Colonel Larry March, USAF (Ret)

hristian Laurin March, Jr., (“Larry”) aged 95, died peacefully on February 18, 2018, in Seminole, Florida.

Life and Family

The eldest of three, Larry was born on August 22, 1922 in Farmingdale New York, son of Christian and Catherine (Heath) March.

At the age of 12, Larry won a model airplane contest build a tiny replica of a DC-25 airplane. The grand prize was a ride in a real DC-25 – a single engine four-seater with an open cockpit – over the boroughs of New York City. This boyhood experience ignited Larry’s lifelong passion for aircraft and flying.

In 1950, Larry met Edna (Macher), his future wife, on a blind date. Eddie was a Navy WAVE/Communications Specialist 1st class; Larry was an Air Force Captain. They married the same year. The marriage was a love affair that lasted nearly 66 years, until Eddie’s death in 2016.

Larry is survived by four children and their respective families: daughters Sylvia Hansgen of Waco, Texas, Laurin Griffith of St. Augustine, Florida, Andrea March of Austin, Texas; and a son, Larry March, of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Education

Following high school, Larry attended Alfred University in upstate New York. He spent his busy freshman and sophomore years on student leadership activities, art, ceramic and sculpture courses, and college athletics. He was an accomplished runner, competing and winning cross-country track and relay events throughout the Northeast.

In 1943, Larry’s education was put on hold with his enlistment in the Army Air Corps. Following WW II, he resumed his education, earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Science at George Washington University in Washington, DC and a master’s degree in Government and International Relations at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Colonel March spent the rest of his career as an officer in the US Air Force, serving his country for 32 years.

World War II

Larry had many reminiscences of his days as a pilot during WW II. Following pilot’s training in Oklahoma, Larry received orders to transport a new B-24 four-engine heavy bomber to the Allies stationed in southern Italy. In order to avoid flight over occupied Europe, the plan called for refueling in Keflavik Airfield in Iceland, then in Tunis in North Africa before final delivery to Italy. Larry was 22 years old, in charge of a 9-member transport crew, piloting his first transatlantic flight.

The transatlantic segment was from Newfoundland, Canada, to Keflavik. Over the open water between Greenland and Iceland, engines 2 and 4 inexplicably failed. Before the crew could react, engines 1 and 3 went out. Larry suspected the cause to be engine vapor lock. They enriched the fuel mixture, gunned the booster pumps and – seeing icebergs in the sea below – “prayed.” The B-24 had dropped nearly 7000 feet before the engines sputtered back to life. It was Thanksgiving Day, 1944. On Thanksgivings thereafter, Larry would voice his gratitude that he and his crew “avoided a swim in the freezing North Atlantic.”

He was assigned to the 15th Air Force, 451st Bombardier Group, a B-24 Liberator group based in Italy in 1944-45. From their base in Foggia, they flew several bombing missions into Axis-controlled Europe. Of that time, he reflected, “you’d look at the guys eating breakfast with you and quietly note who wasn’t there for dinner. It was tough.”

Following a combat mission over Vienna, Larry suffered an aerial combat injury for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. He retrained in single engine aircraft and became an instructor at the advanced pilot school in Napier Army Air Field in Alabama, flying T-6s, P-51s, P-47s, and T-33s, among others. The P-51 Mustang was by far his favorite aircraft.

After the War

Following WW II, Larry was assigned as Air Attaché to the US Embassy in Tehran Iran, (1956-59). Subsequent to Iran, he served a tour at the Pentagon under General Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From 1967-70 he served as the US representative to the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), in Ankara, Turkey. CENTO included representatives Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

During his career, he flew to most parts of the Middle East, India, Africa, Europe, and South America. Larry visited every US state and most of its provinces (many of them with Eddie on post-retirement road trips). His final assignment was to the US Readiness Command at MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida, where he was retired in 1974.

Colonel Larry March earned the following commendations: Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, Air Force Commendation Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Eastern African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (5 bronze stars), World War II Victory Medal, Army Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal (1 bronze star), Air Force Longevity Service Award (6 oak leaf clusters), and Expert Marksmanship Medal (M-16 Rifle).

He was an avid supporter of Eckerd College, the St. Petersburg Museum of History, Alfred University, George Washington University, the Air Force Academy, and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Colonel March’s children remember him as a father: whistling as he tinkered in the garage, his love of puns and word play, singing (in Italian!) along with our guide/boatman in the Blue Grotto in Capri, Italy, correcting our grammar, teaching us how to bait a fishhook, our family travels in Turkey and Europe, many animated conversations about politics, surprise love notes to our mother taped to the refrigerator…and his love and pride for his four children. There will never be another like you, Dad.

Services

A service with full military honors provided by the United States Air Force is currently in the scheduling process at Arlington National Cemetery, where Colonel March will be laid to rest next to his wife Eddie. Friends, family, and those who served with Colonel March are invited to share a memory and sign his guestbook below.