9th Air Force
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B-24D - the 'KICKAPOO' with crew and Pilot Lt. John S. Young on far right before the mission to bomb Ploesti, 1943. John Young and his regular crew member's lives were spared when Group Leader Col. John R. Kane reassigned them to fly with him in 'Hail Columbia' on Operation Tidal Wave over Ploesti. - 'KICKAPOO' crashed and burned on takeoff for the Ploesti mission, killing the two replacement pilots and all but two of it's replacement crew. - Aircraft Destroyed - Lete, Libya - 1 Aug 1943
'KICKAPOO''s reassigned crew for the Ploesti bombing mission : --- 1st Lt. Robert J. Nespor - Pilot - (KIA) - Died two weeks later from his burns 2nd Lt. John C. Riley - Co Pilot (KIA) Detached Service from 93rd BG
2nd Lt. Russell W. Polivka - Navigator (WIA) D.S. from 93rd BG
T/Sgt. Vaun D. Wenrich - Engineer/Top Turret (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG T/Sgt. Armand R. Massart - Radio Op (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG
S/Sgt. George W. Lawlor - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG S/Sgt. Edwin G. Sliwa - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG
S/Sgt. Eugene R. Garner - Gunner (WIA) D.S. from 93rd BG S/Sgt. John P. D'Armour - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG
Connections
Units
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98th Bomb Group
Group
The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942. ... -
344th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
The 344th Bombing Squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24...
People
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John Young
Military | Major | B-24 Command Pilot
Lieutenant John S. Young was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Bored with college at SMU in Dallas, and knowing the country was headed for war, he joined the Army Air Force early in 1941 and began training as an aviation cadet. He was known as "Johnny"...
Aircraft
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41-11768 'KICKAPOO'
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator 41-11768, 'KICKAPOO', was piloted by Lt. John S. Young from Dallas, Texas as part of the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron, which arrived in North Africa in early 1943. This airplane and was Lt...
Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 04 January 2021 12:46:14 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption |
| Sources | ||
Personal Archives - John S Young Jr |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 December 2020 09:12:53 | Kickapoo | Changes to collection |
| Sources | ||
John S Young Jr - personal archives |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 18 September 2019 13:04:12 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Removed associations not depicted in image |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 September 2019 00:15:15 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption |
| Sources | ||
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 August 2019 09:24:00 | Kickapoo | Created entry with collection, caption, unit associations, person associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives |
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