Colonel Philip Cochran, Erie's War Hero

Philip Cochran was born in Erie in nineteen ten and became one of the most decorated and unconventional American pilots of World War Two. He commanded P-forty fighter planes in North Africa, where his daring attacks earned him a reputation for spectacular disregard for personal risk. He was then chosen to co-command the First Air Commandos during the Allied invasion of Burma, a pioneering special-operations air unit that flew combat missions deep behind Japanese lines.

Cochran was a colonel before he turned thirty-five and received both the Distinguished Service Medal and the British Distinguished Service Order. His fame reached civilians through popular culture. Cartoonist Milton Caniff used Cochran as the inspiration for Flip Corkin in the comic strip Terry and the Pirates, and later for General Philerie in Steve Canyon. Erie's most celebrated airman became a cartoon hero before the war was even over.