Donald Jackson Strait , Corgi Aviation Archive P-51D Mustang ‘Jersey Jerk’ & Hobbymaster Updates.

Major General, Donald J. Strait

Donald Jackson Strait (April 28th, 1918 – March 30th, 2015) was a major general who served as a career officer in the United States Air Force and was a flying ace with the 356th Fighter Group during World War II.

Early life and education

Strait was born in East Orange, New Jersey, on April 28th, 1918, and was raised in Verona, New Jersey. He played prep baseball at Verona High School, graduating in 1936.

In his teens, Strait had an interest in model aircraft and would ride his bicycle 8 miles (13 km) to the Caldwell Wright Airport, where he would watch the planes flying and speak to pilots and workers at the facility. He went to work for Public Service Electric and Gas and then Prudential Insurance after graduating from high school.

Strait standing next to his plane the “Jersey Jerk”

Military career

He enlisted with the New Jersey National Guard in 1940, serving with the 119th Observer Squadron, flying observation planes. He entered the United States Army’s aviation cadet program in 1942. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force, he completed his training in March 1943 on the P-47 Thunderbolt in Connecticut. Assigned to combat duty in England, he flew with the 356th Fighter Group, flying his first mission in October 1943 in a P-47 Thunderbolt he named the “Jersey Jerk”, a reference to the state where he grew up, after finding that the name he had wanted, Jersey Bounce, was already taken; Reluctant to include the word “Jerk” in the name of his plane, he relented after his crew chief told him “Sir, let me tell you why we want to name it that. Any guy that would take off in a single engine airplane, cross the North Sea in the wintertime and take a chance of getting his ass shot off by the Luftwaffe or by anti-aircraft fire has got to be a jerk.” He later gave the same name to his newest plane the P-51 Mustang. Based at Martlesham Heath Airfield, he was awarded the Silver Star. He was assigned to lead the 361st Squadron in October 1944 and continues in that role for the remainder of the war. During World War II, he flew 122 missions and earned 131⁄2 kills (including 71⁄2 Messerschmitt Bf 109s), earning distinction as one of two National Guard pilots to achieve ace status.

He was hired by Fairchild-Republic in 1968, where he was involved in the development of the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

In 1989, Strait was recognized with induction into the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey.

Death

Strait died on March 30th, 2015. His wife, the former Louise Lyons, died in 2001, after 55 years of marriage.

P-51D Mustang ‘Jersey Jerk’ at Sywell ( Where Flying Tigers are based !)

Corgi Aviation Archive 1/72nd scale North American P-51D Mustang ‘Jersey Jerk’ USAAF 9th Air Force Major Donald Strait

AA27708 Corgi Aviation Archive 1/72nd scale North American P-51D Mustang ‘Jersey Jerk’ USAAF 9th Air Force Major Donald Strait
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As far as distinctively presented Mustangs of the Second World War are concerned, few were as colourful as the machines flown by the 356th Fighter Group of the US Army Air Force. Flying out of RAF Martlesham Heath in Suffolk, just a short flight from Britain’s North Sea coast, the group were colloquially referred to as the ‘Martlesham Playboys’ or, perhaps more understandably, the ‘Blue Diamonds’.

After completing his flight training in the US, Donald J Strait arrived in England to fly the P-47 Thunderbolt in autumn 1943. A native of Verona, New Jersey, he proudly took the name of his home state into combat with the Luftwaffe in the skies above Europe, naming his aircraft ‘Jersey Jerk’.

Achieving three aerial victories whilst flying the Thunderbolt, Strait enjoyed his most prolific period of combat success once his unit converted to the North American P-51D Mustang at the end of 1944.

Wearing the distinctive markings of the 356th Fighter Group, Captain Strait and his ‘Jersey Jerk’ scored a further 10.5 confirmed aerial victories in the final months of the Second World War, including a productive day on 20th February 1945 when he dispatched three Fieseler Storch Luftwaffe observation aircraft in the same mission.

With a total of 13.5 aerial victories, Donald Strait ended the war as the most successful ace pilot in the 356th Fighter Group