Documentary tells story of local WWII flying ace 'Buzz' Wagner

Apr. 13—Inspired by a request to tell the story of Air & Space Forces Association Chapter 221, members of the group quickly turned their thoughts to Johnstown flying legend Lt. Col. B.D. "Buzz" Wagner, the first U.S. Army Air Forces ace of World War II.

On Thursday, the group premiered a 40-minute documentary about Wagner that initially was supposed to be 15 minutes long.

"It just kept growing and growing and becoming this amazing piece of history," said the producer, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown instructor Matthew Sernell.

Sernell was contacted by the chapter's vice president, retired U.S. Air Force Col. Doug Lengenfelder, to help out with the project three years ago and was happy to lend a hand.

Sernell handled directing and producing responsibilities, and conducted some interviews alongside Lengenfelder.

"As we started working on it, we started realizing how much Buzz Wagner means to our area, our history and our national security — our freedoms," Lengenfelder said.

He added that, as is said best in the film, Wagner showed the United States that Imperial Japan could be beaten — an important message in World War II.

Wagner grew up in the Nanty Glo area and graduated from Nanty Glo High School in 1934.

Shortly after, his family moved to Johnstown's 8th Ward, and Wagner studied aeronautical engineering at the Johnstown Center of the University of Pittsburgh — the predecessor of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

Wagner joined the Army Air Corps aviation cadet program and was stationed in the Philippines when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

He soon gained command of the 17th Pursuit Squadron and, flying a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, is credited with shooting down five Japanese planes between Dec. 12 and Dec. 18, 1941.

"Flying against overwhelming odds, he was one of the handful of American fighter pilots who engaged vastly superior numbers of Japanese aircraft as the enemy overran the Philippines," according to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

In April 1942, Wagner shot down three more Japanese planes over New Guinea while flying a P-39.

"Although he wished to remain in combat, he was sent back to the United States where it was believed he would be of greater value in training new pilots," the museum says.

Wagner died on Nov. 29, 1942, when his plane crashed during a routine flight from Eglin Field in Florida to Maxwell Field in Alabama.

The documentary features several people with personal stories, including relatives; retired U.S. Air Force Col. James Moschgat, who found the site of Wagner's fatal crash; and Jack Landree, who made the replica of Wagner's Curtiss P-40 Warhawk that is on display at John Murtha Johnstown- Cambria County Airport in Richland Township.

"The whole story opened up as we got more footage and talked to more people," Sernell said. He described the experience as "very rewarding" and "touching."

Lengenfelder agreed.

"It was such an honor," Lengenfelder said. "As a pilot in the Air Force, I always knew about Buzz Wagner, and to have an opportunity to talk to relatives and to the colonel who actually discovered the crash site — being part of the repatriation when I first got here and being part of the history and preserving history has been a real honor."

In addition to the longer film, the local Air & Space Forces Association chapter also produced a 15-minute version of the story for the national group.

Nathan Madison cut together both lengths of the film, Sernell said.

To watch the documentary, visit www.thechapter221story.us.