page_title: Charles J. Loring Jr.
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Charles J. Loring Jr. / Military service / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Republic P-47Ds of the 22d Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, at RAF Kingsnorth, England. Serials 44-20211 and 44-19864 identifiable. The aircraft behind 3T-S/44-20211 is P-47D-22-RE 42-26041 coded 3T-A and nicknamed "Doogan". Aircraft 864 was lost to ground fire on Christmas Eve of that year with LT Charles J. Loring, Jr. at the controls, and he became a POW. During the Korean War, Loring was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
context_page_description: Charles Joseph Loring Jr. was a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, and later in the United States Air Force in the Korean War. Loring rose to the rank of major and posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on November 22, 1952 above Kunwha, Korea during a close air support mission.
  Born in Portland, Maine, Loring joined the United States Army in 1942 and was quickly selected to undergo pilot training. He spent several months stationed in Puerto Rico before being transferred to duty in the United Kingdom in 1944. There, he flew 55 combat missions in P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft before being shot down and serving six months as a Nazi German prisoner of war. By the outset of the Korean War, Loring was working in an administrative role in the United States, but by 1952 had been transferred to combat duty in Korea.
  During a patrol on November 22, 1952, Loring was leading a flight of F-80 Shooting Stars of the 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in an attack on a Chinese artillery position. During the run, his aircraft was struck by intense and accurate anti aircraft fire.
context_section_description: After the United States entry into World War II, Loring enlisted in the U.S. Army at Portland, at age 23.in March 1942, and as a private joined the Army Air Corps. By May 1942, he had been selected as an aviation cadet at the USAAC pre-flight school at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. There, Loring completed primary, basic and advanced flight training courses. After graduating, Loring was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve with a pilot rating.
  In December 1942, Loring was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, Ninth Air Force at Losey Army Airfield in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico. The unit flew anti-submarine patrols as part of a force defending the Panama Canal and Caribbean Sea areas. During this time, Loring primarily flew P-39 Airacobra and P-40 Warhawk fighter and ground attack aircraft. After a stint of this duty, the 36th Fighter Group returned to the United States to Charleston Army Airfield in Charleston, South Carolina. There, Loring and the other pilots of the unit trained with the P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. It briefly moved to Scribner, Nebraska as part of this flight training.
  In April 1944, Loring and the group moved to England to fly missions against Nazi German targets. The 36th Fighter Group flew out of RAF Kingsnorth in Kent, England flying reconnaissance, fighter escort and interdiction missions. The missions involved striking military strongpoints in northern Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord. Following the success of Overlord, Loring continued to fly air support missions for the remainder of the conflict. By December, he had flown 55 combat missions. He had been awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions under fire on June 12, 1944 that destroyed ten enemy armored vehicles in the area of Coutances, France while on a dive-bombing mission.
caption: A group of P-47 Thunderbolts of the 22nd Fighter Squadron at Le Culot, Belgium in late 1944, as evidenced by the modified fuselage invasion stripes (removed from fuselage & wing upper surfaces). Loring was flying aircraft 44-19864 (left) when he was shot down over Belgium and made a Prisoner of War.
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