Here's more on Costley!
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After 60-year wait, local vet receives medals
Distinguished Flying Cross, Oak Leaf Cluster
BY CHUCK FREDERICK Duluth News-Tribune staff writer
Lake County News-Chronicle
Last Updated: Thursday, October 27th, 2005 10:35:51 AM
In 1945, an adventurous 24-year-old kid named Jim Costley was ``having so much fun shooting everything up.' It was neat,'' said Costley, an 85-year-old Two Harbors veteran. ``But then (my plane) got shot, and itwasn't so neat anymore.''
Costley coaxed his P-38 fighter plane about 700 miles back to his base.
On Tuesday, the longtime Two Harbors railroad worker was honored at a ceremony in the Two Harbors VFW Hall, both for his nerve-wracking return flight and for his overall service in World War II. He received a second Oak Leaf Cluster and a more-prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross, medals that should have been pinned to his chest more than six decades ago.
I thought it was a lost cause, so I never (pushed it),'' Costley said. ``This is important to me. People might think I've been lying all these years about what I did 61 years ago. I never could prove I did what I claimed I did. But now I'll be able to tell everyone, `Believe me. I'm telling the truth.' ''
The failure to present Costley his medals was likely a simple oversight, according to him, his family and an official from his former unit. A ceremony wasn't held at the end of the war.
A fire in at the National Personnel Center in St. Louis in the early 1970s destroyed many military records, including some detailing Costley's service.
Costley wrote letters inquiring about his medals, his unit said.
More than a year and a half ago, a bag bearing his name was discovered by a historian for his unit, the 7th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group of Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Costley said. The historian researched the name and discovered the oversight.
``He is one of our unsung heroes, and the 49th Fighter Wing wants to make sure he is properly recognized,'' the 49th's Capt. Vince King said. ``This is an extremely rare event. This will be the first time in 60 years the 49th Fighter Wing, or our predecessors, has presented (the Distinguished Flying Cross) medal.''
The Distinguished Flying Cross is given for ``extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight.''
Costley's long, slow return to his base following the mission over Okinawa qualified, he said.
He was born in Eveleth and lived there until he was 5. His family moved to Biwabik after his father, a firefighter, died of pneumonia. They moved again three years later to Two Harbors, which still is Costley's home.
He graduated from Two Harbors High School and spent a year working on a Great Lakes ore carrier, then for two years was a brakeman for the railroad. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces. In 1944, he earned his wings and was sent overseas.
His unit helped clear the way for Gen. Douglas MacArthur's famous return to the Philippines and was the first on the ground in Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Unit history also indicates Costley, a flight leader, participated in every major Pacific campaign between October 1944 and November 1945.
In 297 hours of combat, he flew 87 dive-bombing and strafing missions, destroying locomotives, rail cars, trucks, buses, bridges, gun emplacements and other targets. Some targets were concealed in thick jungle foliage, forcing Costley and other fighter pilots to fly dangerously low.
``Everything was an open target. When you're flying like that, it's fun,'' Costley said.
His P-38 was hit by anti-aircraft fire. ``That took all the fun right out of it,'' he said. ``That's the worst feeling when your plane gets hit and you don't know how bad the damage is. You're jarred, and then there's a noise. That was the only time I really got clobbered good.''
Costley had been ordered to return to base at 10,000 feet. But he felt his plane losing power and was forced to drop out of formation. At only a couple hundred feet above the ground, he flew alone.
``I didn't even know if I had enough gasoline to make it back,'' he said. ``I was skimming along the tops of the waves the whole way.''
After World War II, Costley returned to Two Harbors and the railroad, where he worked a total of 37 years.
He married a girl he knew from school whose name, Winnie, had decorated the nose of his P-38. The couple had two sons and two daughters before divorcing after 21 years.
Costley remarried. His second wife died about three years ago, which also was about the time he suffered a stroke and moved to an assisted living facility in Two Harbors.
Costley first received word of his overdue medals in March 2004. Tuesday's ceremony included military brass from the Pentagon and from New Mexico, including 49th Fighter Wing commander Brig. Gen. Kurt Cichowski and 7th Fighter Squadron commander Lt. Col. Chris Knehans.
``We're all thrilled for him,'' said Costley's daughter, Ginny Young. ``It's a great honor and it's so nice the people from the 49th are doing this. It's so weird they would have caught it after all these years.''
The Distinguished Flying Cross ``is really is a hard medal to get. It's something really different,'' Costley said. ``I keep reminding myself how lucky I was and how lucky I am. What happened to me is something you'll never forget.''
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Photo by Forrest Johnson
Air Force Lt. General Donald Hoffman and 49th Fighter Wing commander Brig. General Ben Cichowski flank Two Harbors resident and former First Lt. Jim Costley, who served as a P-38 pilot during World war II. After a 60-year wait, Costley received two medals for his service during ceremonies held this week at the VFW post in Two Harbors.
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