Flying high: WWII pilot reflects on an incredible life

If you met Gene Cushman, you would never guess he was 101 years old. Mid 80s maybe, but with his thick silver hair and tall stature, only his birthday of Sept. 24, 1920 confirms his actual age.

He’s tech savvy with his iPhone, lives in a spotless, modern apartment in a retirement community and even recently flew a plane.

280 Living sat down with Cushman for a Veteran’s Day story to hear about his life and service to our country.

Growing up an army brat, Cushman said he lived in 32 places before finally settling in Birmingham. His family boarded a train to Washington state when he was just five weeks old. He lived in Auburn during the first grade, then the family moved to Hawaii where he attended second through fourth grades there with students of all different nationalities.

“I’ve been very fortunate in all the places I’ve been,” he said with a smile.

He began flying when he was attending Baylor School in Chattanooga. He found an instructor who would let him fly for $3 per hour, so he used the $10 per month his father sent him to get in three hours of flight time.

When his father, who served in WWI and had 33 years of service, was transferred to Ft. Bragg, NC and then to Memphis, Cushman enrolled in college at the University of North Carolina. He completed his sophomore year of college just after WWII had begun, then enlisted in the Army Air Corps (which would later become the Air Force in 1947) in the Aviation Cadet Program.

“My father was a colonel in the army at that time and he swore me into the service,” Cushman said.

At just 20 years old, Cushman headed to San Antonio for preflight training then on to Fort Worth for primary flight training. He flew the PT-19, BT-13 and BT-15, graduating from flight training in 1943. Ranked a second lieutenant, his next assignment was in Waycross, Georgia.

“I wanted to be a fighter pilot,” Cushman said. “At Waycross, I was trained in how to fly in formation. They also taught gunnery, because if you’re a fighter pilot and can’t shoot, you’re worthless.”

Cushman said for him, flying was a natural thing to do and he felt like he was part of the plane. He loved flying the Mustang Rolls-Royce with the Merlin engine. Ready to take all the skills he learned during flight training and go fly in WWII, Cushman found out he was assigned to be a flight instructor instead. His commander told him when he got orders to go, he would take Cushman with him, but those orders never came.

He ended up working as an instructor for a year and a half before the war ended, training hundreds of young pilots.

Other assignments led him to Savannah, Panama City, Tampa and Orlando, Tokyo and Manila before ending up in Hawaii.

“It was absolutely fabulous,” he said of his five years living on the island of Oahu. “I flew all over the Pacific Ocean.”

In 1948, Cushman was sent to assist in the Berlin Airlift and was part of one of the largest rescue efforts ever assembled in U.S. history. The Tempelhof Airport in Berlin went from running three to four flights per day to one aircraft landing every three minutes, carrying supplies, fuel, clothing and food.

Cushman played an instrumental role in keeping the Russians from taking over Europe.

“We kept airplanes in the air all the time and we were up there flying just waiting for someone to say go (to drop bombs),” he said. He wound up never having to do so.

Following his flights into Germany, he was transferred to Tinker Field in Flight Test Production, where he quickly climbed the ranks.

“They put me in a job I had never been in before, which was typical of the Air Force,” Cushman said. “I was assistant to the captain, then six months later, the major leaves, then I become captain and I’m now running production control. I had 700 civilians working for me. Like I knew what I was doing. I learned the secret of anything is to have good people working for you.”

As General Curtis LeMay, head of strategic air command during the Cold War who would become the U.S. Chief of Staff, was quickly accelerating the jet bomber program, he decided that Cushman was the one to fly the B-47.

  “I flew 56 different airplanes, 42 were military and the others were civilian,” he said. “My favorite planes were the P-51 and the P-40. I never had a crash in all my years, never even dented an airplane.”

After a 27 year career, Cushman retired from the Air Force and headed back to the U.S. and  began his next chapter working in the insurance business. He worked for Protective Life and became a top level salesman. He retired at age 80 and spent time traveling and playing golf.

In May 2021, 20 years into his retirement, his wife of 54 years, Eleanor, passed away. He moved from his home in Mountain Brook to the Cahaba Ridge retirement community near the Colonnade and has enjoyed meeting new people and making friends.

In October, he had the chance to fly a Legend Cub, the same plane he flew when he was still in high school. He still had the touch after all those years.

“The Lord has been so good to me,” Cushman said. “I’ve been to so many places and done so much.”