Colonel Lee D. Carr
Colonel Lee D. Carr
Colonel Lee D. Carr was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan on January 13, 1921 the son of Leigh and Frances Carr. He graduated from Mt. Clemens High School in 1937. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering with Honors in 1946 from Michigan Collage of Mining and Technology followed by a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1949 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Lee was an aviation cadet at the Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center, Randolph Field, Texas graduating as a pilot in 1941. He was then commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on January 13, 1942 and assigned to Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio.
On June 27, 1942 Lee was assigned to the European Theatre of Operations flying C-47s. This included missions to southern France, Sicily, Tunisia, Algeria-French Morocco, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno and air combat in the Balkans.
During his service in WWII Lee was awarded an Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, The American Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 Oak leaves, The British Distinguished Flying Cross, and European-African-Middle Eastern Theatre Ribbon with 7 battle stars.
On July 13, 1943 while carrying both American and British paratroopers to Sicily Lt. Carr’s plane was heavily damaged by enemy fire requiring him to put the plane down into the sea. He then led the remaining troops aboard to safety through enemy territory. For this he was awarded both the American and British Distinguished Flying Crosses.
Lee’s war combat record as a pilot engaged in troop-ferrying with the 60th Troop Carrier Group/10th Squadron in enemy areas extending from North Africa, Sicily and Salerno and into the Balkan countries where his efforts were valuable to the partisans aiding the allied cause. One of Lee’s fondest wartime memories was of a mission in 1944 where he flew Marshal Tito off a mountain when Tito was being surrounded by the Germans. This heroic act enabled Marshal Tito to become President of Yugoslavia in 1953. Lee received the Yugoslavian Partisan Star 2nd Class Medal in 1945 for his efforts.
Another special memory Lee had was of a return flight to Tunisia where he found a downed American bomber crew in a raft in the Mediterranean. After dropping supplies to those in the raft he messaged a British destroyer of their position resulting in the rescue of eight members of the 320th bomb group. In 2009 he spoke with a few of the surviving wives who wanted to personally thank him for saving their husband’s lives that day.
After the war Lee continued his Air Force career in the Reserves at Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu, Hawaii retiring in 1966.
Lee worked as a Chemical Engineer for Dole Corporation in Honolulu, Hawaii, Marketing Director for American Cyanamid in New Jersey and Mitsui Cyanamid in Tokyo, Japan.
Lee married Cheryle Roberts Carr on November 10, 1979. They lived in Tokyo, Japan and Houston, Texas and returned to Erie in 1995. Lee passed away on July 13, 2009 and is interred at Gate of Heaven Mausoleum, Erie, Pa.