Gerald David Griffith

Gerald D. Griffith, a retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant, passed away on December 20, 2017, at the age of 92. Gerald (Griff) was born on the 12th of February, 1925, in Chester, Illinois about a block from the Mississippi River. He was the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew and Madeline Griffith. Though he lived in many towns, states, and countries during his lifetime, he considered Centralia, Illinois his hometown. He has lived in Mansfield, Texas for the past 43 years.
Griff’s early education was at Saint Mary’s Catholic School and Centralia Township High School, in Centralia, Illinois, where he was a recognized athlete in basketball, football, and track. His college level degrees consisted of an Associate’s Degree in Business from Ft. Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kansas; a Bachelor of Arts from Dallas Baptist University; and a Master of Science in Education from Texas A&M University. While in high school, he met his wife of 70 years, the former Margaret J. Wessling, of Sandoval, Illinois, who traveled with him throughout his military career and blessed him with three wonderful children, Colonel David M. Griffith, Retired, U.S. Army; Lieutenant Colonel Kelly A. Griffith, Retired, U.S. Air Force; and Robin Griffith-Yates, an Assistant Principal at James Martin High School in Arlington, Texas.
Griff’s military career began in 1943 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps and was assigned as a Flight Engineer in the 442nd Troop Carrier Group of the 8th Air Force. He served in six campaigns from just before D-day until the end of the war in May of 1945. He served in the Rome-Arno Campaign in Southern France, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe, earning the European African Middle Eastern Medal with six campaign bronze stars, and many others, including the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the French Croix de Guerre.
After the war ended, Griff flew the Holocaust victims from the death camps to Greece, where they were later repatriated to Israel in 1948. He became an instructor pilot for Penn Airways in Pawnee, Oklahoma, flying charter flights, barnstorming, performing in air shows, and crop dusting. In 1948, he returned to active duty with the U.S. Air Force and was sent to the Berlin Airlift where he flew 100 missions from Celle Air Force Base, Germany, into Berlin. Griff’s next assignment was to Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois, where he trained B-29 crews for the Korean War. He was also assigned to Roswell Air Force Base to train in the first in-flight refueling using B-29s to refuel B-50 bombers, and then spent the next eight years at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas as a B-36 Flight Engineer. After that, he was assigned to Japan where he flew missions into Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. He was then assigned to the 84th Airlift Squadron where he flew missions hauling supplies to Vietnam and brought back the remains of American Service members to Travis Air Force Base, California. CMSgt Griffith finished his Air Force career and retired from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, where he was Chief Flight Engineer for the Air Training Command. He was also nominated by Major General Jerry Page to be the Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force.
Following retirement from a career in the Air Force, Griff was an ROTC instructor for two years at Nevada High School, in Nevada, Missouri. He also worked for LTV, in Grand Prairie, Texas, as an Electronics Weapons System Engineer. He then furthered his teaching career as an ICT/Career Technology instructor at Grand Prairie High School for twenty years, where he retired again in 1988.
Before and after retirement, Griff was always known for his prowess on the golf course. He spent many hours cultivating friendships and enjoying the game on golf courses all over the United States. He was a founding member of Walnut Creek Country Club and was also a past member of Waxahachie Country Club. One of his biggest joys in life was playing, teaching, and encouraging the love of the game, not only with his wife, siblings and their children, but also with his own children and grandchildren. In his retirement years, he loved following them in tournaments and watching them play the sport he enjoyed.
Griff was preceded in death by his parents, Andrew and Madeline Griffith; brothers, Rusty, Ronald, and Michael Griffith; and sisters, Leona Adams and Mary Burroughs.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret, of Mansfield, Texas; his children and their spouses, David and Jan Griffith, of Viera, Florida; Kelly and Debbie Griffith, of Dallas, Texas; and Robin and Scott Yates, of Mansfield, Texas; and his sister, Juanita White, of Mount Carmel, Illinois. Griff is also survived by four grandchildren, Gregory Yates, of Houston, Texas; Kolby, Gareth, and Whitney Yates, of Mansfield, Texas.
Gerald D. Griffith was a loving husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, uncle, and friend. He was an American hero who served his country and fellow countrymen with unwavering loyalty and pride. He will be missed greatly.
The Rosary will begin at 6:00 PM, at Blessing Funeral Home in Mansfield, Texas, on Friday, December 29, 2017, with remembrance and visitation immediately following. The burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
It is requested that any donations in the memory or in honor of Gerald (Griff) D. Griffith be made to the Fisher House Foundation for military and veteran families at www.fisherhouse.org .
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