Rupert H Pulliam Jr
Military
Ball Turret Gunner
Crew #717 - Daniel B. Harris Crew
Object Number - UPL 22572 - SSGT Rupert H Pulliam Ball Turret Gunner Crew #717 - Daniel B. Harris Crew
Shot down 8 April 1944 in B-24 #41-29365, Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
http://www.tnmagazine.org/service-before-self/
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: 466th Bomb Group 787th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O 684326
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 466th Bomb Group 787th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Attlebridge Arsenal, Station 120
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Enlisted |
10 September 1942 | ||
|
Other Shot Down |
Hanover, Germany | 8 April 1944 | We were hitting the airfield in Hanover, and they didn’t like that,” R.H. says. “They hit us with antiaircraft fire.” R.H. recounts that as the plane was burning and going down, the crew knew they would have to bail out to survive. “We were shot down on April 8, 1944, which was Good Friday.” “My ’chute burned up, so I helped clear out the other gunners. I didn’t think about hooking onto them,” recalls R.H. “The waist gunner got hung up on the plane and went down with the ship.” Pilliam at his West Tennessee home. Pilliam at his West Tennessee home. “I went on up to the front, walking on the catwalk,” recounts R.H., holding his hands about 8 inches apart to describe the narrow beam at the center of the plane. “My feet slipped out from under me, and I fell a-straddle of it.” With the bomb bay doors open, he barely missed plunging to his death. Fortunately, he regained his balance and lost only his oxygen tank and mask. “The pilot, co-pilot and radioman were still in the front,” R.H. remembers. “The pilot said, ‘We’ve got to bail out.’ The radioman, Ehmet, said, ‘Hook onto me.’ So I hooked my harness onto his strap, and out the bomb bay we went.” Though they escaped from the burning plane, they landed in enemy territory. R.H. and Ehmet hit the ground hard with both of them on one parachute. Ehmet was able to escape to cover. R.H. suffered a broken leg and severe burns to his back and head where his parachute and oxygen mask had been. “We landed in a field with some farmers out there,” R.H. says. “Since they only saw one parachute, they found me first and didn’t look for the radioman. They came over with pitch forks but didn’t do anything.” “They came out in an open touring car and carried me to a hospital,” R.H. adds, but “they (the hospital) wouldn’t take me, so they carried me to another, and they wouldn’t take me. They carried me to a third, and they took me.” |
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Tychowo, Poland | 10 April 1944 - 8 May 1945 | Stalag Luft IV |
|
Born |
Rossville, Tennessee, USA | ||
| Collierville, TN, USA |
Revisions
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources
Added a "-" to the A/C serial # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3840 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
