Beyond The Blue Skies (May Edition)

          It is only fitting when looking for someone to write about for my military article, I take into full consideration that it is Memorial Day.

          Looking into the blue skies over Boyertown we move from the air assets of today’s U.S. Army and now move to the U.S. Air force. More specifically what the Air force was before it was the Air force, the U.S. Army Air force.

          General Carl Andrew Spaatz, a Boyertown native, is the founder of the modern Air force. During WWII, General Spaatz at one point became commander of the 8^th Air force in Europe, May 1942, but I’m not going to speak of General Spaatz in this column.

          Earl R. Fryer was a member of the 38^th Fighter Squadron of the 55^th Fighter Group of the Eighth Air force. Capt Earl R. Fryer was a native of Boyertown also. He lived on the fringes of Boyertown in a place still know as Englesville, nicknamed "Spunktown".

          Captain Fryer, I have learned, was a colorful figure. A fighter pilot, fighter ace, he is credited with anywhere from 5 kills to 6.5 to 8 kills, dependent on the record. The fact remains that he is Boyertown’s lone fighter ace. This brings me to Boyertown and local resident and attorney, Charles Fryer. Mr. Fryer is the nephew of Captain Fryer.

          I met with Mr. Fryer at his home in Boyertown. We sat in chairs near the fireplace facing center room and angled to each other. We found that we both liked to talk and we both liked to listen as he began telling me the story of his uncle.

          Earl Fryer grew up on a farm in Englesville. He had an older brother, Lester, Charles’ father, of whom I was interviewing. A tech sergeant, Lester served during the war in Luxemburg. Charles shared a little more about his father, which will be an incredible human interest story for another edition. There was also the younger brother, Ernst, who also served in the war in Borneo.

          Charles shared about how the family was embarrassed that they didn’t have indoor plumbing, just after the war, and the $10.00 war bonds of the time went to pay for indoor plumbing. “It was a simpler time”, he brought up as he kidded about the outhouse and how it was used to hunt and shoot from.

          “Earl loved his education," shared Charles. At one point, during The Great Depression, Earl was told that he would have to quit school and find work. “He was seen crying with his head down on the kitchen table," Charles continued. To bring in money, Earl ran a produce route until the war to help the family.

          The war brought the Royal Air force down from Canada to the United States, more specifically, the Waldorf Astoria in New York. The Fryer boys piled into a car and pulled right up in front of the building and went inside. Disappointed, Earl found out that he needed a high school education to become a pilot.

          Once home at the age of 26, he went to Reading and finished his high school education. He then joined the Army Air force. While in California as a pilot, he found himself in a whirlwind romance and married a girl from Washington State.

          While an instructor at Hamilton Air Force base near San Francisco, he flew his P-38 underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Returning from his colorful flight, he was met by military police and escorted to the base commander. The story goes that he wasn’t punished- just asked to promise not to do it again- of which he couldn’t do. Charles and I had such a good laugh about this. Two weeks later he was in the European theater of World War II. 

          The Eighth Air force credits Capt. Earl Fryer with 8 kills, which makes him an “ace." 

          Charles shared with me that he had made contact with a Colonel Littlefield who remembered the Captain.        

          Colonel Littlefield, in his conversation with Charles, described one mission where 3 of his 8 kills came in 2 ½ minutes of one dog fight. He also described the Captain of having to bail out of his plane which was on fire over the English Channel. The Colonel described that it was not glamorous or heroic. They went out and did a job not much different than going to the office.

          On his last mission, Captain Earl Fryer, with his wing man, strafed a railroad in Holland. He was hit, his engine was losing coolant. While white smoke was billowing from the engine, he told his wingman “Tell my wife I’m ok.” His wingman had ammo left and wanted to go back and finish the job and the captain told him to take another of their squadron with him.

          Post War repatriation brought Hank Brink with his fiancée back to their farm in Holland. While walking through the woods they came across the remnant of the P-51 mustang with Spunktown on the side. Next to it was a cross marking the grave of Captain Earl Fryer. The Germans had buried him, wrapped in his parachute, next to his plane. They notified the Americans. It took about 2 years, but the remains of Captain Earl Fryer were finally returned to Union Cemetery, in Boyertown, for re-internment.

          This Memorial Day, while we remember those who gave all for this country, we look to those like Captain Earl Fryer and, while we look up, we look beyond the blue skies. 

Willard N. Carpenter & the staff of The Boyertown Bulletin wish to thank Charles Fryer, of Boyertown, for his invaluable and memorable interview.