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Un pilote juif de la Seconde Guerre mondiale meurt à 93 ans
Perturbé par le massacre au Japon, Jerry Yellin se tourna plus tard vers la méditation transcendantale
Le vétéran Jerry Yellin, apparaît dans cette capture d’écran de la vidéo World War Two. (YouTube)
Jerry Yellin, qui a piloté la dernière mission de combat de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et a ensuite aidé d’autres anciens combattants à surmonter leur traumatisme, est décédé.
M. Yellin est mort jeudi en Floride chez l’un de ses quatre fils après avoir lutté contre un cancer du poumon. Il avait 93 ans.
Yellin, lieutenant du 78e escadron de combat de l’armée de l’air américaine, a mené une attaque sur les aérodromes japonais le 15 août 1945 lorsque l’empereur Hirohito annonça la capitulation du Japon. Quand il retourna à sa base sur Iwo Jima, Yellin apprit qu’un cessez-le-feu était entré en vigueur, et que son escadron n’avait pas reçu le signal codé les informant d’arrêter leur attaque, la dernière de la guerre.
Le copilote de Yellin, le lieutenant Philip Schlamberg, 19 ans, de Brooklyn, que Yellin avait encadré, a été abattu lors de ce dernier raid, après avoir pressenti qu’il ne sortirait pas vivant de la mission.
« En raison de notre héritage juif commun et parce qu’il était l’un de nos plus jeunes pilotes, j’avais naturellement pris Phil sous mon aile », a rappelé Yellin dans Le dernier pilote de chasse, une biographie écrite par Don Brown avec Yellin et publiée cette année, selon le New York Times.
Il a été très troublé d’avoir été témoin du carnage sur Iwo Jima où il a dit « il n’y avait pas un brin d’herbe et il y avait 28 000 corps pourrissant au soleil », et plus tard 16 membres de son escadron ont été tués en mission.
Quelque 6 800 soldats américains et plus de 20 000 Japonais ont été tués dans la bataille pour l’île du Pacifique.
La Bataille de Iwo Jima (Crédit photo : United States Marine Corps, ibiblio.com, Wikimedia Commons)
Yellin a été libéré de l’armée en décembre 1945 avec le grade de capitaine. Parmi ses honneurs militaires, mentionnons la Croix du service distingué dans l’Aviation. Au cours des dernières années, il a été le porte-parole national de l’Esprit de 45, une organisation à but non lucratif qui promeut l’héritage des anciens combattants de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. selon Stars et Stripes, une publication militaire.
Pendant des années après sa démobilisation, souffrant de ce qui est maintenant connu pour être un trouble de stress post-traumatique, Yellin a lutté pour rester employé et a déménagé plusieurs fois aux États-Unis et transféré un temps en Israël, en partie pour protester contre la guerre du Vietnam, selon Stars et Stripes.
Il a bénéficié d’un certain répit grâce à la méditation transcendantale, que sa femme lui a conseillé d’essayer après avoir vu l’auteur de la pratique, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, dans l’émission « Le Merv Griffin ».
Yellin a parlé à d’autres anciens combattants qui ont lutté pour s’adapter à la vie civile et, en 2010, il a co-fondé ‘Bien-être du guerrier en opération’, une division de la Fondation David Lynch qui aide les vétérans à apprendre la méditation transcendantale. Yellin a reçu un soutien dans des vidéos promotionnelles de l’actrice Scarlett Johansson, une petite-nièce de Schlamberg.
Yellin est né et a grandi à Newark, New Jersey, et s’est enrôlé dans l’armée deux mois après l’attaque sur Pearl Harbor, lors de son 18e anniversaire.
Le fils de Yellin a déménagé au Japon après l’université et a épousé une femme japonaise dont le père s’était entraîné comme pilote de kamikaze et avait travaillé sur un terrain d’aviation pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Les pères se sont mis à discuter de leurs stratégies et de leurs expériences de vol pendant la guerre avec l’aide d’un traducteur, et sont devenus des amis pour la vie, selon Stars and Stripes.
Sa femme de 65 ans, Hélène, est décédée en 2015. Il laisse derrière lui quatre enfants, une soeur et six petits-enfants.
Jerry Yellin
Army Air Corps fighter pilot Jerry Yellin (February 15, 1924-December 21, 2017) flew the last combat mission of World War II. Taking off from Iwo Jima on August 15, 1945 in his P-51 Mustang, he attacked airfields near Nagoya, before heading back to base, his wingman Phillip Schlamberg lost and presumed dead. It was only then that Yellin learned Emperor Hirohito had announced his nation’s surrender hours earlier following the United States’ two atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
After the war, Yellin had difficulty fitting back into civilian life, and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He would find peace in the 1970s after becoming an adherent of Transcendental Meditation, while the marriage of his youngest son to the daughter of a Japanese kamikaze pilot would take him, he wrote, “from hatred to love.” An author of four books, Yellin toured extensively to bring hope to veterans suffering from PTSD, and to heal wounds brought by war.
CREDIT: Senior Airman Ariel D. Partlow/U.S. Air Force
Ricochet – The Last Fighter Pilot
Contributor
EJHill
December 23, 2017
In my year-end round up of notable deaths, I noted that not many names of the Greatest Generation were showing up. The few are getting fewer and fewer.
Add to the list the name of Captain Jerome “Jerry” Yellin. On August 14, 1945 — five days after the 2nd atomic bomb drop — Yellin led a two-man raid against a Japanese airfield in P-51 Mustangs. His partner, Phil Schlamberg, did not come back. When Yellin landed back at Iwo Jima he learned that the war was over. While he was in the air Japan had accepted the demand for unconditional surrender. His command was unable to raise him on the radio to stop the mission.
Yellin then went down as the last combat fighter pilot of World War II and Schlamberg the last casualty. Attached to the 78th Fighter Squadron of the USAAF, Yellin lost 16 buddies in the war and struggled in the postwar world. He became an advocate for vets suffering from PTSD in his later years.
He passed yesterday in Orlando at age 93 from lung cancer.
Published in History
WDBJ7– Jerry Yellin, an American hero, flew the last combat mission of WWII. Yellin visited Bedford County in June as the key note speaker at the National D-Day Memorial. He was a supporter of the memorial and had just signed on to be co-chair of the capital campaign.
Yellin traveled the country sharing his story and others.
“The world has to know that 16 million of us in America and that 8 million young women were Rosie the Riveters,” said Yellin back in June. “24 million people served in uniform for the purity and purpose of defeating evil.”
Yellin was battling lung cancer. He was 93 years old.
National D-Day Memorial mourns the passing of WWII pilot
by Barbara EstradaFriday, December 22nd 2017
Captain Jerry Yellin delivered the keynote address at the Memorial’s commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of D-Day. (National D-Day Memorial)
BEDFORD, VA – The National D-Day Memorial Foundation is mourning the loss of Captain Jerry Yellin.
This past June, Capt. Yellin delivered the keynote address at the Memorial’s commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of D-Day. One of the nation’s best-known World War II veterans, Yellin shared his harrowing story of having flown the final combat mission of WWII, in which his wingman became the final American to die in battle during the war.
When the veteran paid a visit in June, Yellin became further involved with the memorial and its mission. In September, he raised the flag to open the National D-Day Memorial Golf Classic and played as a celebrity guest golfer. One of Yellin’s final interviews was recorded at the National D-Day Memorial in October, as he joined the Memorial’s capital campaign as honorary Chair.
RELATED: WWII pilot visits National D-Day Memorial on 73rd anniversary of Normandy invasion
“We gave our lives in World War II so that we can have freedom, freedom for our country and freedom in the world,” said Yellin. “Every American should come and see this memorial, to see what we did in my generation so that your generation could live as free Americans. We fought for freedom, but we live for peace.”
Though well-known for his role in the war, Yellin often said he was just one of more than 16 million young Americans willing to fight for freedom in WWII. Yellin’s message and dedication to his fellow veterans will live on through his books, speeches, and interviews.
Staff, board, and volunteers at the foundation offers their deepest condolences to Capt. Yellin’s family and many friends.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Jerry Yellin. He was not only a dear friend, but a tireless advocate for veterans who believed in educating our youth about the lessons and legacy of WWII,” said April Cheek-Messier, National D-Day Memorial Foundation President. “He loved the National D-Day Memorial and was working diligently with us as Co-Chair of our capital campaign to build the future education center. He will be remembered as the hero he was, and honored for the inspiring message he imparted to all. Fly high Jerry. We will miss you.”
Jerry spoke at the 1940″s themed fundraiser benefiting, Thunderbird ll and Dreamcatcher on November 10th, 2017. We celebrated our heroes at the Inaugural Swing Time – 1940’s Hangar Party fundraiser. We had WWII Captain Yellin as our honored guest and speaker. Amazing night, proud to be an American. Thank you to Alerus Bank and other event sponsors and attendees for celebrating with us. And thank you to the men and women that serve our country – past, present and future.
Capt. Yellin took part in a Veterans Day appreciation event, in anticipation for the inaugural “Swing Time” 1940s-themed party and gala that will benefit the Thunderbird Field II Veterans Memorial and DreamCatchers on Saturday, Nov. 10.
Capt. Yellin is a former fighter pilot who flew the final combat mission of World War II and is the subjection of the best seller, “The Last Fighter Pilot,” and an upcoming Hollywood documentary.
The aircraft is a rare WWII Stearman, the type Capt. Yellin trained in during 1943. Capt. Yellin and the Memorial’s Chairman, Steve Ziomek, piloted the plane together.
Capt. Yellin, who still speaks nationally concerning PTSD, will also be the honored guest and keynote speaker at the “Swing Time” party and gala. On Nov. 11, he is scheduled to travel to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California to address the Veterans Day celebration there.
Thunderbird Field II Veterans Memorial Inc., is a non-profit organization 501(c)3 aimed at preserving the history and culture of aviation in Scottsdale, providing a tribute to veterans and create unique educational opportunities for our school children. Thunderbird Field II graduated over 5,500 pilots, many of whom saw military action in Europe and the Pacific. The school was deactivated on October 16, 1944 and is now the Scottsdale Airport.