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| Charles Tilton - 2 children |
My maternal grandfather Charles Tilton is the subject of this post. He and my grandmother lived in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania until World War 2 came along.
When the US entered WW2, my mother was in 7th grade. And although Charles (finally) had a job he liked, by 1942 he signed up for the US Army Air Corps (called the AAF, the predecessor to the US Air Force). When Charles was deployed, his wife and family moved to Adams County, PA, close to relatives and within a few years my mother & her sister went off to college.
Most of this post is from my "guest blogger," my uncle, the youngest child. The post starts with Charles Tilton entering military service early in World War 2 till he officially retired.
~ Charles B Tilton’s Jobs from World War 2 On~
Charles not only came out of the war "unscathed," he also made an important contribution to the war effort.
He was an intelligence officer in the 390th Bomb Group (H), at Framlingham, United Kingdom.
He briefed the B-17 missions to the crews, interrogated them after the missions, and interpreted their bombing photos to assess the damage done.
Charles cut a manila folder in half and wrote the key points of the nature and value of the target, the route to it, the expected German defenses, possible alternate target, and other pertinent information. see picture:
His son donated his briefing notes for the notorious Schweinfurt mission to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, USA.
~ After the War~ 1942
At the end of the war he started a landscaping business in Adams County, PA. (During the war, his wife, his mother (who was living with them) and their three children moved to her home area, Adams County. They lived in an apartment for a time and then another family owned place.
After he had landscaped the properties of all the wealthy potential customers in this area, (mostly doctors) he knew it was a failing venture in a bad economy. They were surviving, but not thriving. My grandmother did odd jobs: sold fruit from the family fruit business, or did secretarial work for the business, taught a bit of school, possibly.
One day he received a letter from the Department of Defense asking if he would consider active duty in the future. He almost said no, but his mother advised him to say yes and turn down a future offer if he chose. He took her advice and returned the letter. He forgot about it until he was asked to the US Air Force as an officer.
~ Back to Active Duty~
So, Charles was reactivated, this time to active Reserves for the Berlin Airlift.
As a USAF Reserve officer on active duty, he was assigned as Chief of Intelligence for the Berlin Airlift.
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| Form: Personal History - P 1 of 6 |
Berlin, Germany was deep inside the Soviet Zone, but the city itself had French, English, and US Sectors, besides the Soviet Sector.
NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] was created during the Airlift (in 1949), so it may have become a NATO operation.
Charles' role was Chief of Intelligence for the Berlin Airlift, which was a joint English/US operation to save Berlin from starving and freezing to death when the Soviets blocked off all the land routes.
However, he downplayed the importance of that significant-sounding job because the Airlift was basically a cargo-hauling operation. However, the crews did have to fly over Soviet-owned territory.
At the end of the Airlift Charles was chief of wing intelligence for Rhein/Main AFB, near Frankfurt (where his wife Elizabeth and son joined him).
At the end of that tour, he was assigned to select and study strategic targets in the Soviet Union for four years, in D.C.
He returned from the Air Force assignment in Frankfurt in January of 1952.
~ Back in the USA ~
Back in the USA from 1952 to 1956 he was in the CIA "targets" section in Washington, D.C.
~Then Back to Europe Again ~
Then Charles was assigned to Naples, Italy, and it was a NATO job.
There he represented the US Air Force in a "joint" role, rubbing shoulders with officers from other NATO participants.
All 12 NATO nations (NATO was a response to the former USSR's efforts to basically take over Europe) sent officers to the various headquarters.
The NATO located in Naples is for the whole Southern region, including the Middle East to the extent that NATO gets involved there.
The original HQ of NATO was in France, but DeGaulle pulled out, and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe.
SHAPE (Supreme Headquarter Allied Powers in Europe) moved to Brussels, Belgium, where it is today.
Eisenhower was the first SHAPE commander, I believe. I know that's what he was when he retired and then ran for president.
Charles was at Naples, Italy between 1956 to 1960, but it was also a military job.
Although in fact, the military really had little to do with rebuilding Europe. That was mostly State Department and their implementation of Marshall Plan, I think. [George S Marshall was the US Secretary of State at the time].
In 1956 Charles was working as an intelligence officer in the Armed Forces South NATO headquarters near Naples, Italy, working with NATO officers from Greece, Turkey, Italy, Portugal, etc., in all aspects of headquarters intelligence work.
~ And Back to the USA ~
After which, in 1960, he was assigned as Deputy Commander.
Then, in his final year, he was Commander of the Air Force Intelligence Training School, which at that time was at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas (the school later moved to Colorado).
But, as a Reserve officer Charles could not legally remain on active duty past age 60 and was forced to retire.
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| 1962 Charles Tilton retires from USAF |
~But Then ~
After a year (or less) of driving around and enjoying life Charles decided to go back to what he knew best, and applied for a Civil Service opening in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
He worked at Arlington Hall Station for part of his time there, and in the basement of the Pentagon for part of it.
He was in that job for about ten years. He was certainly in charge of the "Cuban Biographies" office during the Vietnam War (when Cuba was not in the spotlight).
Charles had two brilliant Army lieutenants working for him there. One time he was tasked to brief the Secretary of the Army on the whereabouts of Che Guevara. He worked hard to prepare a first-class briefing (which I'm sure he did).
Afterward, someone asked him what his answer to the question of where Che Guevara was, he said, "We don't know!"
So, in a way, his career as a landscaper landed him a job as a military intelligence officer. How does that work? We're not quite sure.
Records from his career as a military intelligence officer:
1 - His Death Certificate has his job: "Intelligence Analyst".
2 - In the Adams County PA Veterans list, he is given no rank.
SOURCES:
1 Thanks to my "Uncle Bill" for the information.
2 Personal files (AC Higgins/Johnson)
3 MB Walmer Collection
4 Ancestry.com
5 Gettysburg Times Archives
6 Wikipedia
7 Deceased Veterans: Ancestry. Com: Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania
Veterans Burial Cards, 1950-2010; Series Number: Series 4
8 Death Cert: Ancestry. Com Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia Deaths, 1912-2014
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