Joshua Sanford was a pilot with the 14th Air Force, 75th Fighter Squadron based in China during WWII. This Air Force was tasked with the job of helping defend China against the Japanese and to provide supplies to the Chinese Army. They were better known as "The Flying Tigers", a name previously attached to the American Volunteer Group that was comprised of 100 pilots and 150 support personnel. The original Flying Tigers were under the command of Claire Chennault who took on the job of reorganizing the Chinese Air Force. President Roosevelt signed a secret executive order which allow Chennault to organize "unofficial" assistance with the Chinese.
The AVG compiled one of the greatest records of the war before being discontinued in 1942. The name Flying Tigers came from the nose art painted on each plane which depicted the grinning mouth, flashing teeth and the evil eye of the tiger shark. Newspapers tagged them "Flying Tigers" and the name stuck. This group was credited with 294 enemy aircraft shot down while the Flying Tigers only lost 12 aircraft during their short tenure.
On March 10, 1943, the 14th Air Force was officially established by Roosevelt and Chennault was appointed commander of this group as well. He also brought along the name of the Flying Tigers and they conducted both fighter and bomber operations in China. They covered the territory that stretched from the Yellow River and Tsinan in the north to Indochina in the south and from Chengtu in the west to the China Sea on the east.They also ferried supplies to the Chinese army in the China-Burma-India theater, also known as "The Hump" since it required flying over portions of the Himalayan Mountains.
Captain Sanford, a descendant of the famous Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Chief Waukon Decorah, was the only Native American pilot flying with the 75th Fighter Squadron, one of 4 squadrons attached to the 23rd Fighter Group. They flew both the P-40 Warhawk and the P-51 Mustang and had 4 main bases between 1942 and 1946. He was credited with flying 102 combat missions during which he shot down 7 enemy aircraft. He ditched his own aircraft 12 times due to either damage from enemy fire or equipment malfunction. He was awarded 10 medals for meritorious service including 2 Purple Hearts for injuries sustained during combat.
He managed the Reedsburg airport from 1956 until August of 1958 when he was then appointed Civil Defense Director for 11 south western counties. However, his combat injuries were a contributing factor to his early death at the age of 43 on October 21, 1962. The airport in Hillsboro was named the Captain Joshua Sanford Airport in his honor.
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