Albert Joe Mickish

Military
media-14411.jpeg UPL 14411 Lieutenant Albert J. Mickish standing beside B-24 #4111761 "The Squaw" that successfully covered 71 missions without a casualty.

Object Number - UPL 14411 - Lieutenant Albert J. Mickish standing beside B-24 #4111761 "The Squaw" that successfully covered 71 missions without a casualty.

Lt. Albert "AJ" Mickish was a bombardier on the B-24 41-24040, What's Cooking Doc ? - Big Operator, and started out flying on Operation Tidal Wave to Ploesti, Romania. His plane aborted the mission with turbocharger problems and diverted to Cyprus. 1-Aug-943.



Lt. Mickish flew on the B-24D, 41-11761, The Squaw, returning to Fort Worth, Texas, for a war bond tour 1944.



Awards: DFC, AM (5OLC), American Defense and Campaign medals, WWII Victory Medal, EAME (2 x Battle Stars).



His DFC was awarded under an earlier General Order. Jun-43.

Connections

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Units served with

Three airmen of the 389th Bomb Group stand with a B-24 Liberator used as a Flight Assembly Ship. Image via Tim Bivens. Handwritten caption from Bivens: 'My friend remembers it being named "Bucksheesh Benny" that it was used to fly Jack Benny around USA shows. Says it flew in North Africa with Benny and was eventually assigned to 389th as a hack and later as a form-up ship. He thinks it was originally with another group (possibly 376th or 98th).' Handwritten caption on reverse: '389th BG Form-up ship.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Ninth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 18065645 / O-726423
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: - Sleepy - The Squaw
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 98th Bomb Group 343rd Bomb Squadron
The nose art of a B-24 Liberator (serial number 41-24040) nicknamed "What's Cookin' Doc" of the 344th Bomb Group featuring Bugs Bunny.
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: - What's Cooking Doc? - Big Operator
  • Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Soluch Airfield

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Perry, OK 5 October 1917 Son of Frank and Theresa [Tetyak] Mickish.

Enlisted

Oklahoma City, OK 3 November 1941 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Other

Marriage

Florida 16 January 1943 Married Mildred Ruth Newell.

Other

Survived Ploesti, aborted

Ploiești, Romania 1 August 1943 Bombardier B-24 41-24040 ‘What’s Cooking Doc ? - Big Operator’ flew on the 1-Aug-43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress.

Died

Denver, CO 8 February 2007 'AJ' Mickish was born Oct. 5, 1917, on a small farm a few miles south of Perry. He died Thursday, Feb. 8, 2007, in Denver, Colo. Mickish had served the city of Edmond and vicinity as a veterinarian for more than 52 years. He graduated from Perry High School and earned a bachelor’s degree at Oklahoma State University in 1941. That same year he entered the Air Force via the ROTC program and became a bombardier, eventually serving under the commanding officer of the 98th Bomb Group, until the Aug. 1, 1943, B-24 attack against the Romanian oil fields and refineries at Ploesti, Romania. Of 178 airplanes that left on the raid, 54 never returned. He was honorably discharged as a captain and took advantage of the GI bill and earned a Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD) degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He established the first “animal hospital” in Edmond in 1950 and became known as “Doc” Mickish. He built the Edmond Animal Clinic in 1953 on the south side of Hwy. 66 (now known as East Second Street, 1/2 mile east of Broadway, just outside of the Edmond city limits. The location is now occupied by the new Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Forensic Center. Mickish is survived by his wife of 64 years, Mildred Mickish; four children; two sisters; three granddaughters, two step-granddaughters, a step-grandson, and two step-great-grandsons.

Other

War Bonds Tour

Fort Worth, TX, USA Returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for war bonds tour with A/C.

Based

Assigned

Benina Assigned to 343BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF.
Perry, OK 73077, USA

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Date
ContributorKickapoo
Changes
Sources

Black Sunday-Ploesti - Michael Hill

Date
Contributordecwriter
Changes
Sources

Corrected data in bio section for correct A/C flown on for 1 Aug 1943 Ploesti mission.

Date
Contributordecwriter
Changes
Sources

Added to awards and bio section, corrected aircraft he served on, which aborted on the Operation Tidal Wave mission.

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

Albert Joe Mickish: Gallery (3 items)