Gen. John Joseph Pesch's Obituary
John J. Pesch, a retired Air Force Major General and former Director of the Air National Guard, was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. He was born in Maspeth, N.Y. in 1921 to Charles Pesch and Margaret Schoerlin Pesch and was the eighth of ten children.
General Pesch’s military career began in the Air Corps in 1942. While initially a single engine dive bomber pilot flying A-24 dive-bombers, John eventually was assigned as first pilot in a B-17 group forming in the US. In late 1943 the group was ordered to England. General Pesch completed 31 combat missions in the European Theater of Operations, the majority of which were deep penetrations into Germany. A captain at the time, he was flying as lead (pathfinder) pilot. His plane was badly damaged from enemy fighter fire on several occasions, and once he brought his B-17 bomber back on only two engines with just himself and his copilot J.C. Amley. The other eight members of the crew, one of whom had been wounded, bailed out over Holland while under a second fighter attack. They remained POWs until the end of the war.
After his narrow escape, General Pesch continued to fly deep missions into Germany, including as lead pilot of his squadron on the first shuttle raid from England to Poltava, Russia on 21 June 1944. A German HE 177 long-range reconnaissance Bomber shadowed them as their 93 B-17s landed at Poltava, and with the gained knowledge the Germans assembled a force of 150 He 111s and JU 88s to launch against the B-17s on the ground. The attack was such a success that the Germans continued the destruction of the three squadrons of B-17s for over an hour and a half; about 110 tons of bombs were dropped during this time. Of the 24 aircraft in John’s squadron, only one survived. After the attack General Pesch returned with his men to England in U.S. BE cargo aircraft via Africa. He flew his last mission on 19 July 1944.
John left the Air Force in 1946 and joined the Maine Air National Guard with his AF rank of Major. He returned to college, which had been interrupted in 1941, and continued work flying P-47s and P-80s until recalled in 1950. At that point, he was assigned to 12th Air force Advon in Landsburg, Germany. Later General Pesch served in the Pentagon in Air Force Operations, at Hq Air Defense command in Colorado Springs, and once again in the Pentagon in the National Guard Bureau. He had been promoted from Major to Lieutenant Colonal and as Deputy Director of ANG to Brigadier General. In 1974 he was assigned as Director of the Air National Guard and promoted to Major General. John retired from the military in 1977, but continued as a consultant to General Electric & Northrop until 1987.
General Pesch’s military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, The Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, etc.
General Pesch’s wife Gloria died in 1992. They had been married 47 years. Their son John Jr., an F105 pilot, died in an aircraft accident in 1978.
John is survived by his three daughters, Maureen and Carolyn from Virginia and Katherine from Colorado; and one son, William from the Island of Guam. He also leaves behind two sisters, one brother, seven grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
A Memorial Mass and Service will be held at Falcons Landing, Sterling, Virginia on Monday, January 18, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be held at Fort Myer Chapel, Ft. Myer, Virginia on Monday, March 8, 2010 at 10:45 a.m. Please arrive at the Fort Myer gate by 10:00 a.m.
Graveside services and internment will be held after the funeral at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
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