WWII Glider Landing on Texas Highway – Sgt. Don D. Fritz – July 1942 AP Press Photo

This original Associated Press press photograph, dated July 13, 1942, captures a rare and dramatic moment in U.S. Army Air Forces glider training. Staff Sergeant Don D. Fritz, a pilot from the Advanced Air Force Glider School in La Mesa, Texas, had just completed a 30-mile motorless flight and executed a precise landing on Texas Highway 87—a maneuver designed to simulate the challenging field conditions gliders might face in combat.

The exercise was part of the rapidly expanding WWII U.S. military glider program, inspired by Germany’s successful use of silent troop-carrying gliders in the early years of the war. Road and field landings were a crucial skill for delivering soldiers, vehicles, and equipment deep into enemy territory without detection.

The photograph is a striking wartime composition: the glider is perfectly framed by the receding lines of the highway, telephone poles, and waiting escort vehicles. It conveys the tension, skill, and precision required of glider pilots during training.

Details:

• Date: July 13, 1942 (release date July 12, 1942)

• Location: Texas Highway 87, near La Mesa, Texas

• Pilot: Staff Sergeant Don D. Fritz

• Agency: Associated Press – Midwest Bureau

• Aircraft: Likely a CG-4A Waco glider or predecessor

• Scene: Highway landing after a 30-mile flight, simulating a combat insertion

• Condition: Excellent clarity; light editorial handling wear; full AP caption on reverse

💡 Historical Note: In 1942, the U.S. Army Air Forces were still refining glider tactics, and dramatic demonstrations like this helped sell the concept to military planners and the public alike. Within two years, glider pilots would be landing in fields, hedgerows, and roads across Europe during D-Day and Operation Market Garden.