Major Weldon K. Groves was commander of the weather unit at Dreux in the late fifties and early sixties.
From the Seattle Times:
Weldon Groves died a few days short of his 91st birthday. Weldon K. Groves
had an interest in medical science. He also had a fascination with flight
and a pioneering spirit. After attending the University of Kansas and
earning a biology degree in 1940 from Sam Houston College in Huntsville,
Texas, Mr. Groves embarked on military duty and was accepted into one of
the first groups of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the segregated Army Air
Corps squadron that trained at Alabama's Tuskegee Army Airfield in the
early 1940s to become America's first black aviators during World War II.
Some Tuskegee historians have credited him with shooting down one enemy
aircraft during 93 combat missions, flying P-39s, P-47s and P-51s with the
302nd Fighter Squadron in Italy. After the war ended, he commanded
military weather detachments, then held a civilian post at McChord Air
Force Base, south of Tacoma. Mr. Groves, who retired from active duty in
1964 as a major and later was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel,
died May 12 in a Tacoma assisted-living facility, a few days short of his
91st birthday. He will be buried with full military honors at 1:45 p.m.
Friday at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, the final resting place of
many of this nation's war veterans and heroes. According to a cemetery
official, Mr. Groves is the first veteran of the Tuskegee Airmen to be
buried at Tahoma. Mr. Groves was a longtime resident of Lakewood, Pierce
County. According to historians, he was believed to be one of the last
known World War II Tuskegee Airmen to train as a weather officer. He
cross-trained in weather in 1949 after his unit, the 332nd Fighter Group,
was deactivated. Born in Edwardsville, Kan., he completed his basic pilot
training at Tuskegee Army Air Force Base in 1943,
and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He entered combat service the
next year, said his son, Weldon Groves Jr. of Tacoma. "He was planning to
become a doctor, but when he got the opportunity, he chose [pilot
training] and he decided to stay with that," said his son. After
completing instructor pilot training at Tuskegee after the war, he became
an advanced instructor pilot, flight commander and chief instrument
examiner. "He was one of the most outstanding individuals you ever wanted
to meet," said Edward Drummond Jr., of Lakewood, who was in the last
Tuskegee Airmen class in 1946. Mr. Groves was Drummond's flight commander
at Lockbourne Air Base in Columbus, Ohio, in 1948, and the two remained
friends over the years. "He was like a role model and a brother to me,"
said Drummond. Mr. Groves was a founding member of the local chapter of
Tuskegee Airmen. Besides Friday's military graveside service, a memorial
service will be held on Saturday at a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall,
6722 S. Yakima Ave., Tacoma. His wife of 57 years, Ophelia, died in 2002.
In addition to his eldest son, Mr. Groves is survived by a daughter,
Winnifred Groves Mann, of Mukilteo; twin sons Wesley Groves, of Baltimore,
and Leslie Groves, of Lynnwood; seven grandchildren; and eight
great-grandchildren. Also surviving are a sister, Joyce Hoard, of Kansas
City, Mo.; and two brothers, Edward Groves, of Edwardsville, and Wesley
Groves, of Los Angeles. Charles E. Brown: 206-464-2206 or cbrown@seattleti
Weldon K. Groves Born: May 22, 1917, Edwardsville, Kansas. Married:
Ophelia Leora Madison, circa 1945. Died: May 12, 2008, Tacoma, Washington.
Weldon K. Groves was born May 22, 1917, in Edwardsville, Kansas, to Walter
P. and Alice A. Groves. He was the grandson of Junius and Matilda Groves,
successful farmers who established a community near Edwardsville. Groves
attended the University of Kansas and earned a degree in biology in 1940
from Sam Houston College, Huntsville, Texas. He had planned to become a
doctor, but decided to join the military on October 21, 1942, and was
accepted into an early group of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the segregated
Army Air Corps squadron. He graduated as a second lieutenant from pilot
training on June 30, 1943. In 93 combat missions in the European Theater
he flew P-39, P-47, and P-51 aircraft. Groves shot down a ME-109 in Italy
on July 18, 1944, while flying with the 302nd Fighter Squadron. He served
as an advanced instructor pilot and chief instrument examiner. In 1948 he
served as a flight commander at Lockbourne Air Base in Columbus, Ohio. In
1949 Groves cross-trained in weather and commanded military weather
detachments. He held a civilian post at McChord Air Force Base, in Pierce
County, Washington. Groves retired from active duty on April 30, 1964, at
the rank of major and later was promoted to the rank of lieutenant
colonel. He lived in Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington, and was a
founding member of the local chapter of Tuskegee Airmen. He and his wife
had three sons and one daughter. He died May 12, 2008, and was buried at
Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent, Washington.