41-11768 - Kickapoo
Object Number - UPL 39794 - - The B-24D - Kickapoo, with it's regular crew, and pilot, Lt. John S. Young on the far right, before the mission to bomb Ploesti. Lt....
The B-24D Liberator, 41-11768, named, Kickapoo, was Lt. John S. Young's regularly assigned B-24D, after his 98th Bombardment Group moved out of Egypt, to the air bases at Benghazi, Libya. John Young was from Dallas, Texas, a Texan like so many of the men in the 98th Bomb Group and the 344th Bombing Squadron, who were from Texas, many of whom arrived in North Africa in late 1942. This B-24D was Lt. Young's second regularly assigned aircraft, now flying out of Berca, Benina, and, Lete Airfields at Benghazi, Libya in the Mediterranean theater of World War II in 1943. His first B-24 was shot down earlier that year in an air fight with German fighters off the coast of Italy. Lt. Young named this second B-24D, Kickapoo, after the magical liquor, "Kickapoo Joy Juice" in Al Capp's famous cartoon, "Lil Abner". Later, in June of 1943, Lt. Young and most of his regular crew from the, Kickapoo, were reassigned by Col. John R. Kane to fly with him on Operation Tidal Wave, the huge mission to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti Romania, as his crew and copilot in the 98th Bomb Group's lead ship, Hail Columbia, renamed by Kane for his alma mater, Columbia University. Kickapoo, was reassigned to another of the 98th's 344th Bombing Squadron's pilots, his friend, 1st Lt. Robert Nespor, who was still recovering from dysentery, and Lt. John C. Riley, Nespor's replacement copilot, reassigned from the 93rd Bomb Group, with the rest of the replacement crew also from the 93rd Bomb Group, for the Ploesti mission. But, on the morning of the mission, fate dealt Lt. Nespor, Lt. John Riley, their crew, a very bad hand, when Kickapoo's number 4 engine failed and caught fire just after getting airborne. Command Pilot Lt. Bob Nespor, and hia Copilot John Riley crashed and were killed while desperately and heroically trying to save their valuable ship, instead of bailing out or ditching it into the Mediterranean Sea. After jettisoning his bombs out over the sea, Lt. Nespor requested being guided back to the field for an emergency landing, but was forced to abort and circle around due to conflicting aircraft still taking off at Lete. With Kickapoo's right wing now on fire, he made a second approach to the field from the West. While doing so, he began losing power from his remaining three engines. On fire, with failing engines, and sinking on short final approach, Nespor and Riley landed Kickapoo hard, bounced and drifted off the centerline to the left of the runway. A wing tip clipped a concrete pole next to the runway. And the plane cartwheeled into the ground and, predictably, exploded in flames, killing Lt. Nespor, his copilot, Lt. Riley, and all but two of the rest of the crew, Lt. Russell W. Polivka, the navigator, and SSgt. Eugene R. Garner, gunner. Both men escaped the burning wreckage and survived the crash despite their severe burns and eventually returned to service after long recoveries. (RTS). Lt Nespor died two weeks later, finally succumbing to his burns. KIA. Robert Nespor and his crewmen were the first casualties of the Ploesti mission, before it had even begun. The men flying over the smoke and fire of their crash, knew that some, if not all, of the men in that airplane would not be returning home alive, and they took the crash as a bad omen for what was to come, which it certainly was. Approximately 450 airmen from the five Bomb Groups, flying to Ploesti, would be wounded, captured, killed, or missing, before that terrible day over Ploesti was over. ~ Kickapoo's Regular Crew in the 98th Bomb Group : - Lt. John S. Young - Pilot - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti mission Kickapoo's Replacement Crew for Ploesti bombing mission :
But Col. John Kane, Lt. John Young, Lt. Harry Korger, and Lt. Norman Whalen, and all the men in Kane's plane, Hail Columbia, miraculously survived the Ploesti mission without serious injury in spite of over 150 counted flak and flak splinter holes in their aircraft. The, Kickapoo, was destroyed with all but two of it's replacement crew killed in a flaming crash, just after takeoff for the Ploesti mission on the morning of August 1, 1943.
- Lt. Norman M. Whalen - Navigator - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti mission
- Lt. Harold F. Korger - Bombardier - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti mission
- SSgt. Fredrick A. Leard - Waist Gunner - Assigned to Hail Columbia - Ploesti Mission
- SSgt. William Leo - Tail Gunner - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti mission
- Lt. Raymond B. Hubbard - Radio Operator - Reassigned To Hail Columbia for Ploesti
- SSgt. Joseph J. LaBranche - Ball Turret - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti
- TSgt. Harvey Treace - Engineer/Top Turret - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti
- SSgt. Nevill C. Bensen - Waist Gunner - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti
1st Lt. Robert J. Nespor - Pilot - 98th BG - Died from burns. KIA
2nd Lt. John C. Riley - Co Pilot - 93rd BG - Died from burns. KIA
2nd Lt. Russell W. Polivka - Navigator - 93rd BG - Recovered from burns - WIA - RTS
T/Sgt. Vaun D. Wenrich - Engineer/Top Turret Gunner - 93rd BG. KIA
T/Sgt. Armand R. Massart - Radio Operator - 93rd BG. KIA
S/Sgt. George W. Lawlor - Gunner - 93rd BG. KIA
S/Sgt. Edwin G. Sliwa - Gunner - 93rd BG. KIA
S/Sgt. Eugene R. Garner - Gunner - 93rd BG. WIA - recovered - RTS
S/Sgt. John P. D'Armour - Gunner - 93rd BG. - KIA
- Kickapoo, crashed after takeoff for the Ploesti mission. Aircraft destroyed. 8 KIA. 2 WIA-RTS. 1 Aug 1943. - Neither, Kickapoo, nor her crew was not counted as having participated in Operation Tidal Wave.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force Twelfth Air Force Fifteenth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force Twelfth Air Force Fifteenth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36146758
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron 567th Bomb Squadron 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18124310
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-29680
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Commanding Officer / Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16023226 / O-54160
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: - B-52 Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 12026862
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist gunner
Places
Missions
- Date: 1 August 1943
- Official Description: 177 B-24’s, of IX Bomber Command (including Heavy Bombers on loan from Eighth AF) are dispatched to bomb oil refineries at Ploesti and nearby Campina. The operation (TIDALWAVE) is costly, 54 planes and 532 airmen being lost, but damage to the targets...
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Raunchy
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Hail Columbia - Little Chief Big Dog - Grumpy
- Unit: 376th Bomb Group 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - The Vulgar Virgin - Hell From Heaven - Shoot Youre Faded
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Joisey Bounce - Utah Man
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - The Scorpion
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Crashed |
Benghazi, Libya | 1 August 1943 | Crashed shortly after takeoff for the August 1,1943, low level Ploesti, Romania mission. No. 4 engine failed and caught fire just after getting airborne. After jettisoning all bombs at sea, Pilot Robert Nespor and the, Kickapoo, was guided back for an emergency landing. Due to conflicting aircraft still on the runway, 1st Lt Nespor was forced to try another approach to the field from the West. While making his second landing approach, Nespor's other three engines began to lose power, causing a hard landing, a bounce and drifted off the centerline causing the left wing to hit a concrete pole, cartwheeling the plane into the desert and exploding into flames, killing both pilots and all but two of the crew. 8 KIA. 2 WIA-RTS. 1 Aug 43 |
Revisions
The Great Ground-Air Battle of August 1, 1943 by James Dugan & Carroll Stewart. Personal Archives ---- James Dugan & Carroll Stewart commented on the crash of the, Kickapoo, and the loss of most of it's crew. 1 Aug 1943 - KickapooJoyJuice. ---- These men all knew each other. And many in the 98th Bomb Group had trained together as aviation cadets into advanced training and had become close friends during their time together training and fighting in the MTO in North Africa from 1941 to mid 1943. Lt. Nespor was in the 98th Bomb Group with Col. Kane and in Lt. John Young's 344th Bomb Squadron. Lt. John Riley was on loan from the 93rd Bomb Group, reassigned to fly with Lt. Nespor in, Kickapoo. Their last minute reassignments contributed to their deaths. They could have taken several easier options to save themselves, but they made the decision to try to save their valuable airplane and paid for that decision with their lives. The losses in combat weighed heavily on the surviving men, and seeing their friends, like Lt. Nespor and Riley, killed all around them on the Ploesti mission and on many others, was perhaps one of the biggest contributers to what was called at that time, combat fatigue, shell shock, and other names that didn't really decribe the terrible toll that the horror of the deadly fighting that takes place in a war, takes on the men who survived and lived through it. ----- KickapooJoyJuice
The Great Ground-Air Battle of August 1, 1943 by James Dugan & Carroll Stewart. Personal Archives ---- James Dugan & Carroll Stewart commented on the crash of the, Kickapoo, and the loss of most of it's crew. 1 Aug 1943 - KickapooJoyJuice. ---- These men all knew each other. And many in the 98th Bomb Group had trained together as aviation cadets into advanced training and had become close friends during their time together training and fighting in the MTO in North Africa from 1941 to mid 1943. Lt. Nespor was in the 98th Bomb Group with Col. Kane and in Lt. John Young's 344th Bomb Squadron. Lt. John Riley was on loan from the 93rd Bomb Group, reassigned to fly with Lt. Nespor in, Kickapoo. Their last minute reassignments contributed to their deaths. They could have taken several easier options to save themselves, but they made the decision to try to save their valuable airplane and paid for that decision with their lives. The losses in combat weighed heavily on the surviving men, and seeing their friends, like Lt. Nespor and Riley, killed all around them on the Ploesti mission and on many others, was perhaps one of the biggest contributers to what was called at that time, combat fatigue, shell shock, and other names that didn't really decribe the terrible toll that the horror of the deadly fighting that takes place in a war, takes on the men who survived and lived through it. ----- KickapooJoyJuice
The Great Ground-Air battle of August 1, 1943. - by James Dugan & Carroll Stewart, mentions the crash of the, Kickapoo, and the untimely loss of the replacement crewmens' lives. - KickapooJoyJuice ---- Personal Archives - KickapooJoyJuice
The Great Ground-Air Battle of August 1, 1943 - James Dugan and Carroll Stewart mentions the deadly crash of the, Kickapoo, and it's casualties. KickapooJoyJuice
Black Sunday-Ploesti - Michael Hill
Removed extra characters from the nickname.
Details added, spelling, word spacing changes. - Kickapoo
Removed single quote marks from aircraft names for accuracy and clarity. - Kickapoo
Corrected a typo in the "Summary biography" - “Kickapoo” was misspelled.
Black Sunday-Ploesti - Michael Hill
Black Sunday-Ploesti - Michael Hill
Added details. - Kickapoo
Best Web - B-24 - Kickapoo
Detail added. - Kickapoo
Name spacing. - Kickapoo
Name spacing. - Kickapoo
Crew names spacing. - Kickapoo
Letter spacing. - Kickapoo
Into The Fire - Duane Schultz
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Word order, placement changes. - Kickapoo
Personal Archives - Kickapoo
Changed all instances of aircraft name into sentence case to as per best practice for accessibility.
The Great Ground-Air Battle Of 1 August 1943 - James Dugan & Carroll Stewart
Personal Archives - John S Young Jr
personal archives - John S Young Jr
personal archives - John S Young Jr
personal archives - John S Young Jr
Changes to description of events : John S. Young, Jr. -- personal archives
Changes to description of events : John S. Young, Jr. -- personal archives
Changes to markings ---- John S. Young, Jr. -- personal archives
Ploesti - An Anatomy Of A disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - An Anatomy Of A disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - An Anatomy Of A disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - An Anatomy Of A disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Into The Fire - Duane Schultz ---- FindAGrave Memorials ---- John S. Young, Jr. personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Into The Fire - Duane Schultz ---- FindAGrave Memorials ---- John S. Young, Jr. personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Into The Fire - Duane Schultz ---- FindAGrave Memorials ---- John S. Young, Jr. personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Into The fire - Duane Schultz ---- John S. Young, Jr. personal archives ---- FindAGrave Memorials
Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Together We Served.com ---- Into The Fire - Duane Schultz
Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Together We Served.com ---- Into The Fire - Duane Schultz
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill personal archives
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill - The Dallas Morning News
Black Sunday - Michael Hill The Dallas Morning News
Black Sunday - Michael Hill The Dallas Morning News
Black Sunday - Michael Hill The Dallas Morning News
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Kickapoo and it's original crew. Capt. John S. Young from Dallas, Texas is on the far right.
Burning Hitler's Black Gold by Robert Sternfels
Burning Hitler's Black Gold by Robert Sternfels
Operation Tidal Wave
Operation Tidal Wave
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air force - Together We Served
Air force - Together We served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We Served
Air Force - Together We served
Air Force - Together We Served
" Into the Fire " by Duane Schultz Part III Chap 6 p. 104, 105
" Into The Fire " by Duane Schultz Part III Chap 6 p. 104
The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Co. in Fort Worth, Texas built the B-24D, named "Kickapoo".
41-11768 B-24D Kickapoo
41-11768 This photo is the original crew of the Kickapoo. The Kickapoo was named by Capt. John S. Young from Dallas, Texas after "Kickapoo Joy Juice" from Al Capp's cartoon, Dogpatch. Capt. Young is on the far right hand side of this photo. He was the tallest man in the 98th Bomb Group at 6'3". Also pictured are Lt. Norman "The Baron" Whalen, his navigator, and Lt. Harold Korger, his bombardier. All three were hand picked by Col. John R. Kane to fly with him in the Hail Columbia for the mission over Ploesti, Rumania. All three men survived the mission and the war, as did Col. Kane.
41-11768 This photo is the original crew of the Kickapoo. The Kickapoo was named by Capt. John S. Young from Dallas, Texas after "Kickapoo Joy Juice" from Al Capp's cartoon, Dogpatch. Capt. Young is on the far right hand side of this photo. He was the tallest man in the 98th Bomb Group at 6'3". Also pictured are Lt. Norman "The Baron" Whalen, his navigator, and Lt. Harold Korger, his bombardier. All three were hand picked by Col. John R. Kane to fly with him in the Hail Columbia for the mission over Ploesti, Rumania. All three men survived the mission and the war, as did Col. Kane.
