Eugene E Sears

Military

I will add more later but thought your site should know my dad, Eugene Elmo Sears passed away today (9/12/17) at the age of 98. He flew the P51 known as the American Maid on fighter escort missions over Germany during WWII. To the best of my knowledge until today, he was the last man standing (or darn close) in his squadron.

Connections

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Units served with

Aircraft

Ground crew fit 75 gallon drop tanks to P-51 Mustang, GQ-I, serial number 43-12451, of the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, January 1944. The aircraft carries the marking "Peggy" on its right hand side. Printed caption on reverse: 'A. 43180 The American Super-Fighter. The American Mustang fighter the P-51B which has maintained a 6 to 1 superiority over all fighter[s] the Luftwaffe has thrown against them during recent attacks on enemy territory it is equipped with a 1,500 h.p. Packard manufact

43-12451

  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: Peggy (starboard, Gil Talbot's GQ-I), Live Bait (port side, Gross)
  • Unit: 354th Fighter Group 479th Fighter Group 496th Fighter Training Group 355th Fighter Squadron 436th Fighter Squadron 554th Fighter Training Squadron
A P-51 Mustang (L2-U, serial number 44-15317) nicknamed "American Maid" of the 479th Fighter Group. Image via Elmo Sears.

44-15317

  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: American Maid
  • Unit: 479th Fighter Group 434th Fighter Squadron

Revisions

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Contributorjmoore43
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Capitalized the words in the "Role/job" field to aid readability.

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Contributor[email protected]
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Son

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Contributor[email protected]
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Son

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ContributorLucy May
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Brought in information from duplicate record. Sources:
Brad Sears, son of Eugene Elmo Sears, who flew P51 over Germany in WWII
Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

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Contributor[email protected]
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Son

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ContributorAAM
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Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Unit roster in the 479th FG Yearbook, D790.G479, p 231