Maj. Stirling served as a B-26 Marauder pilot with the 456th Bomb Squadron, 323rd Bomb Group, and 9th Air Force during the Second World War. He was part of the original Myrtle Beach, South Carolina group that first comprised the 456th Bomb Squadron. The original Stirling crew included Stirling-Pilot and Hutchins-Bombardier.



Stirling was born John Bull Oldendorf in Annapolis, Maryland, the son of Navy Admiral Jessee Barret Oldendorf; he took his step-father's last name after his parents' divorce. He attended Anapolis High School before joing the Maryland Naitonal Guard in 1937. He was released in 1941 to join the Royal Canadian Air Force where he served as a flying instructor in Ontario. When the United States enetered World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps.



Stirling flew in the Flight and Box Lead aircraft in many of his combat missions with the 456th Bomb Squadron. He was the second highest ranking officer in the 456th BS and second in commad after Lt. Col. Robert O. Barker. In that capacity, he often flew in WT-O "Buckeye Battle Cry."



Lt. Frank Burgmeier, a Lead Navigator with the 456th, flew with Stirling on the first mission of the day on June 6, 1944 in a Flight Lead to a coastal dfefense battery on Utah Beach. For an account of that mission, see the book by Louis S. and Carlton R. Rehr, the first chapter of which regarding the D-Day mission was written by Burgmeier. Burgmeier was interviewed by a Syracuse, New York new station regarding this D-Day mission on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day.



In post-war comments, Lt. Burgmeier recalled one mission that he and Stirling had flown to a target (probably a bridge or marshalling yard) just outside of Paris. Burgmeier recalled that it was a hot target and that "it was incredibly tense" in the aircraft due to the amount of well-directed heavy flak exploding around them. Burgmeier said, "Noboy ever ate their [rationed chocolate] candy bars on missions. We were either too tense or too busy to even think about it. I was sitting next to JB in the Co-Pilot's seat when I happened to glance over and saw him sitting there casually eating his chocolate bar completely unphased by what was going on around us." Burgmeoier said it was such an absurd sight, he burst into laughter, at which point Stirling did the same.



On August 6, 1944, Maj. Stirling, flying with Capt. Chief Collins-Co-P, Lt. Al Allison-Navigator, and Lt. Walt Foster-Bombardier flew one of the 323rd's draded mandatory five night missions in WT-O "Buckeye Battle Cry" to the Ile de Cezzembre Coastal Defenses near St. Lo with good results. In a letter printed in Ross Harlan's book, Strikes, Col. Stirling recalls this mission, which all returning air crew described as "creepy." The mission was illuminated by a full moon. It mus thave been quite a ride for Allison and Foster --- nothing seemed to phase either Stirling or Collins, both excellent pilots who exemplified the "devil may care" attitude shared in varying defrees by all combat crewmembers of the 456th; they were all just a ttile bit crazy because they had to be to do what they did day in and day out during their tours of duty.



Maj. Stirling flew his last combat mission with the 456th on September 23, 1944 from Chartes to the Venlo Railroad Bridge in WT-W "Georgia Miss" with Lt. Allison-Navigator and Lt. Walt Foster as bombardier in the Box I, Flight 3 lead aircraft. The mission was eventually aborted due to bad weather over the target. This was also Lt. Allison's last combat mission with the 456th.



Maj. Stirling shared a tent with Lt. Col. Barker when the two were stationed at Lessay and Chartes. Following Stirling's final mission, according to Burgmeier's war diary, the two "got into quite a brawl" outside of their tent as Bugmeier and Foster, who had to flown a lot of missions with both of them. Discreiton being the better part of valor, Burgmeier and Foster watched the two men resolve their difference from a few yards away outside of their own tent. Barker and Striling had been through a lot together and were about to part ways after having been "family" since the arriving at Myrtle Beach for training. The transition back into civiliam life was approached with trepidation by combat aircrew about to return to the States.



Following the Second World War, Stirling earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Mayland and a master's degree in International Studies from George Washington University.



Stirling also served in the Korean War and the Southeast Asian War. During the Korean War, he brought cargo from Japan to Korea and wounded soliers back from Korea to Japan. In 1966 and 1967, he was a photo reconnaissance pilot and squadron commander, flying 101 combat sorties over North Vietnam from Thailand. Following the Vietnam War, Stirling served in a wapons systems group at the Pentagon, retiring from the USAF in 1970 with the rank of Colonel. On Nov. 14, 1988, he drowned athe age of 68 after his one-man racing skull cptcized in the tidal pool of the Potomac River near the Frances Scott Keyes Bridge. Col Stirling was laid to rest at Arlington Naitonal Cemetary.