WW2 Fallen - Flying Tiger ace Frank Schiel and the countess who saved hundreds of airmen

Major Frank Schiel was a Flying Tigers ace before rejoining the Army Air Forces in China.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/130458127
http://flyingtigersus.ning.com/photo/pilots-check-out-rudder-shot?context=user 

Frank Schiel, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on November 20, 1917 in Arizona. His mother Virdie was born in Illinois and his father Frank senior was born in Missouri. His father worked as a copper miner and later as a railroad brakeman. By 1940 he was working as a conductor. Frank had two younger sisters. While still in high school, Frank organized the Prescott Junior Aeronautical Club. He turned down acceptance to West Point because it would mean giving up flying. 

By 1940 Frank had completed two years of college and was living in Montgomery, Alabama, most likely working as a flight instructor in the Army Air Corps. 

Frank resigned his commission in 1941 and boarded a ship in San Francisco to begin the long trip to China. He became the Deputy Squadron Commander of the American Volunteer Group 1st Squadron, more commonly referred to as the Flying Tigers. During his time with the Flying Tigers, Frank shot down seven Japanese planes. 

After the AVG was disbanded on July 4, 1942, Frank rejoined the Army Air Forces and was made a major in command of the 74th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group which operated out of China. It provided air defense and pioneered fighter bombing.

Major Schiel flew over 200 missions and earned multiple medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Silver Star. He was also awarded the British Distinguished Cross.

On December 7, 1942, the one year anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Major Schiel was returning from a recon mission in bad weather and his P-43 Lancer crashed in the mountains near Kunming, China.

His grave is at Mountain View Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona.

Thank you Frank for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Frank.

Andrée de Jongh
I would like to recognize someone who was born 101 years ago today. This person was not in the military and was not even American. However, without her efforts their would have been hundreds more airmen captured or killed. Because of de Jongh, there are fewer stars on the World War 2 Memorial in Washington DC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrée_de_Jongh

Andrée de Jongh was born in Belgium while it was occupied by Germany in the First World War. She worked as a nurse when Germany once again occupied Germany in 1940. De Jongh help British soldiers left behind at Dunkirk to escape to Spain, a distance of 1,200 miles. She personally led many airmen to safety. She was captured by the Germans in January 1943 and survived the war in a concentration camp. Her father, who also helped airmen escape, was captured five months later and executed. Even after the de Jonghs were captured, the escape channel they created continued to save hundreds more airmen, including Chuck Yeager who later broke the sound barrier.

After the war she worked in leper hospitals in Africa until her health failed. She was made a countess in 1985 and died in 2007 at age 90.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

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