Only U.S. Born Pilots Fly U.S. Planes?

[Checkertail20]

I read a post on Facebook where a poster stated that their grandfather had been born in England but left when he was very young and grew up in America. He joined the military and became a pilot and right before his first mission an officer asked him where he was from and he said England even though he had become a U.S. citizen. The officer said only Americans would fly American planes and so their grandfather spent the war as a mechanic. I find it hard to believe that with the time and money it took to train pilots they would ground someone for such a dumb reason. Was this a military rule or something that was up to the officers to decide on their own?

 

[ThomasP]

I have read of several immigrants & naturalized citizens that flew US aircraft during WWII, as well as a few foreign nationals. (There may have been a lot of them, but I have no idea of the actual number.)

 

[Buzz Rickson]

To be a commissioned officer, you must be a US citizen. I'm 99% sure this was also the case during WWII.

That said, if he was a naturalized citizen, that would still count. It doesn't make sense that he would have been grounded, after already having been commissioned and winged as an aviator. It sounds to me like the storyteller has his facts mixed up, or it's just a made up story.

 

[Snautzer01]

Former Greek American Spiros Nickolas Pisanos.

eBay: Airwar ww2 The Pilots.

American Spiros Nickolas Pisanos. Now that is a story Tom Hanks should make a movie about. Steve Pisanos was born in Athens, Greece, in November 1919. Although he desperately wanted to fly, at the age of 18 he discovered that he did not have the academic qualifications required to enter the...

ww2aircraft.net

 

[Wildcat]

RAAF pilots, co-pilots and navigators flew in several USAAF squadrons in the PTO, notably the 380th BG.

 

[special ed]

A commissioned officer would not have been made a mechanic.

 

[Acree]

My Gulf War (1990) USAF co-pilot on B-52s was Greek-born, and lived there until he was 12. He was a naturalized US citizen. As we flew down the Mediterranean I could not understand the heavily-accented English radio transmissions of Athena (Athens) Control. I woke Bill up and he spoke Greek to them and got the clearance we needed. Bill went on to fly 9 of my 13 combat missions with me (he had some health issues that grounded him for a short time).

 

[smutny]

Always be careful digging into family history. Even just 40 years ago the thought of all the data available on this thing called the Internet was not fathomable. Many family stories are bolstered, embellished or flat out lies to make the person in question elevate in front of the eyes of their next generation.

We should never look down upon those that wore the uniform, in any capacity.

I have a family member that was with the Free Czech in England. He came home with stories of being a Spitfire pilot. In reality, he was a clerk in HQ. He never thought I could pull up his records... in America... on my phone. Despite his bravado, he did flee the Germans, served in France and then England before returning home. Only to have to flee the Russians a few years later.

 

[Frog]

Not during training.

French air force personnel trained in the USA by the USAAF and the USAF, 1943 to 1955 :
2,575 certified pilots, 1,799 crew members. 113 died during training.