ENERGIZING Our Communities

Remembering a Warrior Hero from the Sky

Preddy Revered by Young Cousin Noah Who Honors His Legacy
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF JOE NOAH

Mecklenburg Electric
Cooperative member and
Air Force veteran Joseph
Noah remembers his
cousin George, a top
P-51 Mustang ace during
WWII, whose legacy Noah
carries on through the work
of the Preddy Memorial
Foundation.
by Laura Emery, Field Editor

That quote pretty much says it all,

notes 88-year-old military veteran Joseph
Joe Noah, sitting in his quiet Clarksville
home overlooking John H. Kerr Reservoir.
The walls of his office are covered with
beautiful images of planes, and model
planes of every size and type are
suspended from the ceiling.

MECKLENBURG ELECTRIC
COOPERATIVE
P.O. Box 2451
Chase City, VA 23924-2451
Chase City District
(434) 372-6200
Emporia District
(434) 634-6168
Gretna District
(434) 656-1288
Power Failure & Emergencies
(877) 632-5688
Office Hours: M-F, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Website: www.meckelec.org
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Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative is an
equal opportunity provider and employer.

18 | Cooperative Living | May 2016

George Preddy (insets) is clearly a hero in

Joseph Noahs eyes. But, as Noah explains,
he always was. He was my first cousin,
nine years older than me. ... Noah has
written and published multiple books about
Preddy. He flips open one of the books to a
black-and-white image (above) of him
sitting with Preddy. Noah (below) at his
home in Clarksville, where model planes of
every size and type are suspended from the
ceiling of his office.
LAURA EMERY PHOTO

Once you have tasted flight, you will

forever walk the earth with your eyes turned
skyward. For there you have been and there
you long to return. Leonardo da Vinci

The da Vinci quote perfectly captures

Noahs passion: his lifelong interest in
aviation and his admiration for those who
have served their country among the
clouds. I have always loved to fly, he says.
Noah, a member of Mecklenburg
Electric Cooperative, owned and flew a
Piper Comanche for 34 years and has
amassed more than 5,000 flying hours.
He served 18 months as an aircraft
engineering officer in the Air Force during
the Korean War and the French IndoChina War. During his lifetime, Noah has
also served in the U.S. Merchant Marines
and the U.S. Marine Corps. Noah earned a
masters degree from Stanford University
and he and his wife of 68 years, Betty, are
now retired. They have two daughters and
one son, all retired.
But Noah isnt quick to talk about
himself. Instead, a man named George
Preddy keeps popping up into his
Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative

conversation. George Preddy, a major in

the U.S. Army Air Force, was on his way to
becoming the leading P-51 Mustang ace in
Europe during World War II. A fighter ace
is a military aviator credited with shooting
down five or more enemy aircraft during
aerial combat.
In August of 1944, the 25-year-old set a
record by shooting down six aerial enemy
aircraft in one mission. Then, tragedy
struck on Christmas Day later that same
year. As commanding officer of the 328th
Fighter Squadron of the 352nd Fighter
Group, Preddy was leading a formation of
10 P-51 Mustangs when he was downed
by friendly fire during the Battle of the
Bulge near Langerwehe, Germany.
Today he is considered the top Air
Force ace from the Southern United States,
the top Mustang ace, and ranks sixth
among Air Force aces, and seventh among
American aces, says Noah.
Preddy is clearly a hero in Noahs eyes.
But, as Noah explains, he always was.
He was my first cousin,
nine years older than me.
We both grew up in
Greensboro, North
Carolina. George was
the son of my favorite
aunt, Aunt Clara, who
was my fathers older
sister. George was my
idol growing up, even
before he became a top
Mustang ace with the Air
Force. I always admired him, Noah
says, pulling two books out of a nearby
desk drawer.
Noah has written and published
multiple books about Preddy. He flips
open one of the books to a black-andwhite image of him sitting with Preddy.
The affection between the two cousins is
clear, even in the faded image. George
had a nickname as a kid. We called him
Mouse because he had big ears, Noah
says, smiling. And then he pauses, staring
down at the black-and-white image. He
used to call me Buddy. Thats what he
always called me.
Preddy garnered so much of Noahs
admiration, perhaps, because he got to do
what Noah always wanted to do. I
remember him coming home on leave in
September of 1944 as a decorated hero and
making speeches in the area. I had just
gone up on my first solo flight, at the age
of 16, and he thought that was just the
greatest thing. I wanted to be like him.
I wanted to share the sky with him.
www.meckelec.org

But, for Noah, it wasnt as easy. He was

unable to become a pilot with the U.S.
Army Air Corps due to his near-sightedness.
The militarys physical requirements were
very high. I went up in planes, but just
couldnt fly them, Noah explains. In
1944, Noah was prescribed glasses to
correct his near-sightedness and allow him
to pilot a plane in a civilian capacity. I
could not believe what Id been missing all
my life by not being able to see properly,
he says.
In 1944 the same year his cousin was
killed in combat Noah finally got to fly
solo. It was incredible, everything I thought
it would be, he says, smiling. It was in a
J-3 Piper Cub. It was so freeing to be up
there looking down at everything.
The Preddy Memorial Foundation was
founded and incorporated in 1996 by
Noah to help perpetuate the memory of
George Preddy and his fellow WWII
comrades in arms. Right now, the
Foundation, which has a 24-member
board, is placing exhibits honoring
Maj. George Preddy all over the
world in various museums. Were
also working on an hour-long
animated documentary film

called Carolina Ace and trying to get a

bronze plaque put up on the wall in
the Field of Honor at Triad Park in
Kernersville, North Carolina, in memory
of George Preddy.
The Foundation also honors another
one of Noahs cousins Lt. Bill Preddy.
Bill was following in the footsteps of
George, his famous older brother. He was
shot down by enemy ground fire while
strafing an airfield at Ceske Budejovice,
Czechoslovakia, in April of 1945, just days
before the war ended in Europe.
It was the last mission flown by Bills
339th Fighter Group. He is memorialized
in the Czech Republic as one of their
liberators, Noah explains. They
were both fine boys who served their
country well.
While the Preddy Memorial
Foundations main goal is to keep the
memory of the Preddy brothers alive, the
Foundation has also made donations in
support of other veterans. Air Force Lt.
Col. William R. Watkins III, of Danville,
was killed in action on April 7, 2003, while
supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Reverend Jean Hood, on behalf of the
Preddy Memorial Foundation, presented a

The Preddy Memorial Foundation was founded and incorporated in 1996 by Noah to help
perpetuate the memory of George Preddy and his fellow WWII comrades in arms. It also
honors another one of Noahs cousins Lt. Bill Preddy. Bill (inset) was following in the
footsteps of George, his famous older brother. While the Preddy Memorial Foundations main
goal is to keep the memory of the Preddy brothers alive, the Foundation has also made
donations in support of other veterans.
May 2016 | Cooperative Living | 19

donation to the Red River Valley

Fighter Pilots Association in memory
of Lt. Col. Watkins.
Its very important to me that
people remember our war heroes, in
the air and on the ground. Not just on
Memorial Day, but every day. About
400,000 people lost their lives during
World War II. Maj. George Preddy and
Lt. Bill Preddy were my first cousins,
and they meant a lot to me. All who
served deserve to be remembered,
Noah says.
At one point, Noah even tried his
hand at aerial photography. Along with
photographing Clarksville from above,
he also photographed the Mecklenburg
Electric Cooperative building and
other predominant local businesses.
He says hes proud to be a member of
the Co-op. Ive never had to buy a
generator. I think that speaks for
itself, he says.
Now retired, Noahs focus is
primarily on the work he does for the
Preddy Memorial Foundation, but he
still loves his planes. I sold my
beloved Comanche in 2010, but Ive
got another plane I am learning to fly,
he says, walking into a backroom. He
emerges with a large white remotecontrol airplane. This radio-controlled
plane is the only plane Im flying these
days, he says, grinning.
Finally, when Noah has said all he
has to say about his passion for planes
and the cousin he will always idolize,
he gets up and walks out onto his back
porch. The sky is beautiful today,
he muses, looking upward. And then,
with near-perfect timing, a small
plane makes its way across the clear
sky overhead.
Noah looks up at it and smiles
for there Joe Noah has been, and there
he longs to return.
For More Information
Preddy Memorial Foundation
www.preddy-foundation.org
The new eBook edition of the
1991 biography George Preddy:
Top Mustang Ace is available on
Amazon.com. The book includes many
still images from Preddys gun-camera
footage, including pictures from the day
he downed six Bf-109s.

20 | Cooperative Living | May 2016

Meet Your Cooperative Employee

rad Clark, equipment operator in

Mecklenburg Electric Cooperatives
(MEC) Chase City district, begins
each work day with a careful safety
inspection of all equipment that he will be
using. He keeps in mind that he must
exercise extreme caution and attentiveness
as he drives the massive digger derrick
truck down the highway to the job site and
as he operates the equipment.
He situates himself behind the control
panel of the digger derrick and skillfully
drills 6-foot-deep holes, moves heavy
40-foot electric poles and sets them in the
ground. He hangs transformers and
regulators with the equipment and also
provides additional assistance to the line
workers. I love my job, he states with
earnestness. Its new and exciting
every day.
Whenever storms interrupt power to our
members, Brad and his co-workers respond
without hesitation, working all hours of the
night and many times into the next
morning. It gets hard for us in the
summertime when there are thunderstorms
night after night, he comments. But we
really work hard to make the repairs, and
we get power back on for the folks as
quickly as we can.
Brad started work at MEC as a
groundman and advanced to equipment
operator in September of 2013. He has
been a top performer in this position, as
evidenced by accolades he earned the
following year at the Terex Gaff-n-Go
Linemans & Equipment Operators Rodeo
held near Ruther Glen, Virginia.
At that event Brad, Paul Underwood and
Jason McKinney competed against other
teams and scored first- and second-place
finishes in several categories and won the
coveted Jimmy Gardner Award for being
the highest-scoring team among the
Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association
of Electric Cooperatives. At the same rodeo
last year, he and his teammates, Mark
Bandy and Paul Underwood, won first place
in the Bucket Rescue event.

Brad Clark
Equipment Operator
Chase City District
Six Years of Service

Brad is recognized for his willingness to

be a team player here at MEC. He has
served as president of employee safety
meetings and is currently the Chase City
district representative for the Action
Committee for Rural Electrification.
Soon after Brad came to work at MEC
in 2009, he and his fiancee Heather
Wilkinson were married. He grins as he
recalls how they first got together, I knew
she was a keeper when she agreed to go
to a catfish tournament with me for our
first date! In their free time, the couple
enjoys spending time together fishing at
Buggs Island Lake, vacationing at the
Outer Banks, participating in fox-hunt
field trials, and spending time with family
members and friends. They live in the
South Hill area and are expecting their
first child (a boy) next month. Heather
is deputy clerk for Mecklenburg
Countys Juvenile and Domestic
Relations Court.
Brad has been a valuable addition to the
MEC family, and we commend him for his
dedication to the Cooperative and his
willingness to serve the members.

Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative