Lieut. Schlotman Flew 35 Missions Over Europe
“THOSE THUNDERBOLTS are built to come back!
“They are the most rugged ships I’ve ever seen and they can absorb tremendous amounts of flak and still fly home.”
Veteran P-47 Pilot
That statement was made by First Lieut. John J. Schlotman of Madisonville, Ky., a veteran Thunderbolt pilot who weathered 35 missions without mishap in the European theatre during his seven months of overseas’ service and chose as the first place to visit on this return to the States Republic’s Indiana Division where his P-47, “Perilous Pauline,” was manufactured by Raider hands.
“I’ve seen those planes so badly shot up,” he continued, “I’ve wondered how the pilots ever kept them in the air. After watching Raiders put them together here, though, I’m beginning to understand.
“I’m completely sold on the Thunderbolts,” he stated.
Thunderbolt pilot Schlotman was sent to England early in May 1944, where he flew with the 406th Fighter Group of the Ninth Air Force. He was based in France soon after D-Day. The Ninth, commanded by Maj. Gen. H. S. Vandenberg, is known as the biggest air force on the continent.
Plenty of Action
Even before receiving his promotion to first lieutenant last November, this P-47 flier had seen plenty of action in the flak-filled skies over Nazi territory. However, in all of his 35 missions, the only damage suffered by his “Perilous Pauline” was a bullet fragment which he discovered in the gas tank after he’d returned to his base.
“I didn’t even know I’d been hit,” he said. “But I’ve seen plenty in worse condition. Just the same they fly back, somehow.
Lieut. Schlotman wears the European Theatre of Operations ribbon with two battle stars. He also has the Air Medal and an Oak Leaf Cluster. He will rejoin the 406th Fighter Group at the expiration of his furlough at the end of January.
Source
Unknown newspaper, and date, but from the mid-1940s and probably an Indiana newspaper.
Notes
John Julien Schlotman went by “Julien.”
“Perilous Pauline,” Julien’s P-47, was named for Pauline “Polly” Cannon (1924–2015), who became Mrs. Julien Schlotman on 9 Jan 1945.