Retired Army Col. James B. Morehead of Petaluma, a World War II flying ace and two-time Distinguished Service Cross recipient, died Sunday after suffering a stroke last week. He was 95.
Morehead, flying mainly P-40 fighter planes, engaged in 20 dogfights and shot down eight enemy planes in the Pacific and Europe. He became one of the country's most highly decorated fighter aces, being awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses, a Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and 15 other air medals.
"He went quietly and is now flying top cover for all Americans. He so dearly loved America," said his friend and military historian Leon Delisle.
"At the dawn of a new day, just like he was up early so many times to go fishing or hunting, he passed into history and is now with his squadron predecessors, who so valiantly went before him defending freedom."
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Parent-Sorensen Mortuary in Petaluma, followed by a procession with Patriot Guard riders, military vehicles and veterans carrying flags to the Veterans Memorial Hall. The public is invited to line the streets.
He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Morehead grew up in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl amid the Depression, a "miserable" childhood he once said, but one that taught him skills that would likely save his life and the lives of others in the battle skies.
During a decisive battle for Allied forces above Darwin, Australia, in 1942, Morehead, then a 25-year-old 2nd lieutenant, led a flight of eight P-40s toward a formation of 31 Japanese "Betty" bombers and their accompanying fighter escorts returning from an attack.
"I did a slow roll," he recounted, his plane surfacing out of the way of the bomber's rear-facing guns.
"I led the lead bomber by 90 feet. My bullets went right into his cockpit and engine," he said in an interview last year, explaining how hunting for food as a youngster taught him to anticipate, or lead, a moving target to strike a deadly blow.
Morehead said he destroyed a second bomber and then shot down one of the Japanese Zeros protecting the bombers. In all, 11 enemy planes went down with no losses for Morehead's crew.
Morehead was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions that day.
Bonnie Davis of Novato and her husband, Ed, a military historian, met Morehead more than a decade ago when he was speaking about his flying experiences.
"He was an amazing man, living his life to the fullest up until the very end. He shared his adventures, his home, his thoughts and his love," she said. "He did not mind telling stories on himself, some sad and some funny. He has left many with a hole in their heart but with sweet memories."
As a young adult, Morehead moved to California to seek work and be closer to his brother. His military service started in 1940 at Stockton Field.
He graduated in April 1941 from the Army Air Corps flight school and was the sole pilot trainee among 120 to be selected for assignment to a fighter unit at Hamilton Army Airfield in Novato.
If he hadn't been in the hospital recuperating from a mid-air collision, Morehead said he would have been sent with the rest of his unit to the Philippines after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Many of his buddies ended up being captured and later died in the Bataan Death March.
In retirement, Morehead recalled how it felt to fly the slower and less nimble P-40 against Japanese fighters.
"How can you go up when death is imminent and you face ... your executioner? I can't explain it. You were expected to," he said.
Later in the war, Morehead began training pilots for combat in Europe and the Pacific. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, he downed a German Messerschmitt 109 fighter. For two years during the Korean war, he helped train Chinese Nationalist pilots.
Morehead, whom friends addressed simply as "Colonel," retired from a desk job at the Pentagon in 1967.
He married twice and had a son and two daughters. He moved to Petaluma 33 years ago and developed shopping centers and business parks in Marin County and Petaluma.
He is survived by his daughters, Myrna Moritz of Cotati and Melanie Morehead of Novato.
He had a long, contented retirement on a hill overlooking Petaluma. In his living room, he showed visitors a map of the world full of red pins showing the countries where he hunted or fished, from Mongolia to Costa Rica. Dozens of stuffed trophy animals, birds and fish adorned the walls and a large bear skin rug lied on the floor.
Ron Laufer of Santa Rosa first met Morehead in 1988 at a Hamilton "Wings of Victory" air show when the colonel was speaking and Laufer was helping launch aircraft.
"He carried himself with the pride and confidence of a well-known leader and the candor of a very sage man, with a wry sense of humor," Laufer said. "I will miss listening to his tales of a bygone era."
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