John Marcus Kendrick Jr
Militarypersonal collection
Joined the US Army Aug. 1939. Served in US Army 35th Infantry band & orchestra, Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii, stationed there when Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Began aviation training summer '42, final Phase 2, B24 bomber training at Pueblo, CO. Sent to ETO: Based at Hethel, England (8th AF, 389BG, 564th BS), began flying missions 6 FEB.44. On 11th & final mission, 8 MARCH 44, hit by flak over Berlin, limped B24 as far as Eernewoude, Friesland, Netherlands (near Leeuwarden). During emergency landing, inadvertently hit windmill, fatally injuring co-pilot Steve Judd, Kendrick severely injured, later lost both legs as a result. Captured by Germans, hospitalized at Luftwaffe base at Leeuwarden, other 9 crew members escaped unharmed into Dutch resistance network, several captured later in Belguim. Kendrick later relocated to POW hospitals in Oberursel & Obermassfeld / Meiningen, Germany, Reserve-Lazaret Stalag IX-C. Repatriated to USA via Switzerland, early 1945. Discharged from service, Feb. 1947.
Passed Mississippi State Bar examinations, Sept. 1949. Appointed as Postmaster, Edwards, Mississippi, Dec. 1949. Resigned as Postmaster, Aug. 1955, married Newelyn Walton, Sept. 1955 & moved to St. Petersburg, FL. Moved back to MS & struggled with federal bureaucracy as a handicapped person trying to secure a good job. Father of four children; Pam, Melissa, Victoria and John Marcus Kendrick III. Granted temporary job & eventually permanent position as rural mail carrier in Edwards, MS, Sept. 1959.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Nose Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33476931
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-683019
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35670530
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Yankee Rebel Harmony; The Latrine Rumor
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 8 March 1944
- Date: 6 March 1944
- Date: 4 March 1944
- Date: 3 March 1944
- Date: 25 February 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Edwards, MS 39066, USA | 8 July 1921 - 19 October 1969 | briefly lived in St. Petersburg, Florida after marriage in the 1950's |
Born |
Edwards, MS 39066, USA | 8 July 1921 | |
Enlisted |
Mississippi, USA | 4 August 1939 | Army basic training possibly at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Later assigned to Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii. Applied for Aviation Cadet school 30 April, 1942. |
Enlisted |
Douglas, AZ 85607, USA | 12 April 1943 | Promoted to Flight Officer while training at advanced flying school. |
Died |
Edwards, MS 39066, USA | 19 October 1969 | Died at home as a result of a ruptured abdominal aorta. Buried in Edwards Town Cemetery.www.findagrave.com/memorial/187937966/john-marcus-kendrick |
Revisions
United States Army Air Corps, Four Engine Bomber Training, Pueblo, Colorado, 1943.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2958, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces & Page 315 in the book SECOND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Co 1998 edition, D790.A2S45