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Photo by Tom Hildreth at Hanscom Field, MA, May 1961 |
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POSTSCRIPT Shortly after his return from Antarctica, Major Fitzwater
was transferred to the 1001st Operations Group (Headquarters Command, USAF) at
Andrews AFB, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., effective June 14, 1961. There,
not to his liking, the major found that his duties consisted of flying a
desk. However, in 1962 Fitzwater was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and,
according to the Aircrew Standardization/Evaluation Records in his Personnel
File, he was able to maintain his annual pilot proficiency in the Group's
C-54. Then, on November 6, 1963, Lt. Col.
Fitzwater was admitted to the USAF Hospital at Andrews AFB diagnosed as
having sciatica (pain along the course of a sciatic nerve, i.e., pain in the
lower back) and he was grounded until the last day of February 1964.
Effective March 1, 1964, he was removed from flying status. With that,
Fitzwater decided it was time to submit his papers for retirement from the
military. So, on May 31, 1965, after 25 years of service, he retired-but not
from flying. Fitzwater had accepted a position with Fairchild Hiller in
nearby Maryland at Hagerstown. There, he was a test pilot on the various
models of the single-engine turboprop Porter STOL aircraft (including on
floats and armed military gunship versions) and the YC-119K prototype Shadow
gunship. His second career once again took Fitzwater all over the globe, this
time demonstrating Fairchild aircraft. By 1973, tired of traveling, he
retired once more, but again-not from flying. He bought a sailplane and
continued to fly for recreation. Charles
E. Fitzwater died April 16, 1991. He was 71 years old. Burial was in
Arlington National Cemetery. |
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