Here he is, standing in the center of this closeup:
Here's the entire picture and if anyone identifies himself or his/her father here, I'd appreciate hearing from you:
Thursday, July 16, 2009
100th Bombadier Squadron US Army Airforce
My father served in the US Army Airforce during World War II in the South Pacific. He was ground crew with the 100th Bombadier Squadron.
Here he is, standing in the center of this closeup:
Here's the entire picture and if anyone identifies himself or his/her father here, I'd appreciate hearing from you:
Here he is, standing in the center of this closeup:
Here's the entire picture and if anyone identifies himself or his/her father here, I'd appreciate hearing from you:
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9 comments:
Hello, Mr. Medad,
Unfortunately, I can’t help you with information about your father. However, I can offer related information. Namely, about Jewish aviators who were KIA while serving in the 100th BS…
They were: Corporal Philip Arkuss (radio operator), from New York City, whose plane was shot down on January 11, 1945; Sergeant James Edward Levin (flight engineer), from Charleston, S.C., whose crew was lost on April 8, 1945; Second Lieutenant Joseph B. Rosenberg (navigator), also from N.Y.C., whose aircraft was lost on March 10, 1945; Flight Officer Ralph E. Roth (also a navigator) from South Bend, In., lost with his crew on April 14, 1945. All these men were lost in B-25 Mitchell bombers (in particular, the late-war “J” version of the B-25), the Mitchell being the aircraft flown by the 100th BS, and its sister 42nd Bomb Group squadrons - 69th, 70th, and 390th Bomb Squadrons - throughout the war. The B-25 providing the backdrop in your dad’s photo is - I believe - an early war B-25D, modified to carry four additional, forward-firing .50 machine-guns below the cockpit.
In the case of each of these four men, their were five other crewmen with them aboard their B-25s when they were lost, and thus, among the total of 24 airmen on their four planes, no survivors. Levin and Rosenberg (and I presume their fellow crewmen) have never been found, and their names are commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing, at the Manila American Cemetery, in Manila. Arkuss and Roth are buried with their fellow crewmen at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, in Kentucky, and Fort McPherson National Cemetery, in Nebraska, respectively.
I know that a unit history of the 42nd Bomb Group was produced shortly after WW II, but, frustratingly, unlike many WW II unit histories, it contains neither unit rosters, nor wartime addresses of the men who served within the group and its four squadrons. In any event, I know that there were at least 18 other Jewish combat aviators among the 42nd BG’s other squadrons. (One of these men, Daniel Rossman, who served as a co-pilot, was the subject of an interesting article in the Jerusalem Post in May of 2005.) Of these 18 others, nine did not survive the war.
Thanks for making and posting such nice scans of the photograph!
Yasher Koach,
Michael M.
Pennsylvania
It was the bomber crews of the Allies in both the European and Pacific Theaters, and the sacrifices they made, that ensured that Japan and Germany would never again embark on wars of aggression.
Germany had been defeated in 1918, yet, within one generation, they were willing to try once again. However, thanks to the lesson they were given by the men who flew these very dangerous missions and the efforts of the ground crews which also involved great danger and perennial exhaustion, Germany has been a peaceful country.
Michael M. in Pennsylvania. In your post above, you reference Lt. Joseph Rosenberg. He was the navigator assigned to the crew that my Dad, Lt. Thomas M. Cockrell, picked up in Columbia, SC and flew out to the 100th BS in Oct. 1944. They were based at Sansapor at that time.
I remember my Dad speaking of Lt. Rosenburg several times. There may be photos of him among the photos that Dad took of his time in the 100th Squadron, but no one is identified. If you know of a photo of Lt. Rosenburg, I'd appreciate it if you could post it here or help me obtain it.
Thanks,
Steve Cockrell
I believe I see my deceased Dad, Ralph Hepplewhite, in the large group photo. This was his squadron at this place and time.
My Mom and siblings aren't sure the man I see as my Dad is my Dad.
Some men are cut off in the photo, definitiely on the left and possibly on the right.
Any chance you know of a wider version of the photo that might show more men?
Thanks for all your help with this.
---Bob Hepplewhite
soory but the second photo is the original.
i will look for others.
I believe my father, Sgt. Alex Pusar, is in the group photo, seventh from the right in the bottom row.
My uncle is Ralph Roth and this is great information for me--thanks
spencer silk
My Father, Lester Levin, is on the first row, 13th from the right, with clear-frame glasses. I have a box of his war photos, and many of these men are in the pics. One in particular is Sgt. Alex Pusar, mentioned above. Also named are the following: Jimmy O'Brien, Bill Hoffman, Aram Martin, Frank Weinberger, Pete Fortini, and Norman Krause. I'd be very grateful to hear back from you or from any other members of the squadron. My Dad never talked about the war, but he kept photos of his brothers in arms, who meant so much to him. Thank you!!
TO Robin Levin: I am Alex Pusar's son. He passed away at the age of 89 in 2005. His best buddy and tent mate was Norman Krause. He also always talked about Bill Hoffman. Over the years he must have told me at least a million stories of his time in the army especially in the South Pacific. 99 percent o them were pretty hilarious actually.
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