General and jet pilot
tells of challenges
Retired Gen. Merrill A.
McPeak recounts
anecdotes ofpast flights
By G. Jaros
Oregon Daily Emerald
He was flying straight up into
the sky when the wings came off
his airplane.
Then the fuel dumped out onto
the engine and the airplane ex
ploded.
That is the only time that retired
four-star Gen. Merrill A. McPeak
has ever had to jump out of an air
plane — and he wasn’t in combat.
It happened in front of a crowd in
Del Rio, Texas, while McPeak was
flying with the Thunderbirds. The
Thunderbirds are the Air Force’s
elite flying team, made up of some
of the best jet fighter pilots in the
world. 1
McPeak, who retired in 1994,
flew to the University on Tuesday
to talk with members of Bill Lam
on’s freshman seminar, “Come
Fly With Me: Exploring the Her
itage of Flight.”
McPeak, who served with the
Joint Chiefs of Staff during Desert
Storm, spoke about air power and
its significance to this country.
The general arrived in Eugene
in his homemade acrobatic air
plane, which he flew down from
his home in Lake Oswego.
When asked about obstacles he
has overcome in his life, there was
a long pause before he began to re
flect on his Oregon roots and get
ting a college education.
“I’m just an Oregon guy from
Grants Pass,” McPeak said. “I was
a kid from a very ordinary back
ground.”
His family didn’t have much
money, so he had to get a scholar
ship to go to college, he said. He at
tended San Diego State rather than
the University because they offered
him an academic scholarship that
provided tuition and books.
“I went down there because I
was assured of a place to stay and
something to eat,” McPeak said.
He worked full time while at
tending college. A job as a “hash
er” at a fraternity house gave him
room and board. A hasher washes
dishes and serves food, he said.
Later, he joined the Air Force
ROTC because their upper divi
sion courses paid $90 every three
months, “which came in damn
handy,” McPeak said. It was the
only thing that kept him eating a
couple of times, he said.
“I had no intention of making
the Air Force a career, in other
words,” McPeak said, adding that
the whole experience was more
fun than it was an obstacle.
McPeak never imagined that be
r~
ing an ROTC cadet would help pro
vide not just food and shelter but
also dinners in the private quarters
of the president of the United States
and stays at Camp David.
His first visit to Camp David,
nestled in the Maryland moun
tains, was when the Joint Chiefs of
Staff met with President Bush six
weeks before Desert Storm.
"It is a lovely place,” McPeak
said. “There are a lot of little cab
ins scattered around and various
presidents have added a thing or
two. One added a chapel, another
a fireplace.”
McPeak didn’t land in such
lofty places by sheer luck. He
worked hard.
He discovered a love for flying
after college while in flight school.
He spent the next 12 years fly
ing fighter planes. As a career pi
lot, McPeak logged more than
6,500 flying hours. He flew in
nearly 200 air shows throughout
the world as a member of the
Thunderbirds before becoming a
combat pilot in Vietnam.
In Vietnam he flew as an attack
pilot as well as a high-speed for
ward air controller, or scout,
seeking out targets and marking
them with white phosphorus
rockets before calling in other
fighters to do the actual bombing.
“Most forward air controllers
were slower aircraft, but in some
places you just couldn’t go slow,”
McPeak said. He flew 269 combat
missions.
hollowing Vietnam, he com
manded various units. He was a
general for 14 years and in charge
of all Air Force operations in the
Pacific before going to Washing
ton D.C. to join the Joint Chiefs of
Staff to help command air opera
tions for Desert Storm.
During his career McPeak was
awarded the Distinguished Service
Medal, Silver Star, Distinguished
Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster
and a chestful of other medals in
cluding the Republic of Vietnam
Gallantry Cross with Palm.
When asked if anything scares
him or makes him nervous, Mc
Peak talked about the unforgiving
nature of flying and the dangers of
bad weather.
“Flying can back you into a cor
ner sometimes,” McPeak said.
“Part of the secret to flying is to al
ways have options. Every once in
a while I have painted myself into
a corner, flying where there was
n’t a way out, and it’s not scary but
it keeps you alert.
“And so I guess I’m not afraid of
anything. In fact, I’m the best pilot
in the world, no doubt about it, in
cluding in bad weather, but I have
lived as long as I have because I
treat it with respect.”
1
J CRIME
watch
(Reported Feb. 23 to March 1)
■ Feb. 24, Attempted Burglary I,
1100 block of Ferry Street
■ Feb. 25, Theft II, 1300 block of
Columbia Street; bikes stolen.
■ Feb. 25, Criminal Mischief III,
1000 block of Patterson Street, Uni
versity Inn: graffiti.
■ Feb. 26, Theft 1,400 block of
East 8th Avenue, University Book
store Warehouse: items stolen.
■ Feb. 26, Assault IV, 1100 block
of Agate Street.
■ Feb. 26, Theft 1,1200 block of
Franklin Boulevard, Pacific Hall:
bike stolen.
■ Feb. 26, Theft III, 1600 block of
University Street: items stolen.
■ Feb. 27, Trespass II, 1200 block
of University Street, EMU.
■ Feb. 27, Assault IV, 700 block of
East 16th Avenue.
■ Feb. 28, Shoplifting If, 800 block
of East 13th Avenue, University
Bookstore: attempt to steal items.
■ Feb. 28, Unlawful Possession of
a Controlled Substance, Franklin
Boulevard and Onyx streets: pos
session of methamphetamines.
■Feb. 28, Death Investigation, 1500
block of Alder Street Lane Commu
nity College Student found dead.
■ Feb. 28, Theft 1,1200 block of
East 13th Avenue: items stolen.
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