Phillip G Hulse

Military
media-43075.jpeg UPL 43075 From Left to right, Kenneth L Huls, Clark Gable, Phillip G Hulse

Family

Object Number - UPL 43075 - From Left to right, Kenneth L Huls, Clark Gable, Phillip G Hulse

Technical Sergeant Philip G. Hulse flew 25 Missions as top turret gunner and flight engineer on the Argonaut B-17's, 1-4. Phil was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal W/9 Oak Leaf Clusters, Good Conduct Medal and 4 Bronze Stars on the EAME Campaign Medal. His missions were flown between May and October of 1943. Phil flew on the August 17 and October 14 Schweinfurt raids. The last Schweinfurt raid was Phil's 25th and final mission. 60 B-17's were lost on each of these missions out of 300 planes that flew to the bombing target.



Phil starred in Clark Gable's Combat America film along with co-star Kenneth L. Huls who served as Belly Gunner on the Argonaut B-17's. They were nicknamed the Gold Dust Twins because the two of them were inseparable. Combat America was produced as an aerial gunnery recruitment film and was centered around the crew of the Argonaut who was led by Captain Theodore Argiropulos.



Upon returning to America, Phil trained B-17 crews at the Army Air Corp base in Rapid City South Dakota. In August of 1944, Phil volunteered for a second tour of duty in the 9th Army Air Force. He was shipped to France where he flew as Top Turret Gunner and Flight Engineer on a B-26 Martin Marauder - also know as the Widow Maker. He was scheduled to fly 50 missions in the Widow Maker, but the war ended just after his 34th Mission.



Phil served another 6.5 years in Active Reserves after the war and he was recalled to Active Duty in 1952 during the Korean War. However, he was kept stateside and did not see combat.



To preserve his military legacy, Phil has provided his oral/video history to the World War II Museum and to the Missouri Veteran's History Project. In addition, Phil traveled to the WWII Memorial in D.C. in 2011 on a St. Louis Honor Flight. In 2012, Phil and another B-17 veteran were the poster boys of the EAA Aluminum Overcast B-17G fly-in to St. Louis for the 4th of July Celebration. Both men were featured on a front page story in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. On Saturday, July 7, both men returned to the air in the Aluminum Overcast B-17G to face their demons from WWII.



Today, Phil is diligently working on reaching his 95th birthday and beyond, which will be on March 13, 2018. We will be adding additional photos of Phil in the near future.



For more information about my father's service, feel free to contact me at:



[email protected]

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 351st Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Revisions

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Contributorjmoore43
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Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.

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Contributordecwriter
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NARA files verified DFC, AM w/9 oak leaf clusters and ASN upon entry.

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ContributorAlvin
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Son Verification

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Son Verification

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Son Verification

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Son Confirmation of WWII History

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Son Confirmation of WWII History

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Son verification of WWII Service

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Son verification of WWII history

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Son of Philip Hulse verification

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Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / www.351st.org/ken.harbour/

Phillip G Hulse: Gallery (6 items)