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For the Cat lovers amongst us ( not PBY )

Posted by Tracey on Fri May 31, 2002 05:33:02 PM

For the Cat lovers amongst us, and I am not talking about the PBY.

Thought this was so sweet.

Ed Todd , Midland Reporter-Telegram 05/31/2002

MIDLAND, TEXAS (MRT) - Spitfire, a rarity among cats, has "gone west."

The Commemorative Air Force's mascot since the mid-1990s, the tabby died recently after he got "all tangled up" in a fight with another tomcat and contracted a severe leg infection, said Eric Van Hoff, the CAF's director of maintenance and operations at Midland International Airport.

Spitfire, a CAF colonel and veteran of a warbird flight, had made his home in the CAF's main hangar, which he dutifully had purged of mice.

"He took care of the pest population," Van Hoff said.

The orphaned cat had been adopted out of an animal-control shelter.

There may or may not be records to dispute the claim that Spitfire was the only cat alive who had flown aboard a B-29 Superfortress, the CAF's "Fifi."

"He tried to go on other airplanes," Van Hoff said, but stayed grounded after his 1997 stowaway flight.

Spitfire had been commissioned "a Colonel, officially," in the CAF on an America's Independence Day celebration in the mid-1990s.

"He definitely met all the visitors (to the CAF's hangar) and captured their hearts," Van Hoff said.

Spitfire, who was named after the famous fighter, contracted a fatal infection after he got into yet another fight with another tomcat, Van Hoff said.

"The vets tried everything to get the infection under
control, but were unable to save him" Van Hoff said. Spitfire passed away on May 18.

Spitfire was cremated and his ashes are to be cast into the sky from the
CAF's B-29 at the Fina-CAF AirSho 2002 on the weekend of Oct. 5 and 6.

"I don't know how many fights he won," Van Hoff said, "but he lost this one."

Footnote: I am sure some of our contributors have a few more stories to relate of this nature.

Regards
Tracey
H.A.R.S.

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