HIGH FLIER
Nearing 100 years old, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Francis Nye looks back on ‘a fabulous career’
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Francis Nye has lived quite the life in his near century of existence.
His illustrious, three-decade career in the U.S. Air Force took him from a farm in Vermont, to North Africa and Asia in two wars, the Pentagon, to Albuquerque, where he retired in 1972 as a commander at Sandia Base, at that time the nation’s principal nuclear weapons installation.
“I had a fabulous career,” Nye said in his room at Albuquerque’s Montebello assisted living facility Thursday afternoon.
Despite his serious previous responsibilities, Nye is surprisingly lighthearted in discussing his time as a pilot in World War II and the Korean War and leading highly classified efforts near the highest levels of the Department of Defense.
He insists on being called “Frank,” smiles genuinely and often, and drinks a daily double scotch and water.
And, as one might expect of an accomplished
Air Force pilot, he still exudes a nearly largerthan-life sense of selfconfidence.
“It just comes naturally,” he said, when asked about the training involved in learning to fly in the 1940s. “I took good care of my airplanes, and I never had a problem that I couldn’t handle in the air by myself.”
Nye enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps in 1941. He was first assigned to pilot the B-17 bomber, eventually moving on to B-24s and B-29s.
Before becoming a commander at Sandia Base many years later, Nye spent time in Albuquerque training in B-24s at the beginning of his career.
Nye was sent to North Africa in the summer of 1942, flying missions in Egypt, Palestine and other areas until he was allowed to go home for a few months, then as a captain.
During his time at home, Nye was assigned to test out a new bomber: the B-29.
His second tour of duty found him flying the same bomber in Asia.
In August 1944, Nye piloted the longest mission of the war, flying 4,000 miles nonstop to Sumatra and back from a base on the island of Ceylon that took 17 hours.
“I shouldn’t tell you this, but coming off the target at Palembang (a city in Sumatra), I passed the bottle around to the crew, which made them pretty happy,” he said, chuckling.
While at an airfield on the island of Tinian in early August 1945, Nye recalls visiting with Col. Paul Tibbets.
“We asked him what that aircraft was that had a funny arrow on the tail of it and he said, ‘You’ll know in two or three days,’ ” Nye said. “And sure enough, they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.”
Of the bombs, Nye said he is convinced the U.S. made the right decision.
“Japan would have fought on until the last man drew any breath,” he said. “You’ve gotta give up sometime, and the old bomb did it.”
Nye went on to fly B-29s in the Korean War as well.
After the war’s end, Nye’s life continued an exciting and upward trajectory.
He was at a ball attended by England’s Princess Margaret in 1950, while on temporary duty assignment, and helped actor Rock Hudson prepare for his role as a B-52 wing commander in the 1963 film “A Gathering of Eagles,” while himself commanding the 28th Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.
His daughter, Pat Nye, said she remembers Hudson coming over for cocktails in the evenings.
Nye served in the Pentagon in the ’60s and was made commander of the Defense Atomic Support Agency’s Field Command, Sandia Base, where he served until 1972.
After retiring with 31 years in the military, Nye worked for several years as the manager of a Hilton hotel in Downtown Albuquerque.
“I can do anything,” he said, laughing, that same indomitable confidence in his voice.
Nye admitted that at 99 years old, he doesn’t do much to observe Memorial Day anymore.
But he still remembers those lost during the war, like a gunner and member of his B-24 group in the Middle East who was blown out a window later on in the war after the window was hit by shrapnel.
He also remembers the thousands of men killed after being shot down over enemy territory.
“I lost a lot of buddies in the Air Force that didn’t return home. When you’d lose the crew, you’d lose 10 or 11 people,” he said. “And yet, we had to keep right on driving.”
Nye turns 100 next month.