Milford Township and Proud of It

facility to the other. Those twin Allisons roaring, those big props that are just a blur- boring holes in the sky, it was a real event that put the hair on the back of your neck on end - and to think one of our own Milford people is at the controls of this beautiful bird. James McCord was the brother of Betty McCord (`36) who was married to Lt. Laverne “Bud” Sorensen (`36) who was killed in an airplane (B-24) training accident in central Kansas in the summer of 1943. (See “Gold Star” Men pg 191)

The P-38 was the first American designed 400 mph piston engine aircraft having been designed and first constructed in 1937 and placed into the service in 1939. It had a wingspan of 52 feet and a length of just under 38 feet. The engines were two inline Allison V-1710 rated at 1,425 hp each and the maximum speed was 414 mph although reports of much higher speeds were numerous. They had a service ceiling of about 44,000 feet and a range, without drop tanks, of 340 miles. 9,923 P-38s had been built when production stopped in 1945. The plane had just the one crewman- the pilot. It was nicknamed the “Lightening” and, on the ground, it looked somewhat ill at ease with its tricyle gear, but, in the air, it was a superb looking weapon. Top WWII American ace Major Richard Bong earned all of his 40 kills while flying a P-38 in the Pacific Theater.

Lendell Manley 1946 and 2005

In the early `60's the Book Family had a foreign exchange student from Laos living with them. In the late `60's, Dave Allen `55, pilot for Air America in Laos, was in a restaurant there and heard good American being spoken. He introduced himself to this man and in the visiting found out that it was the Book's foreign exchange student, Don Pomacheck-- From a mile and a quarter in Milford Twp to meeting in Laos!

When the Neasham family left Milford Twp in the spring of 1954, Dick Neasham was a freshman. The family moved to Texas, California, and then to Arizona and settled in the Tuscon area. There Dick established a swimming pool business, but, one of his strongest interests was in aviation. While in Arizona he became the owner of four airplanes.

One day in the spring of 2003, April 23, Richard (who we all would still call Dick) was piloting his Meyers 200D four seater plane just on the southeast edge of Tucson when, while making a low level, high speed pass over a school construction site where his son, Troy, was working, he clipped the wing of his plane on a con- struction trailer. The resulting impact sent the aircraft tumbling through the desert for about 400 yards. Dick, 64, was killed instantly.

As a high school student in Arizona, Dick was twice the Individual High School Tennis Champion of Arizona in 1956 and 1957. See page 202

Dick would have been in Milford's graduating class of 1957 and had he stayed at Milford Twp, would have, undoubtedly, contributed much to efforts of the Milford's very fine basketball teams of that era which won the Story County Tournament both in 1956 and 1957. While in Jr. High at Milford Twp, his Jr High team was undefeated. (Gerald Petersen as the coach) (Mrs Jessie Peterson, no relationship to Coach Petersen, was the chaperon for both the boys and the girls.) See page 156.