Jesse W Gonnam

Military
media-19624.jpeg UPL 19624 Jesse W. Gonnam with his P-47

Uploaded

Object Number - UPL 19624 - Jesse W. Gonnam with his P-47

Jesse W Gonnam enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and graduated as a fighter pilot.



In October of 1942 he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant at Foster Field in Victoria, TX. While there he married Gwendolyn Walker, a fellow graduate from Mazon Township High School.

On a mission 23 April 1944 his aircraft was shot down and he was taken POW



He was stationed in England with the 352nd Fighter Squadron of the 353rd Fighter Group, and flew P-47s over the European Continent. On 7 January 1944, he shot down three Fw190s. For a description of this mission see: https://353rdfightergroup.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/mission63-january-7-…



On 23 April 1944 he was shot down in P-47 #42-76394 over Achmer, Germany. He was taken as a Prisoner of War and held in Stalag Luft III.



His nephew remembers:

'Jesse was like a lot of his generation; he did not talk about his war experiences very much. My father and he farmed together in Grundy County Illinois and I worked with him a lot without him ever telling me much about what he experienced.'



'It appears that during the war he was considered an Ace and was listed as one in a number of press releases. According to a librarian at the 8th AF Museum in Pooler, Ga after the war the USAF changed a number of records so that all pilots and groups were credited in the same way. Probable’s and shared kills were no longer accepted.'



'It was unfortunate he was shot down so early as he was one of the more accomplished pilots in the early part of the war. This was about the time the mission for the P-47 groups was changed from bomber escort to air-to-ground assault. He was shot down strafing a canal and airfield near Achmer. The change in mission did not do him much good.'

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 352nd Fighter Squadron

Missions

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Vienna Township, IL, USA 18 February 1919

Other

Married Gwendolyn Walker

Victoria, TX, USA 22 August 1942

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Germany 23 April 1944 - 6 June 1945

Died

Morris, IL 60450, USA 5 August 2002

Revisions

Date
ContributorHelen
Changes
Sources

Jonah's Feet are Dry

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Correspondence with Kerry Gonnam.
Also Gwendolyn's obituary: http://www.fredcdames.com/book-of-memories/2312108/Gonnam-Gwendolyn/obi…

Date
Contributorkgonnam
Changes
Sources

Private Collection: Kerry Gonnam

Date
Contributorkgonnam
Changes
Sources

Jesse Gonnam Obituary. Morris Daily Herald. Morris, Ill 8/6/2002

Date
Contributorkgonnam
Changes
Sources

Jesse Gonnam Obituary . Morris Daily Herald, Morris, Illinois. Aug 6, 2002

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 4315 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

Jesse W Gonnam: Gallery (6 items)