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Korean War vet returns to the sky

HARRISON, Ark. — Not every veteran gets a chance to relive some of the memorable moments of their service days, but that’s exactly what Joe Nance of Mill Creek got to do earlier this month, when he was given the opportunity to take the controls of an airplane exactly like the one he flew during the Korean War.

Nance, 81, served in the Air Force from 1948 to 1953, including a combat tour in Korea from February to December, 1951, with the “Mosquito Squadron,” the 6147th Tactical Support Group. In Korea, 1st Lt. Nance flew 101 combat missions in a North American T-6, a two-seater, single-engine propeller aircraft.

“We did low-level, air-to-ground support,” Nance explained. “I had an Army observer in my back seat. We would coordinate the location of our troops and the enemy troops. We were flying over very mountainous terrain, even steeper than Newton County.”

After returning to civilian life back home in the Ozarks and going into business, the Newton County native only took the controls of an airplane a few more times, right after getting out of the service. But over the years, he never forgot his love of flying, and his family knew that.

On Nov. 2, Nance was surprised by his wife Katherine and children Stuart Nance of Newton County, Suzanne Cyrus of Tulsa and Kathy Bentley of Little Rock as part of a late celebration of his 81st birthday on Sept. 3.

“My daughter Suzanne called me and said she was singing a solo at church,” Joe remembered. “My children are pretty special to me, so I wanted to go hear her.”

Joe said he and Katherine drove over to Tulsa on Saturday, Nov. 1, and spent the night with Suzanne and her family.

“Everybody just bamboozled me totally,” Joe said. “On Sunday morning, we got dressed and went to church, and when we got there, Suzanne said, ‘My violinist wasn’t able to show, so I won’t be singing my solo.’ After church, she said there was an airshow at the airport, and asked if we wanted to go.”

According to Katherine, the Nances’ children had arranged for pilot John Espo to meet them at the airport, where Espo keeps his vintage T-6 single-engine plane, the same type of plane Nance used to fly. Joe had no idea that his family had arranged for Espo to be there with his plane.

“I saw a T-6 out there on the runway, and I told my family, ’We’ve got to go over and see that plane — it’s the same kind of plane I flew in Korea,”’ Joe said. “I asked the owner, ‘Can I just stand up on the wing and look into the cockpit?”’

Espo, the plane’s owner, surprised Joe by asking if he’d like to fly with him.

“Man, it just flabbergasted me,” Joe said. “I said, ‘You betcha! I’d like to fly!’ We were in the air almost an hour, and he let me fly the plane.”

Katherine said, “Joe hadn’t been in a cockpit for 57 years, but he said he felt like it was just yesterday. When he was flying for the Air Force, he was a pilot. This time he had to fly in the co-pilot’s back seat, but he still got to fly the airplane.

“After 57 years, he stepped into the co-pilot’s seat and did his job. He said it came so naturally. He said he never felt so close to heaven, that he reached out and touched the hand of God.

“Of course, tears flowed, tears of joy. His family was all there to see the fly-bys, and cry too,” she said.

Joe’s recollection of the experience is vivid.

“I just had a delightful flight,” Joe said. “I did a couple of barrel rolls and a loop. It was a fantastic experience, just a beautiful, beautiful day. We flew over Lake Keystone, and he went down real low, just about 50 feet above the water. We could see the swans, and the big Canadian honkers were flying underneath us. There couldn’t have been anything more perfect. I admit I did a little crying.”