BARTELT-PERCY

                              BECAME  ACE  WITH  FLYING  TIGERS

Percy Robert Bartelt was born November 14, 1912, in Waseca, Minnesota.  Readily available historical records reveal he had an interesting military career as an aviator.  He attended the University of Iowa and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.  While at the university he was a member of the ROTC and upon graduation became a Second Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.  However, his interest was aviation and after about a year of service he resigned his Army commission to join the Navy.  He was trained as a Naval Aviator and received his Navy wings and commission as Ensign on January 2, 1938.  His first duty assignment was with Fighter Squadron Three (VF-3) aboard the carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) where he flew Brewster Buffalo and Grumman Wildcat fighters.

Between 1937 and 1941, escalating conflict between China and Japan influenced the U.S. to support China in the war that developed, and during 1940 and 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt formalized U.S. aid to China.  This led to the establishment of the American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force (AVG) which became popularly known as the Flying Tigers.  When U.S. military airmen were permitted to resign their commissions to fly for the AVG, pilots of the three U.S. military forces did so.  Ensign Bartelt was one of the officers who resigned from the Navy to become an AVG fighter pilot of the P-40 aircraft.  The Flying Tigers operated only from mid 1941 to July 4, 1942, and during this short period Bartelt became an Ace for his success in destroying five Japanese aircraft during aerial combat.  Bartelt was discharged from the AVG on March 21, 1942, and on September 29, 1942, he reenlisted in the Navy.  Because of his experience in aerial battle against the Japanese he was assigned duty as a flight instructor.  Due to a lung infection Bartelt was next hospitalized for 28 months.  After his return to duty, he remained until discharged from the Navy in 1951 with a disability retirement.  He next worked for the state of Minnesota until retirement in 1974.  Bartelt died on March 29, 1986 in a VA Hospital, and is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Records report Bartelt achieved Ace recognition in January 1942.  On January 23 a flight of over 100 Japanese bombers and fighters attacked Rangoon and Flight Leader Bartelt fought with only 18 Tigers against overwhelming odds and downed three of the bombers and was regarded as the outstanding pilot that day.  On January 24 he again flew against Japanese aircraft and shot down two fighters.  A publication later wrote: “This is no pantywaist Percy of popular fiction.  You grasp that at once when you meet him, and you need not know that this quiet, unassuming young man who stands before you, better than six feet tall with keen gray eyes, is one of the famous Flying Tigers, just back from the hell of war in Burma and China.  He reflects the sureness of the man who has been around and done important things.  In the past five months, he has packed a lifetime of experience, and he’s going back for more.  Achieving Ace status while in the AVG will always be Percy Bartelt’s legacy.”

                      

                               Flight  Of  Flying  Tiger  P-40s

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)