boston and believed to have hitch
hlked ride East. His widow was
listed as Mrs. Sharlene Kafader
of Los Angeles.
Capt. Gentle had given no in
dication he was in trouble before
the crash. Witnesses saw the
plane flying low, then suddenly
dip and shear off the top of
tall tree as it fell, scattering
wreckage over a wide area.
Ace Lived in College Park.
The plane burst into flames and
set the woods on fire. For more
than an hour fire departments
from Andrews and five commune
ties battled the flames.
1t was tragic end for the gall
liant flyer whom President Roose-
welt had dubbed Captain Coura-
geous." A part of his storybook
career was his marriage to his
schoolday sweetheart. Isabella
Masdea. when he was on leave in
June. 1914.
They lived at 4331 Rowalt drive.
College Park, Md, with their three
sons, Don, jr., 5; Joe, 3, and
Pat, i.
Capt. Gentile's homecoming in
1914 was marked by a wild cele-
bration by every citizen of Piqua,
Ohio. But for his mother it was
an occasion to revisit the altar
where she had given thanks years
before when Capt. Gentle as a
boy was saved from death.
The Air Force had to admit with
a red face that it rejected young
Gentle because he lacked college
education. He then enlisted in
the Royal Canadian Air Force and
served three years before the Air
Force gave him a commission.
Learned to Fly in High School.
Folks around Piqua remembered
when young Don, when most boys
were playing baseball, was inter-
ested in aviation, and how he
learned to fly in high school. He
had 300 hours to his. credit when
he became an Raj cadet in June.
1912.
He scored his first kills on Ger
man planes in the Dieppe raid,
and won the British DISTINGUISHED
Flying Cross. He went on to fly
$50 combat hours for the United
States. making all his kills during
two-year period from 1912 to
1914. He shot down 20 planes in
the air and destroyed another six
on the ground.
His decorations included the