ROBERT S. FLUHR

Branch of Service: Airforce

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Service years: 1950-1952

Honors earned: Purple Heart, Air Medal

Glen Rock: Lived in Glen Rock

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     Robert Stanley Fluhr was born in San Mateo, California on May 25, 1929, the youngest of 9 other Fluhr children. Shortly after, the Fluhr family moved to Glen Rock, NJ, as his parents were native Jersyites. Fluhr attended Leonia High School where he became an Eagle Scout and a member of the Civilian Air Patrol and graduated in 1948. 4 of Robert Fluhr's brothers served as airmen in World War II. Fluhr attended Adrain College in Michigan and took the US Air Force entrance exam at the University of Michigan. During Fluhr's college years, he received a notice from the draft board. Robert Fluhr decided to respond to the draft notice rather than defer, to follow in his 4 older brothers' footsteps. He joined the United States Air Force and passed his physical exam in Jersey City, NJ in August of 1950. 

    Since June 25th, 1950, the Korean Peninsula has been mired in a war of brother versus brother.  The communist North Koreans, led by Kim Il Sung, launched the first attack pushing the South Koreans, led by Syngman Rhee into the Pusan Peremiter.  President Harry S. Truman asked the United Nations to liberate the occupied member. By September 1951, the South Korean forces had pushed the North Koreans back over the 38th parallel.

     Second Lieutenant Fluhr arrived at Hoeongsong, South Korea with the 12th fighter bomber squadron of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing. He flew an F-51 Mustang (originally known as a P-51 Mustang for Pursuit and used often in WWII). The motto of the 18th Wing is "Unguibus Et Rostro," meaning "with tooth and nail." On May 6, 1952, Second Lieutenant Fluhr took off in his Mustang on a rescue mission.  His mission that day was to help any bomber pilots returning from their runs in North Korea who downed themselves into the Yellow Sea off the coast of Pyongyang.  As he was returning to his airbase, Fluhr's engine quit on him in mid-air. He called his commanding officer and informed him of the engine trouble then his plane was seen going into an inverted dive, crashing into the sea.  The next day, the US Navy recovered his plane with his body still in the cockpit. Second Lieutenant Robert S. Fluhr was returned to his family and buried in George Washington Cemetary in Paramus NJ. 

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Born: 1929, San  Mateo, California

Died: 1952, The Yellow Sea, Korea