Mickelson featured in ‘Flying Tigers’

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, April 26, 2008

Einar Mickelson, who served as a member of the Flying Tigers and lost his life as a pilot during World War II, had ties to both Henning and Fergus Falls. Over the years veterans from across Otter Tail County have been proud to include Mickelson as one of their own.

As a tribute to Mickelson and other airmen who lost their lives in the Second World War, the airport west of Fergus Falls was dedicated Einar Mickelson Field on Sept. 19, 1948, close to three years after the war ended.

Victory in Europe Day was May 8, 1945, and Victory over Japan was Aug. 14, 1945.

Mickelson was born at York near Devils Lake, N.D., on April 21, 1915. He moved with his family to Henning where he graduated from high school. Shortly after his graduation, the family moved to Fergus Falls where Mickelson’s father, Iver, worked as city clerk.

The young Mickelson worked a short while, before his military service, at Montgomery Ward in Fergus Falls. Einar also attended St. Olaf College for one year. He later attended NDSU in Fargo where, in 1940, he received a degree in economics and social work.

After graduation he enlisted in the Naval Air Force. He took his flight training in Minneapolis and from there he went to Pensacola, Fla., to take part in officer’s candidate school. He received his commission on May 19, 1941.

After a few months he resigned his commission and joined the American Volunteer Group in China, later known as the Flying Tigers. Pilots were unique in that they were not members of the Armed Forces.

China and Japan had been at war since 1937. The only way the Chinese armies could receive help from the United States and other allies was over the Burma Road, a mountain trail.

The Flying Tigers had the responsibility of stopping the Japanese from bombing the Burma Road.

“The Japanese realized the importance of the Burma Road, and they bombed it repeatedly,” said county military historian Myron Broschat. “Truck traffic would have been quickly choked off if the American Volunteer Group — later known as the Flying Tigers — hadn’t appeared on the scene late in 1941.”

The fighter plane used by Mickelson and other members of the Flying Tigers was the P-40 Warhawk, a sturdy craft. Mickelson flew with the group for about eight months.

Mickelson came home, in April 1943, for some rest and medical attention following a ruptured eardrum. He was the star attraction — a war hero — at a war bond parade in Fergus Falls.

That fall he married Natalie Beloff, a native of Russia, in India.

A short while later, during a flight from India to China, the pilot of a plane following Mickelson saw Einar turn left into a cloud bank to avoid Japanese fighter planes. He never came out of the other side of the clouds. Mickelson was 28 when he died.

In 1944 the wreckage of Mickelson’s plane was spotted on a mountainside. Because of the rugged terrain, it was impossible for a ground party to search for the remains of Mickelson.

To this day, Einar Mickelson remains a war hero.