Roy E Truba Sr
Military
Back row left to right: Roy Truba (Bombardier), Craig K Winters (Navigator), Joseph Taylor (Co-Pilot) and William Thistle (Pilot).
Front row left to right: Luther Smith (Tail Gunner), Louis Domato (Radio Operator), John H Taylor (Ball Turret Gunner), John Miller (Flight Engineer) and Harvey Henkel (Right Waist Gunner).
Sent through to the museum by Mike Leveillard whose father-in-law (kneeling on the right) was Harvey Henkel, waist gunner.
See 457th Bomb Group website: http://www.457thbombgroup.org/BB/BBC11.HTML
Object Number - UPL 7476 - 457th Bomb Group crew in 1945. Back row left to right: Roy Truba (Bombardier), Craig K Winters (Navigator), Joseph Taylor (Co-Pilot) and William...
Roy Truba served as a bombardier with the 751st Bomb Squadron of the 457th Bomb Group. His aircraft, B-17 44-8557, was shot down on 18 April 1945. He successfully bailed out. It was his 13th mission.
From 457th Bomb Group mission report: "Plane s/n 44-8557, from the 748th Squadron, and piloted by Lt William T. Thistle, was apparently hit by flak on the bomb run. Engine #4 began smoking and immediately four members of the crew bailed out. The pilot rolled out of formation, dropped his bombs, closed the bomb bay doors and the plane was last seen spiraling downward."
Truba was held Prisoner of War (POW) in Germany and later Northern Italy (Bolzano, Italy).
After the war he studied Architectural Engineering at the University of Detroit and lived with his wife, Blanche, and his family in Miami, and Jacksonville, Florida.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 457th Bomb Group 751st Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 18 April 1945
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Connington
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Detroit, Michigan, USA | 19 January 1921 | |
|
Based |
Glatton | 17 April 1945 | |
|
Other Married |
Miami, FL, USA | 20 September 1946 | His wife was called Blanche Brown. They were married for 63 years until his wife's death in 2009. |
|
Other Retired from the US Air Force |
1 February 1969 | As a Lieutenant Colonel | |
|
Died |
Fairfax, VA, USA | 13 April 2011 | |
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Germany | 18 April 1945 | |
|
Buried |
Plot: Section 28 Site 8 | ||
|
Enlisted |
|||
|
Other Graduated from college |
With a degree in Architectural Engineering |
Revisions
457th Bomb Group mission report: http://457thbombgroup.org/Fate/RLF116.HTML
Findagrave record: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=truba&GSfn=roy&GS…;
Combined two entries into one. Now contains information from the following sources:
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / www.457thbombgroup.org/roster/Tnames.html
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 14183 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / self/ MACR 14183
