Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Walter Ellis COPE
Col. Walter E. Cope of Newtown Square On Wednesday, August 5, 2015, Col. Walter E. Cope passed away at 97. Graduating from Haverford High School in 1935, he attended Drexel University for two years and worked at various jobs prior to volunteering for the Army Air Corps shortly after Pearl Harbor. After basic training, he was selected for an experimental flight training class as the country was desperate for pilots early in the war. 400 cadets were handpicked for this special flight training school, designated 42X (for experimental), at Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas, commencing in September 1942. The wash out rate was very high as there was classroom work and flight training every day for three months, one third of the normal time. Of this core group including (then) Cadet Cope, 248 received their wings in December of that year. Newly promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, these pilots were sent to air fields all across the country to train new pilots for the war effort. In April of 1943, (then) Lt. Cope married his high school sweetheart, Louise Bergner. After the war, Col. Cope joined Philadelphia Electric Company while remaining in the Air National Guard. He was called to active duty in 1951 for the Korean Conflict and sent to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Wash. There he was made Aircraft Commander of a B-29 in the fledgling Strategic Air Command, and subsequently stationed at Yakoda Air Force Base in Tokyo from which he flew 15 combat missions over North Korea. After Korea, he returned to civilian life with PECO and served in the Air National Guard. While on a routine training mission in 1957, he had to bail out of a flaming F-94 over South Jersey. Col. Cope retired from the Air National Guard and Air Force in 1971 having flown 32 different aircraft accumulating almost 7000 hours in the cockpit. He retired from PECO in 1978. He spent his free time and retirement years hunting, fishing, playing golf and gardening. He was predeceased by his wife of 65 years, Louise in 2008, and his son John in 2010. He is survived by his son William Cope of Elverson, and grandchildren Jon Cope and Deborah Cope Heard, both of Miami. Col. Walter E Cope was a member of the “Greatest Generation” and will surely be missed by those who knew him.
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