More detail on this person: Jack "90" Knotts was born John William Knotts Jr. on July 7, 1924 in
Gary, Ind iana, and passed away peacefully on April 8, 2016 in Seminole, Florida. In 1942 he
graduated from high school in Crown Point, Indiana and attended Purdue University that fall. While
at college he qualified to enter the Army's pilot training program, and earned his pilot wings and
commission as a 2nd. Lt. in the U.S. Army Air Corps in March of 1944. Jack became an Instructor
Pilot before he received orders to the 434th Fighter Squadron, 318th Fighter Wing in Santa Rosa,
California. First flying the P-40N and then upgrading to the P-38L, the unit worked up for the
invasion of Japan scheduled for November, 1945. The unit was certified combat ready days before the
dropping of the A-bombs, and the end of the war. Jack was honorably discharged in November, 1945.
Jack returned to Purdue University and spent the next fifteen years making a living and raising a
family, but always looking to the skies. In 1960 Jack returned to the cockpit flying with the
Florida Air National Guard. Knowing this is what he really wanted to do he returned to active duty
in 1962 with the U.S. Army, graduating in class 63-1T from Camp Wolters, Texas as a Chief Warrant
Officer and newly minted helicopter pilot. In April, 1963 Jack received orders to the 24th Aviation
Battalion, A Company flying the CH-34C "Choctaw" out of the former Luftwaffe fighter base at
Schleissheim, north of Munich, Germany.
In the late spring of 1965 a group of pilots from the 24th was transferred to Fort Benning as part
of a nucleus forming a new helicopter outfit, the 178th Assault Support Helicopter Company. The
group included Jack, Captain Robert Black, and Jack's good friends CWO's Harvey Potter and Alvin
Lee. Jack became an instructor pilot and helped convert pilots to the new CH-47A Chinook. The
"Boxcars" received orders to South East Asia in December, 1965. After the Chinooks were ferried to
Oakland, CA Jack sailed onboard the U.S.S. Breton with them, with a small detachment of pilots and
maintenance personnel. Arriving in Vung Tau in March of 1966, Jack helped ferry the helicopters to
their new base at Phu Loi where the rest of the company had been setting up camp. At the end of his
tour with the Boxcars, Jack was recruited by the CIA to fly for Air America and began flying the
UH-1B out of Saigon. In 1970 Jack worked out of Udorn, Thailand and then ended the war flying out
of Vientiane, Laos supporting the Hmong n the Shadow War. He was there at the bitter end, flying
Hmong General Vang Pao and his CIA handler Jerry Daniels out of Long Cheng in May,1975 before it
was overrun by the communist. After the war Jack moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia flying for S.E.A.
and Sabah Air flying off of oil rigs in the Philippine Sea. He returned to the states in 1986, and
then moved to Acapulco, Mexico in 1987 flying on a State Department contract. Unfortunately he was
in a serious helicopter accident resulting in partial paralysis to his legs, and returned to the
Tampa, Florida area for the remainder of his life.
He loved to attend both Air America and Boxcar reunions, and enjoyed hand rolled cigars, vintage
scotch, and attending horse racing. He was a true Patriot, father, and friend, and will be sorely
missed.
- Obit from Chris Knotts - Jack's son - Jack attended ten Boxcar Reunions between 1996 in Reno and
2008 in Pensacola. After that travel it was too difficult for him, but he stayed in touch until he
was age 91. When Laotian General Vang Pao died, we ran a Taps notice for him, which was
written by Jack, who considered him a friend and a patriot.....just as we feel about Jack. -
Dean Nelson -
This information was last updated 09/05/2016
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Date posted on this site: 01/11/2025
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