Midwest Chick's Place

The last WWII Marine Flying Ace, Col. Dean Caswell (Ret), folded wings at the age of 100 on September 21, 2022.

From his obituary:

He fought in World War II, the Korean war and the Vietnam war. He retired from military service in 1968 at the rank of Colonel. During his service, Dean received several medals, including a Silver Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses with three gold stars, an Air Medal with four gold stars and a Congressional Gold Medal. Dean flew over 10,000 hours and served in 110 combat missions. He also flew with the Blue Angels. Remarkably, throughout this combat, no bullet holes were ever found on Caswell’s aircraft; he was never hit by enemy fire! During his lifetime Dean had piloted 56 different aircraft.

 From an article in the Austin American-Statesman:

In their conversation with the American-Statesman, the Caswell women talked about the kind of man the veteran was. If he got word that people he knew or he’d flown with were in their final days, he would fly to them.

“He didn’t want anyone to die alone,” Mary said. “That was so manly, so courageous, so very thoughtful. He had so much love to do that so they wouldn’t be alone when they died.”

Read the whole article to get a sense of this man and his accomplishments.

Rest in Peace.