Click to hear Royal Frey speak (from the "History of the 20th.FG" video.)
� � Royal D. Frey died February 28, 1993, after an extended illness. Royal was arguably the most famous of all 55th. members. We should have known. During the hiatus when we had no aircraft Royal got to know everybody in every department all over RAF Wittering, including pilots from all over the British commonwealth. He joined us at age 19 and thereby received the nickname, "Junior." He was shot down on February 10, 1944, his seventh mission, for which he states he volunteered. He remained a prisoner of war until the end of the war. He then came back to his home in Ohio, where he ewent to Ohio State University to receive his degree, and later became Curator of the US Air Force Museum. He also flew in the National Guard, flying F-86's.
� � In his position as Curator, Royal became the magnet for many famous people. He listed among his friends Jimmy Doolittle, Eddie Rickenbacker, and a host of others. Two of the displays in the Air Force Museum which relate directly to him are the "KRIEGE Display" and the Tribute To Glenn Miller, including the Glenn Miller trombone. Through the years he remained a Glenn Miller fan and was very instrumental in obtaining tapes and other materials which became long playing records of great historical value. These records may be purchased at the Air Force Museum. Record Three, for instance, includes Glenn Miller speaking German on a propaganda tape.
� � I learned of Royal's death on Staurday from Jack Ilfrey, who had received a call from Hub Zemke, who had received a call from the Air Force Museum. I immediately called Bettie and asked when the funeral was so that I could attend. She told me that Royal had been buried on the previous Sunday in accordance with his specific wishes that only she and her two daughters be present at the burial.
� � He is survived by his wife Bettie, two daughters, his mother, and a sister.
� � In 1943, I wrote a very difficult letter to his parents telling of his being missing in action. Fifty years later I find the same difficulty in writing this tribute.
� � When you next visit the Air Force Museum, you will note that the P-38 has Royal's personal squadron markings. This was not done out of vanity but done by the people who worked on the aircraft as a tribute to a fine and decent friend and employer, who was proud of America and proud of his Air Force.
Mathew P. Cicero
(This tribute appeared originally in King's Cliffe Remembered)
The P-38 at the USAF Museum in Dayton, OH is restored as the mount then-Lt.Royal Frey was shot down in.