Max (Cohen) Kahn was born in Cleveland, Ohio on August 15th 1915.
He had always dreamed of becoming a pilot and learned to fly at the age of 17. In 1941, he joined the Army Air Corps. Because he was color blind, he was unable to get his pilot’s license. Instead, he became a flight engineer, studying mechanics in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Max was assigned to the 305th bomb Group No. 422 Bomb Squadron in Salt Lake City, Utah with Gen. Le May’s Group. He sailed on the Queen Mary and arrived in Greenwich in England. He flew 25 missions over Germany and France from his base in Kettering, mostly without fighter escort. While there, Max designed a heating element for the oxygen mask systems, which tended to freeze. He also designed blind-flying goggles, was awarded several medals, and was discharged in 1946.
In 1947, Max was recruited by AI Schwimmer for the purpose of getting an old C-46 to Israel. It needed a great deal of repair and ingenuity to keep it running. Max eventually helped train other pilots and flew numerous missions. Max Kahn served as flight engineer on a C-46 that flew to Mexico and then on to Israel. During the War of Independence, he flew 12 missions ferrying supplies and troops in the Negev operations against the Egyptian forces.
He was awarded IAF Wings and the Aleh (the State of Israel Fighter’s Award 1948). He was honorably discharged from the Israel Air Force in June 1949, but remained in Israel until after the armistice. Israel awarded Max Kahn dual citizenship. He noted: “I’m proud of my service and my commitment to Israel. I would have done it over and over again.”
Author: Based on the obituary written by Max’s widow Jacqueline S. Kahn and published in the AVI newsletter of Winter 2010