This Memorial Day, we honor all the vets that made the ultimate sacrifice. We salute you. 
Lake Royales very own Major JOE – WWII Veteran and Bomber pilot, turned 103 years old this spring. See his birthday video below.
Lake Royales very own Major JOE – WWII Veteran and Bomber pilot, turned 103 years old this spring. See his birthday video below.Joe went far beyond his duty in serving his country. In all, he flew 106 missions in World War II. Was shot down twice, and never captured.
“And a Zero got us from behind and shot our fighters down,” Balogh said. “We did bail out, but got home safe. We avoided the Japanese.” – Major Joe
“We couldn’t jump out of the airplane,” Balogh said. “We were down too low. So we had to crash into rice paddy fields and we lost our co-pilot.” – Major Joe
Balogh had put in 68 air missions, which was supposed to be the limit. But he was still needed.
“No pilots can come home,” he said. “Attrition rates on pilots was terrible.” – Major Joe
