Col. Bruce
W. Carr
"He pulled up, off came the canopy, and he jumped out, but
too low for the chute to open and the airplane crashed.
I didn't shoot him down, I scared him to death with one bullet hole in his left wing.
My first victory wasn't a kill; it was more of a suicide."
Colonel Bruce Carr grew up in Union
Springs, N.Y. He flew for the 9th Air Force, 354th Group, 353rd Fighter Squadron and was
credited with 15 air victories. His first victory over an Me109 on 3/8/44 brought him
admonishment for, "being overly agressive in combat". He later became known as,
"Pecks bad boy". Colonel Carr also served in Korea and Vietanm. He retired from
the Air Force and passed away in Florida in April, 1998.
Click on the image below for a larger view of Colonel Carr's P-51 - Angle's Playmate
"On my first long-range mission, we just kept climbing, and I'd never had an airplane above about 10,000 feet before. Then we were at 30,000 feet and I couldn't believe it! I'd gone to church as a kid, and I knew that's where the angels were and that's when I named my airplane 'Angels Playmate."
