pic taken during WWII when assigned to Army Advanced Flying School – Douglas – Arizona (class 43-B)

John Marshall Carah, 1922-2003, Lt. Col. USAF. Husband of Connie Jane Harris.

John M. Carah attended Chico High School (CA) and was a sophomore at Chico State College when WW-II broke out.

On his 20th birthday, February 8, 1942, he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces as an Aviation Cadet. After basic training at The Presidio in San Francisco, he was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces classification Center at Santa Ana, California and was selected for pilot training.

He completed primary flight training at Mesa Del Ray in King City, California, Basic flight training at Lemoore Field, California, and Advanced Multi-engine flight training at Douglas Army Air Field, Arizona, in , 1943.

He was assigned to the 34th Bomb Group at Blythe Field, California for B-17 pilot transition training and then assigned to the 381st Bomb Group, then forming at Pyote Field, Texas in March, 1943.

In May 1943, he moved along with the 381st Bomb Group to Ridgewell Field in Essex, England. On his third bombing mission, his aircraft (B-17F 42-29928) was shot down over l'Orne, Basse-Normandie on 4 July 1943.

Lt. Carah successfully evaded capture and made his way to Switzerland where he served as the Military Attache for Air at the American Legation in Berne.

On January 8, 1944, he and ten other allied servicemen reentered occupied France to escape to Spain. After a long involved escape through southern France, the party successfully crossed the Pyrenees Mountains and made their way to Barcelona and eventually to Gibralter.

In March, 1944, Lt. Carah was repatriated to the U.S. where he was reunited with his wife, the former Connie Jane Harris.

For the remainder of the war, Lt. Carah flew aircraft for gunnery training and, later, ferried aircraft to military units around the globe.

Lt. Carah made the military his career and served as a pilot, project manager and communications squadron commander during his career. His duties included assignments in Saudi Arabia, England, Scotland, Germany, Turkey, Guam, The Philippines, Japan and stateside bases. He retired in 1966 as a Lt. Col.

His post military career found him starting several companies involved in office systems and communications in California.

He permanently retired in 1986, and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and later in the Sierra foothills.

He folded his wings for the final time on 3 Feb 2003 at Placerville, California at the age of 80.

John M Carah