Donald Gordon Pierce

Military
media-15309.jpeg UPL 15309 B-24D Liberator, 42-40746, Ole Irish. - Pilot Lt. Frank McGLaughlin is third from the left side, standing. Ole Irish, flew on the Ploesti oil refinery mission, returning to Libya on three engines, another one of which, quit from fuel starvation on taxiing in from the runway. Lt. Mclaughlin's friends from the 8th Air Force in the B-24D, Old Blister Butt, saw him and Ole Irish, shot up and flying away from Ploesti on three engines, They escorted him back to Benghazi, Libya. 1 Aug 1943

Standing Rear L-R :

Joe Sullivan - Navigator -
Leo Travis - Bombardier -
Frank McLaughlin - Pilot - Lee D. Slessor - Co Pilot

Kneeling Front L-R :
Charles Simmons - Ball and Tail Gunner
Clyde Wickham - Radio Operator -
Fay Kelly - Engineer - Waist Gunner -
Marshall Lisiesky - Tail Gunner -
Don Pierce - Waist Gunner -
Chester Moore - Top Turret Gunner -

Added detail. - Kickapoo

Object Number - UPL 15309 - B-24D Liberator, 42-40746, Ole Irish. - Pilot Lt. Frank McGLaughlin is third from the left side, standing. Ole Irish, flew on the Ploesti oil...

Assigned to 564BS, 389BG, 8AF USAAF. TDY to 9AF USAAF. Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1-Aug-43, flying aboard B-24 Liberator 42-40746. ETD



Awards: DFC, AM WWII Victory, EAME.

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 389th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 17040654
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Engineer
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 12035639
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32041169 / O-734123
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
  • Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: - Ole Irish
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Ravena, New York 19 March 1920

Enlisted

Albany, NY 10 September 1942 Albany, New York

Died

20 February 2005
California

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

Key Image ID

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Ploesti Sortie Report

Enlistment record via Nara

Listed in roster of "389th Bombardment Group: a pictorial review of operations in the ETO" (1946). World War Regimental Histories. 129. at Bangor Public Library

Death record via Ancestry

NB- Pierce's experiences have wrongly been applied to Donald G Price (1922-2011) on find a grave. Donald G Price enlisted on 22 June 1943, and as such would not have completed his basic training by the time of Operation Tidal Wave.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Donald Gordon Pierce: Gallery (1 items)