3/3/1922 – 3/9/2015
Branch: Army Air Corps 12th Air Force
Unit: 350th Fight Group
Outfit: 347th Squadron
Service Dates: 1942 – 1945
Veteran Station: Mediterranean Theater
County: Johnson, Mo.
Conflicts/Significant Events: Was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying 141 missions in World War II in North Africa, Casablanca, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Southern France.
He recalls one particular mission, Christmas Eve, over the Po Valley in Italy, where he destroyed an enemy fighter airstrip and planes, crippling the enemy’s air power.
On another occasion, he bailed out over the ocean when an engine malfunctioned, qualifying him as a member of the Caterpillar Club, or those who had “hit the silk” in a bailout and survived.
Story uploaded: Thursday, May 24, 2007 / updated: Monday April 24th, 2023
Glen Warren Francis 8/24/1920 – 10/6/2007
Branch: Army Air Corps
Rank: Sergeant
Unit: B-26 “Marauders”
Outfit: 669th Bomb Squadron
Service Dates: 1942-11 – 1945-10
County: Cape Girardeau
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II, 6 Air Offensive Campaign Bronze Stars
Interviewed at Missouri Veterans Home Cape Girardeau, Mo. Story uploaded: Friday, June 22, 2007 / Updated Thursday, April 20, 2023
8/9/1922 – 3/14/2012
Branch: Army
Rank: Lieutenant/Captain
Unit: 3rd Division – Followed General Patton through ETO
Outfit: Nurse Corp
Service Dates: 1944-02-08 – 1946-03-05
Veteran Station: Clinton County
County: Clinton
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II, In The Battle of the Bulge She was surrounded by the Germans when 101 Paratroopers came to rescue them. The First Paratrooper she saw was from her hometown home church.
Interviewed at Missouri Veteran Home In Cameron Missouri. Story Uploaded: Friday, May 18, 2007 / Updated: Tuesday April 11, 2023
7/31/1922 – 1/11/2017
Branch: Army Air Corps
Rank: Aviation Cadet
Unit: Tuskegee Airman
Service Dates: 1942 – 1944
County: St. Louis
City: Florrissant, MO
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II
In 1943, Ward joined the U.S. Army and trained to become a pilot at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, which produced the 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all-black fighter squadron in the then-segregated military. He spent five months at Tuskegee.
When Ward did not qualify as a pilot, he declined an offer to train as a bombardier or navigator and joined a regular Army unit, he said in a 1996 interview with The Advocate. He was in the Philippines when the war ended.
Story Uploaded: Sunday, November 11, 2007 / Updated Saturday, April 8, 2023
3/21/1924 – 1/15/2011
Branch: Army
Rank: PFC
Unit: Paratrooper
Outfit: 82nd Airborne
Service Dates: 1940 – 1946
Veteran Station: Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II Paratrooper – Battle of the Bulge, Battle of Casino, Holland, England (Hinkley and Lestershire), Sicily (Palermo)
Interviewed at Missouri Veterans Home In Mexico, Missouri. Story uploaded: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 / Updated: Saturday April 1, 2023
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