Army Air Corps Lieutenant Monroe Seabrook Sams with wife Norma E. Evans, circa 1943.
Thank you for your service: Thomas N. Sams, Monroe ‘Buddy’ Seabrook Sams, Jr., and John Bonum Sams, Jr. (all retired, USAF)
May 16, 2020, is Armed Forces Day. It’s a day to honor Americans serving on active duty in the five U.S. military branches of our Department of Defense. As a retired United States Air Force officer myself, I couldn’t resist focusing this week’s theme of SERVICE on telling you about Sams descendants that spent a career in the USAF or its predecessor, the Army Air Corps. Yes, I realize this article is about veterans vice active duty military, but here I go anyhow.
In June 2018, the Dataw Historic Foundation had the honor of hosting a Sams Family Reunion. About 120 descendants attended, representing five generations of the Sams family. The oldest in attendance was Thomas S. Sams (1924 – 2020), a WW II veteran. All families shared the common link of being descended from William Sams (1741-1798) and his wife Elizabeth Hext Sams (1746 – 1813). In Week 13 – Almost Forgotten, I told you about the seven sons born to William Sams and Elizabeth Hext. At the reunion, I met three Sams who were all veterans of the USAF. Thomas N. Sams (retired USAF Master Sargent) and Monroe ‘Buddy’ Seabrook Sams, Jr. (retired USAF Brigadier General) are brothers. They are the GGG Grandsons of John Sams (1769 – 1800). John and his wife Catherine Deveaux Sams raised their family in the Goose Creek, SC area.
The third airman at the Sams reunion was John Bonum Sams, Jr. (retired USAF Lieutenant General). John is the GG Grandson of BB Sams and his second wife, Martha Edwards Sams. His line has been in the Charleston area for generations. John is a distant cousin of Buddy’s. To be exact, John is Buddy’s 4th cousin, once removed (i.e., 4C1R). See more info on LtGen Sams and BGen Sams at the end of this article.
All three gentlemen are still alive, and I thank them for their service to our nation. Here is a short video of John and Buddy together at the June 2018 reunion. The video begins with Buddy.
Col Monroe Seabrook Sams, Sr. (1922 – 1992)
The fourth Sams who served in the USAF was Buddy and Tommy’s father, Colonel Monroe Seabrook ‘Sabre’ Sams, Sr. (1922 – 1992). The Thomas S. Sams I mentioned above was Col Sabre Sams brother!
Monroe Seabrook Sams was born to Thomas Lee Sams (1883 – 1960) and his wife Amanda Clarity Sams, January 1922, in Courtney, FL. As you may recall from the presentation Joe Roney gave back in June 2019, several Sams were pioneers of Brevard County, Fl. Buddy and Tommy come from this long line of Florida Sams.
Their father, Col Sams, was a member of The Greatest Generation, as journalist Tom Brocaw described in his book by the same name. What a story he has! His son Buddy begins,
Dad was a sophomore at the University of Tampa when the War Dept opened Aviation Cadets to men who had a year of college. He immediately enlisted and entered pilot training in early 1942, receiving his commission and wings on Jan 14, 1943.
In June, he married Norma Elizabeth Evans (1924 – 1990).
His unit, the 511th Fighter Squadron out of Walterboro, SC was deployed in the Spring of 1944 to Christchurch England. After flying 80 combat missions over France in his P-47, he was given 30 days leave back in the States where, Buddy continues, “… he bounced me off his knee.”
In October, he returned to his unit, now operating out of St Dizar, France. But 1944 was far from over. After his first deployment, first combat missions, and first child, this happens.
No military family ever wants to hear these words. When Mrs. Norma E Sams received the Western Union telegram above, it was the first she knew that her husband was missing in action. Thanks to the kind contribution of the descendants of this officer, the Dataw Historic Foundation is able to tell you his story.
November 18, 1944
Capt Sams’ orders as Red Team Leader that day were to strafe trains on the rail line near St. Ingbert, France (now Germany). While attacking, his plane was hit by flak and burst into flames. He regained control of his single-seat P-47 aircraft, bailed out, and floated for 20 seconds before hitting the ground in an open field near Hassel, Germany. He was quickly surrounded by a mob who threatened him with pitchforks and axes. A German officer from the flak unit which had shot him down arrived, pulled his Lugar, and insisted he be shot. And we know all this only because of German history professor Klaus Zimmer who decided a few decades ago to document all the allied forces airmen who were shot down over the northwest corner of Germany in WW II! You can see the website Klaus created by following the link below in Sources.
David Winters (nephew of the downed airman) and his wife Judy were the first family members of Capt Sams to visit the site where their uncle had landed on that fateful day in 1944. They heard what happened to him from Klaus Zimmer directly, who had interviewed an eye witness to the incident, his mother-in-law! To add some perspective, D-Day was five months earlier, and Hitler was on his heels by the Fall of 1944. David and Judy Winters continue the story,
The villagers ran toward Seabrook with pick axes and spit on him but in all honesty, the villagers saved his life. The military guy that ran up wanted to shoot Seabrook but they stopped him. He then wanted to take Seabrook to the SS but the villagers had recently found a group of murdered soldiers in the woods on the outskirts of the village so they insisted that the local cop take Seabrook to the proper authorities, no doubt saving Seabrook’s life.
The German military was desperate, and if the pilot had been shot, there would not likely be any repercussions. But Capt Sams was fortunate, saved by a German policeman named Lorenz, who thought a summary field execution was inhumane.
As a prisoner of war, he was taken to Saarbrucken and then Wiesbaden, GE, and interrogated by the Luftwaffe. Several weeks later, he ended up at POW camp Stalag Luft 1 on the Bering Sea – 50 miles due south of Copenhagen near the German coast.
During the time Capt Sams was a POW, the Germans launched their last offensive of note, The Battle of the Bulge (Dec 16, 1944 – Jan 25, 1945). By May of 1945, as the Soviets were about to liberate Stalag Luft 1, the German guards fled. Capt Sams and another POW walked out of the camp. Fortunately, Patton’s 3rd Army had been pushing east. The pair of former POWs found them, and Capt Sams was able to return to service.
The Rest of his Career
Col Sabre Sams had a full life, fortunately, and a full career. He and his wife Norma went on to have five more children. No small feat since he had 89 combat missions in WW II flying P-47s, 70+ missions flying F-84s and F-86s in the Korean War, and was the first wing commander to fly 100 missions over North Vietnam in F-105s.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in WWII and Vietnam. In Southeast Asia, he was also awarded the Silver Star for gallantry.
And Friend of Col Chuck Yeager!!
Much to my delight, Col Sabre Sams knew Col Chuck Yeager. Yeager is a legend in the USAF. After retiring as a BGen, he continued in civilian life as a flight test pilot of military aircraft, among other endeavors. He received numerous awards both inside and outside of the USAF for his flying abilities.
He had two very distinctive accomplishments in his career. He completed the first manned supersonic flight in 1947. But his second record achievement was a bit scary. A U.S. Navy team was the first to reach twice the speed of sound, in 1953. Later that year, Col Yeager bested their record reaching Mach 2.44. He was flying at 80,000 feet in an experimental aircraft, the X-1A. Suddenly, the plane went out of control due to inertial coupling. It’s a phenomenon sometimes experienced when flying at very high speed. And his speed, in this plane, had never been done before. We now know this can occur when the wings and tail of the aircraft are too small compared to the fuselage. At very high speed, the plane reacts like a big stick and falls from the sky – literally.
During this flight, he fell over 50,000 feet in less than a minute, with the plane tumbling. He managed to regain control and landed unhurt. The 1983 movie The Right Stuff is partially based on his career. You can understand why.
The Sams family has a picture of the two fighter pilots together about 15 years later in 1968. But you have to hear the backstory to appreciate the photo.
Hawaiian Good Luck Sign
I believe the story of this picture revolves around the Pueblo Incident of 1968. Here’s an historian in the USAF with some details, “At approximately 1345 hours on 23 January 1968 (Korea Time), North Korean patrol boats seized the USS Pueblo, a US Navy intelligence-gathering vessel, in international waters of the East Sea near Wonsan, North Korea. One USS Pueblo crew member was killed in the boarding, with 82 taken POW, and later held captive for 11 months. The seizure took place two days after a North Korean commando team attempted to assassinate Republic of Korea President Park Chung Hee in Seoul. These incidents only highlighted ongoing provocations by the North over the previous several years which had been known as the “Second Korean War.” The USS Pueblo seizure shocked the Free World with strong public sentiment in the US calling for firm retaliatory action against North Korea. However, the US was deeply involved in the South Vietnam conflict which required enormous amounts of military assets. Yet, the seizure served as a catalyst to strengthen US commitment to South Korea over the following months [Okonski].
“…Concerned that military action would put the crew at risk, President Lyndon B. Johnson began a diplomatic campaign to free the men through the United Nations Security Council. However, he also ordered a buildup of USAF forces on the Peninsula on 26 January to include activation of Air National Guard (ANG) units. Within 2 hours after the USS Pueblo seizure, the Fifth Air Force commander, who was located at Fuchu AS, Japan, and had overall responsibility for operations for USAF activities on the Korean Peninsula, ordered the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing’s (TFW) 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) with 34 F-105s to deploy from Kadena AB, Okinawa, to Osan AB, and …”[Okonski].
Col Sabre Sams commanded the highlighted unit. Guess who else was involved in this defensive show of force, Col Chuck Yeager. Look closely at the picture; yes, you saw that correctly!
The captured USS Pueblo crew made this gesture famous at the time. They claimed to the North Koreans, when forced to pose for several propaganda photos in 1968, that it was the Hawaiian Good Luck Sign. I admire their bravery, knowing full well their captives might learn of their ruse, and they did.
This is a fascinating picture but there is so much more to it. To hear the stories of an Air Force fighter pilot like Col Sabre Sams is exciting. Then to find out he was a contemporary to a USAF pioneer like Chuck Yeager is huge. There is no better evidence that these two men knew each other well than the salute Col Sams is giving Col Yeager in the photo below, and the smile on Yeager’s face.
Here is the picture of Col Sams wishing, I believe, Col Yeager good luck!
Conclusion
BGen Buddy Monroe, Jr. (Retired USAF) likes to joke that if not for a German policeman named Lorenz, his other two brothers and three sisters would not be here today. Thanks to the kind contribution of Buddy, Tommy, Teresa, and others, we now know what happened back then – and more.
Buddy says of his Dad,
He was a fighter pilot’s fighter pilot—respected by all he flew with. He was truly a member of America’s greatest generation.
Sources
Bridges, Teresa – discussions with Bill Riski, 2020.
Okonski, John A. – Operation Combat Fox – The USAF Response, 51st Fighter Wing Historian, Published January 17, 2012
Roney, Joe – Florida Sams presentation, 2019
Sams, Monroe Seabrook ‘Buddy’ – unpublished notes on Col Sabre Sams, 2020.
Sams, Tommy N – Photo of Col Yeager and Col Sams, circa 1968.
Wikipedia: Chuck Yeager
Zimmer, Klaus – The results of the air war in the Saarland 1939 – 1945
#52 Sams Week 19