Airport display to honor war hero

BY DAVID HURST

DHURST@TRIBDEM.COM

A John P. Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport display will honor a late local U.S. Navy pilot who flew in three wars and piloted American Airlines Flight 119 following its 1972 hijacking.

The visual display will salute Kantner native Leroy Freeman Berkebile’s 60-year aviation career, which also included piloting charters for the late Frank Sinatra, his family said.

Berkebile’s son, Jack, contacted Cambria County Airport Authority officials about a tribute. It was approved through a board vote last week, airport Manager Cory Cree said.

“He was a decorated veteran from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam who also had commercial aviation experience,” Cree said, noting Berkebile displayed true “heroism” in both roles.

Berkebile’s son, retired Air Force Capt. Jack Berkebile, said his father enlisted in the Navy following the Pearl Harbor attack.

He flew bombers in World War II’s Pacific Theater and, later, fighter jets and transport aircraft in Korea and Vietnam.

Berkebile was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his work as a squadron leader in an aerial jet assault near the city of Hamhung, Korea, in 1953. The mission enabled warfighters to destroy anti-aircraft weapons and supply buildings without the loss of any U.S. aircraft, records show.

“He was one of those guys who didn’t say a lot about the war, but we knew he saw combat,” Jack Berkebile said.

The elder Berkebile later worked in commercial aviation as an American Airlines pilot, eventually getting promoted to a director’s role overseeing the carriers’ daily U.S. flights.

“When the Flight 119 hijacking happened, the pilots on board were dad’s pilots. The crew had already flown from New York

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Capt. Leroy Berkebile stands outside a jet fighter in this undated photo.

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to St Louis (and were continuing west),” he said.

In that era, airplanes were a common target for ransomdriven hijackings. In 1972, a man armed with a machine gun named Martin McNally took passengers and the flight’s crew hostage and demanded $502,000.

Through hostage negotiations with federal investigations, the hijacker agreed to allow most passengers to leave the plane in exchange for parachutes and the cash during hostage negotiations with federal negotiators. Berkebile and an FBI agent posing as a copilot were permitted to board to relieve the weary American Airlines crew.

Berkebile followed orders, taking off in a getaway plane with McNally at his side and a gun pointed at Berkebile’s head, Jack Berkebile said.

McNally tried to elude capture by jumping from the back of the plane, landing with his parachute in rural Illinois.

Federal authorities apprehended him a week later, newspaper articles show.

Leroy Berkebile ended his aviation a career as a charter pilot, often flying Sinatra to Las Vegas in Ol’ Blue Eyes’ private plane.

“His plane had gold fixtures,” Jack Berkebile said, recalling a childhood tour of the aircraft.

He said his father flew Sinatra to Ireland and Super Bowl games across the U.S. – “and was treated like a friend” when they were together.

“My dad flew until he was 80 years old. He wanted to fly everything – aircraft, gliders – even balloons,” he said.

Cree said Berkebile’s story is a fascinating one.

And now, airport guests will be able to experience it, too, Cree said.

Berkebile isn’t the first war hero to be honored at the airport. A similar display salutes World War II’s first flying Ace, Buzz Wagner, and a full-sized replica of Wagner’s Curtiss P-40 Warhawk greets visitors alongside the airfield’s parking lot.

Jack Berkebile is working with airport assistant manager Heather Tomasko to create a display of photos and newspaper articles that will be displayed inside the terminal building – possibly in a passenger waiting room.

Cree said a precise location is still being decided.

Berkebile said he was thrilled the airport is embracing the idea.

“I had no idea what their response would be,” he said,“but I think it’s important for our local history. My dad was just a another coal miner – a local kid – who ended up flying all over the world. And just like a lot of those guys from that (World War II) era, his life was very impactful.”

David Hurst is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TDDavidHurst.