Eugene C. Slusher

June 14, 1922 – January 15, 2016

Capt. Eugene C. Slusher, USAF (Ret.) was in the 8th Army Air Force, the 3rd Air Division, the 13th Combat Wing, the 95th Bomb Group, the 412th Squadron in the European Theater during WWII.

“Jeep” was born on Wednesday, June 14, 1922, in Radford. He graduated from Radford High School in 1939 and then entered Milligan College in Tennessee on a football scholarship. His love of big bands inspired him to establish a music and dance club there.

During his high school and college years, Mr. Slusher worked at the family-owned Carson’s Drugstore in Radford. Later he worked at Radford Arsenal as a timekeeper and clerk, then for the War Department as Assistant Superintendent of Production and Planning in the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 6, 1941, Mr. Slusher enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Roanoke. He was sent to Ft. Meade, Md. for orientation and received his basic training at Miami Beach, Fla. He attended the University of Akron for two years to meet requirements to be a pilot. On July 3, 1943, he married his high school sweetheart, Hilda Amonette of Radford, in a military ceremony in Akron.

Next, Mr. Slusher was sent to San Antonio, Texas for classification. After meeting flying specifications, he was sent to primary flight school in Stamford, Texas. He learned to fly open and closed cockpit planes. He then attended advanced flying school at Ellington Field, Texas, where he flew multi-engine planes. There he received his wings and commission as a 2nd Lt.

Mr. Slusher attended advanced flying instructor’s school at Randolph AFB, Texas. From there he went to Frederick, Okla. as a Flight Instructor. After training pilots, he and twenty other instructors were sent for air crew training in Tampa, Fla. followed by B-17 (“The Flying Fortress”) training at Avon Park, Fla.

Upon arrival at RAF airfield in Horham England in 1944, Capt. Slusher was assigned “The Blues In The Reich”, a B-17 that had already flown 100 missions. He was checked out as an Aircraft Commander by General Jamie Philpott of West Point. By May, 1945, he had flown 24 missions over Germany. After VE Day, he volunteered for the humanitarian efforts to save starving Dutch citizens by flying food drop missions over the Netherlands. Though the war was over, the mission, “Operation Chowhound,” was dangerous because of continuing hostile enemy action. To commemorate this mission, in 2000, His Highness Prince Bernard of the Netherlands signed a proclamation of appreciation which was awarded to Capt. Slusher and other 8th Army Air Corps participants in the effort.

After the war, Capt. Slusher was an Air Force test pilot. He and his family were stationed at Bolling Field AFB and Andrews Field AFB in Washington, D.C. After his military service his later years were spent in the highway construction field. He was a lifetime member of the Air Force Association, the Military Officers Association of America, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Historical Society Of WWII, the 95th Bomb Group Memorials Foundation, the Veterans Of Foreign Wars, and the National Air and Space Museum where his name is inscribed on the National Aviation and Space Exploration Wall Of Honor. He was a former member of the Tyler Memorial Presbyterian Church in Radford.

Mr. Slusher was preceded in death by his parents, Golden Vuren Slusher and Myrtle Adams Slusher, formerly of Floyd; his former wife, Hilda Amonette Slusher of Radford; his sisters, Vera Slusher Hulse of Florida, Doris Slusher Wallace of Florida, Colma Slusher Dashiell of Virginia, and Charlene Slusher Harris of Florida; and his cousin, Velma Slusher Carson and husband, “Bob” Carson, of Radford, who were instrumental in raising him.

Surviving are daughters, Dana Slusher Anfin (John) of Lexington, Jane Amonette Slusher of Roanoke, Jennifer Slusher Smart of Roanoke, and Desiree Whiteside of Duluth, Minn. Also surviving are grandchildren, Kelly (Kim) Hayse of Christiansburg, David (Sara) Whipple of Rockbridge Baths, Robert (Stephanie) Whipple of Brownsburg, and Stephanie Pybus of Duluth, Minn. In addition, Mr. Slusher is survived by three great-grandchildren; nephews and nieces; and numerous cousins.