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# 1953: Pilot gave his life to avoid crashing into a Panama City middle school
- URL: https://www.longleaffl.com/1953-pilot-gave-his-life-to-avoid-crashing-into-a-panama-city-middle-school/
- Published: 2026-09-28T17:30:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-28T17:30:01.000Z
- Description: In 1953, the actions of one military pilot saved a Panama City middle school. Story courtesy of History Class Brewing Co.
- Author: Eric Darnell
- Tags: Bay County, Florida, Panama City, Florida, military, military history, pilots, air force, local history, history

Brought to The Longleaf by History Class Brewing Company

PANAMA CITY– Have you ever noticed the white monument with a plaque at the Panama City Garden Club? The story behind it is quite remarkable, and the fallen hero it honors is a local legend.

On September 28, 1953, Lt. Edwin Gorbet, a 22-year-old pilot stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, took off for a midday test flight in his F-86 Sabrejet.

A few minutes into the flight, his plane caught on fire and was going down. Over the radio, Tyndall Air Force Base gave him permission to eject, but his flight plan had placed him directly over Jinks Junior High School.

It was at this moment Gorbet made the decision not to eject, but to steer his doomed aircraft toward the bay and get as far away from the school and surrounding neighborhoods as he could.

Eyewitness accounts from students on the ground claimed the canopy was off the cockpit, and they could actually see the pilot as the flames were shooting out of the rear of the airplane.

An instant later, the plane exploded in midair, and a huge fireball of debris rained down on the Panama City Garden Club.

Today, this memorial celebrates Edwin's courage and the belief that no greater love hath no man than this-that a man lay down his life for his friends.

So we (at History Class) say cheers to 2nd Lt. Edwin Gorben, without a doubt, one of Panama City's finest heroes.

SPONSORED 

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