Sgt. David Axelrod, 23rd Fighter Control Squadron, standing in front of the headquarters tents and building at Luliang Airbase, Yunnan, China, where he was stationed from January to August, 1945.
David Axelrod was born in New York City on April 21, 1921.
David was a graduate of City College of New York, and then served in the United States Army Air Corps in the China Theater of Operations, attaining the rank of Sergeant. As a member of the 23rd Fighter Control Squadron (23rd FCS) he was a part of helping support fighter pilots with directing them to targets, helping them understand their own locations in the air, and in recovery of downed pilots, and other areas as well.
David Axelrod went to Radar School and Radio School in Denver in 1944, before deployment. The 23rd FCS used radar and radio, at least during the period that David was in China. The 23rd FCS had stations (often just a few small buildings or even tents) around Yunnan province manned by soldiers operating radio sets which would triangulate the positions of crashed planes, etc. (An example of how such a unit worked, can be seen here.)
After the war, David received a Master's Degree in Retailing from New York University. He started his career as a buyer at Bloomingdales in Manhattan, and after moving with his family to New Haven in 1953, he became a Manufacturer's Representative for a number of house wares and jewelry companies, traveling all through New England. In the early 1970's, he became the manager of the Fine Jewelry Department at the JC Penney store in Meriden, CT. He maintained close friendships with his former employees after his retirement.
David Axelrod almost never talked with his family about his time posted at Luliang. When he did, it was often about the hard lives and abject poverty of the common people there at the time, which made a strong impression on him, and about the MUD, which was apparently always there.
David Axelrod died peacefully at 99 years old at his home in Hamden, CT, on Saturday, December 26, 2020, sitting in his comfortable chair just the way he always wanted.
(Images from S. Axelrod, text from S. Axelrod, online remembrance, and other sources.)