James H. (Jim) Kasler

Jim Kasler went on active duty with the U.S. Army Air Forces on May 16, 1944. Sergeant Kasler deployed to the Pacific as a B-29 Superfortress tail gunner with the 5th Bomb Squadron of the 9th Bomb Group on Tinian from June 1945 to May 1946, during which time he flew 6 combat missions during the closing months of World War II. He returned to the U.S. , enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Air Force, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, and awarded his pilot wings on March 24, 1951. Lieutenant Kasler next completed F-84 Thunderjet Combat Crew Training before serving as an F-86 Sabre pilot with the 74th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) at Presque Isle AFB, Maine. He then deployed to Korea where he served as an F-86 pilot with the 335th FIS at Kimpo AB, South Korea. During the Korean War, he was credited with the destruction of 6 MIG-15 fighters in aerial combat, and 2 more damaged, while flying 101 combat missions. His next assignment was as a fighter gunnery instructor with the 3594th Fighter Training Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nevada, followed by service as a Research and Development pilot with the 3525th Aircraft Gunnery Squadron at Nellis. Captain Kasler served as an instructor pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force on the Central Coordinating Staff in Ottawa, Canada, and then as an F-100 Super Sabre pilot with the 308th Fighter Bomber Squadron at Turner AFB, Georgia. His next assignment was as an F-105 Thunderchief pilot with the 334th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. He served as an F-105 pilot with the 53rd TFS and on the staff of the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) at Bitburg AB, West Germany, from July 1963 to February 1966, when he deployed directly to Southeast Asia. Major Kasler served as an F-105 pilot with the 354th TFS at Takhli Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from February 1966 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War while flying his 91st combat mission on August 8, 1966.