Belcher Military Heroes

    In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their short but historic air flight, thus marking the major beginning of American aviation.  In 1923, a select group of aviators made another history-making flight.  This long-distance flight was to cover thousands of miles and to break previous American records for flight distance.  On board one of the two DH-4 planes that participated in the flight was First Sergeant Belcher, who helped to guide the craft on its round trip from an island in the West Indies to the skies of San Francisco, California.  It was a marathon flight, with a prerequisite for the highest bravery, skill, and stamina--the kind of flight that only a few good men could successfully complete.  First Sergeant Belcher was such a man, for he was a Marine and one of the famed "Flying Sergeants".  When his plane touched down at the final landing place,  history was made, for that journey was then the longest flight in the history of American aviation.  First Sergeant Belcher also had the distinction of being the First Naval Aviation Pilot in the Marine Corps.

    Many named Belcher have also been courageous Army soldiers.   Two soldiers named Belcher received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their feats of heroism: a Civil War soldier from Maine; and a Sergeant Belcher from West Virginia who, during the Vietnam War, saved the platoon squad he was  leading by absorbing a grenade blast with his own body.  These soldiers, as well as the "Flying Sergeant", had within them the spirit of heroes. 

For further reading:

    General Douglas MacArthur and Governor Belcher (MacArthur was the grandson, and his father, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Arthur MacArthur, was the son, of Aurelia Belcher MacArthur)

    Jesse A. Belcher: They Called Him "The Fox" (a Korean War veteran in the U. S. Army, Jesse A. Belcher was the son of Belcher, Kentucky pioneers William Kerry Belcher and Josephine Bingham Belcher, the subjects of www.belcherkentucky.com/josephine.htm)

    George Belcher: Founder of Belcher Kentucky (George was an American soldier in the Revolutionary War; see www.belcherkentucky.com/founder.htm)   

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