David Noah Harmon
MilitaryFighter Pilot/Asst Group Ops Officer
365th Fighter Group
Assigned to 386FS, 365FG, 9AF USAAF. Assistant group Operations Officer. On a dive bombing mission in support of V Corps, having seen heavy AA fire whilst bombing German tank positions. Set up a strafing pass on flak positions and was hit by a 20mm round in the main tank along with 25+ other hits. Seemingly, his fuel management must have left him with a full main tank which stopped the explosion that should have come from the direct hit !! Awarded the Oak Leaf to his DFC for this deed, he considered himself the luckiest man alive.
Awards: DFC (OLC), AM (15OLC), BS, WWII Victory, EAME.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Fontanay-Sur-Mer
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Brétigny-sur-Orge
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Chièvres Air Base
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Chester, Illinois | 1 October 1919 | |
Other Combat damaged |
Diekirch, Luxembourg | 19 September 1944 | After strafing flak positions, hit several times by return fire. A 20mm shell penetrated his main tank, amazingly his P-47 Elsie II did not explode. |
Died |
Springfield, IL | 16 November 2013 | |
Buried |
New Palestine Church Cemetery New Palestine, Randolph County, IL | 19 November 2013 | New Palestine Church Cemetery New Palestine, Randolph County, Illinois, USA |
Revisions
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/13789626/person/180200…
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122967778/d.-n.-harmon
http://hellhawks.org/365_roster.html
"Thunderbolts of The Hell Hawks" - Barnes, Crump & Sutherland, page 9
https://www.fold3.com/image/312802494?terms=David%20N%20Harmon
https://www.fold3.com/image/28634578
Hell Hawks!: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht By Robert F. Dorr, Thomas D. Jones
https://www.fold3.com/image/312802494?terms=David%20N%20Harmon
https://www.fold3.com/image/28634578
Hell Hawks!: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht By Robert F. Dorr, Thomas D. Jones