"Tex" Hill's Grandson Writes of Hero's History

What do you do when your grandfather was played by John Wayne in a movie, a general at age 31 and a bona fide American war hero? If you are Maj. Reagan Schaupp, you write a book about him.

Schaupp, of the 50th Space Support Squadron at Schriever AFB (CO), has spent the last five years working with his 88-year-old grandfather, retired Brig. Gen. David Lee "Tex" Hill, to make sure his grandfather's legacy is not forgotten. From his birth to missionary parents in Kwangju, Korea, in 1915, to his pilot heroics with the Flying Tigers, to his 60-year marriage to Mazie Hill, Schaupp had more than enough material to work with.

By almost any standard, Hill is a true American hero. After serving in a torpedo squadron on the USS Saratoga and a dive-bomber squadron on the USS Ranger, he was recruited in 1941 to serve in Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group, the Flying Tigers.

During his time as a pilot with the Flying Tigers and in World War II, Hill distinguished himself as a triple ace with 18.25 victories. His success, commitment to service, dynamic personality and leadership earned him full-bird-colonel status at age 29 and a general's star at 31.

He was such a real-life hero that the 1940's movie icon of American heroism, John Wayne, played him in the 1942 movie, The Flying Tigers. Eventually, Hill became friends with Wayne and they golfed and hunted together.

As is often the case with youth, Schaupp admits, "I didn't really appreciate my grandfather as much when I was young, but I loved to listen to his old war stories."

When Schaupp was a kid, he lived near his grandfather in San Antonio, so he was able to see him nearly every week. He sat wide-eyed, listening to his grandfather’s stories, including the one about the Samurai sword that sits above Hill's fireplace at home.

As the story goes, after a victorious head-to-head dogfight, Hill visited his opponent's crash site. He climbed what was left of the plane and peered into the cockpit, spotting a shimmering sword still attached to his enemy. It is that very sword that Schaupp gazed at with wonder as a child.

Schaupp got the idea to write a book about his grandfather when he was at the Air Force Weapons School in 1998. He was telling stories of his grandfather to a friend, who asked where he could get a copy of his book. Schaupp told him that there was none. His friend promptly scolded him by saying, "If you don't record his legacy, it will be lost."

That comment began a five-year task that is now complete.

"I wrote the book primarily for family, especially at first," Schaupp said. "But friends encouraged me to make it marketable to the public because so many people wanted his story written down."

Schaupp began writing the book by going to San Antonio to interview and record his grandfather's wild tales. Then, he mixed his stories with history to make a 400-page document. After that, Schaupp said, "The story wrote itself... It would be awesome for anybody to work with someone like Tex, but multiply that by five because he's my grandfather," Schaupp said. "It's a great accomplishment to write a book about someone with such a great story, but there is a great sense of honor and pride because he's family."

[Thanks to 2nd Lt. Ian Kallenbach, 50th Space Wing Public Affairs, Air Force Space Command News Service --ed.

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