Michael Clarence Hoover
Military
media-13320.jpeg
UPL 13320
LT Michael Clarence Hoover
Pilot - Crew #505
466th BG - 785th BS 466th Bomb Group collection
Pilot - Crew #505
466th BG - 785th BS 466th Bomb Group collection
466th BG Historian
Flew 30 missions, many on 'The Lemon'
DFC/ Air Medal w/ 3 Oak Leaf Cluster/ American Campaign Medal/ WW II Victory Medal/ Armed Forces Reserve Medal/ 2 Battle Stars
Connections
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Units served with
People
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 10 April 1944
- Date: 9 April 1944
- Date: 8 April 1944
- Date: 27 March 1944
- Date: 24 March 1944
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Keene Township, Michigan | 26 January 1919 | |
Enlisted |
Battle Creek, MI, USA | 21 March 1941 | Fort Custer |
Other Graduated Pilot Training/Commissioned |
Pampa, TX 79065, USA | 26 June 1943 | Pilot Class 43F |
Other 4th Combat Mission |
Attlebridge, Norwich, UK | 9 April 1944 | While flying just above a cloud formation in "The Lemon" the formation was going so slow that our aircraft started to stall. To gain formation flying speed I lowered the nose. When I did that we lost contact with the formation and there was no way to rejoin it. We jettisoned our bombs in the North Sea and returned to base. The base was now socked in and we could not land, so the navigator suggested that we fly south. There we found sunshine and an airfield, so we landed. We had lunch and by the time we were finished our airfield had cleared and the rest of the group had returned from the mission and landed. When we did not return with the other crews we were told that our ground crew cried. Since no one had reported any enemy action, they may well have thought some mechanical error had caused the loss of our aircraft and ten men. The ground crew took there jobs very seriously. - Michael Hoover |
Died |
Jacksonville, FL, USA | 27 September 2012 | Michael C. Hoover, 93, passed peacefully on September 27, 2012 in Jacksonville, FL. Mike was born January 26, 1919 at the family farm-home in Keene Township, Ionia County, Michigan. His parents were John Henry Hoover and Elizabeth Anna Feuerstein. The family consisted of ten boys and one girl. Jacob Vincent, the youngest, is the only surviving sibling. Mike was married to Pauline (Appleby) Hoover for 65 years. She passed away on April 1, 2010. Mike served in World War II as a pilot of a B-24 heavy duty bomber aircraft. A B-24 crew consisted of ten personnel. he crew flew 32 combat missions over France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Mike acknowledged his bomber crew at the 8th Air Force Museum at Savannah, Georgia by donating a plaque. For combat duty Mike was awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Mike remained in the reserves where he retired as a Major in the year 1964 after 23 years. Mike attended Michigan State College after serving in the military and graduated in June 1950 with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering. Mike worked for the Electric Sorting Machine Co. or their various divisions for the next thirty years. From 1971-1979 he was the Chief Engineering Manager of the Electric Sorting Machine Division. During his thirty years with the company various patents were obtained under his name but all were assigned to the company. The patents included those for sorting lemons, rice, the “Hydrosort,” which sorted tomatoes, slide sorting and other equipment. Mike retired in 1980. He remained a life long member of the 2nd Air Division. Mike had many hobbies too numerous to mention but over the past several years enjoyed collecting and organizing genealogical information on the Hoover-Feuerstein family which he published. He paid homage to past generations by ensuring their graves were appropriately marked. Mike was a devoted member of San Juan del Rio Church and resided in Westminster Woods. |
Buried |
Orange Park, FL, USA | 30 September 2012 | Jacksonville Memory Gardens Orange Park Clay County Florida, USA |
Lowell, MI 49331, USA | Rural Route #3 | ||
Other Graduated |
East Lansing, MI, USA | B.S. - Electrical Engineering Michigan State University |
Revisions
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources
466th BG Archives - Michael Hoover letter to Graham Dove dated 28 August 2004
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources
Military biography written by Michael C. Hoover - 466th BG Archives
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / self & Page 300 in the book THE SECOND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Company, 1998 edition, D790.A2S45