John H Gordon Jr

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

2nd Lt. John "Jack" H. Gordon, Jr. was one of two sons who served in WWII. Jack was a B-17 pilot who gave his life to save his crew. They had to break off from the squadron when they developed an oil leak and lost two engines. Estimating fuel and distances, they tried to make it to France, but had to fly over part of Germany. The anti-aircraft fire was so accurate that the plane was lost and the crew had to abandon their ship. The auto-pilot was shot out and Jack stood at the controls as he ordered his crew bail out. The entire crew made it safely to the ground except for Jack who held the ship steady until all were out. He then attempted to put the plane down knowing that he could not let loose of the controls. His life was lost less that 2 months before the end of the war. All of the crew survived the war, though they were captured and made prisoners of war. All were released soon when the war ended.



Killed in Action (KIA) at Trier in B-17 #4338102

Connections

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Units served with

Unofficial emblem, 305th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Lewiston, IdahoA 9 February 1922

Died

Trier, Germany 2 March 1945

Revisions

Date
ContributorJLGordon
Changes
Sources

My mother reminded me that Jack received the purple heart posthumously.

Date
ContributorJLGordon
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I just made a couple of textual edits after reading my previous submission.

Date
ContributorJLGordon
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I am the nephew of John "Jack" Gordon and was named after him, I have heard stories over the years from family, though the details have been scarce. Recently I reviewed the transcript of a 2002, two hour interview of Paul Bosworth, the waist gunner on that ship, by Thomas Miller. The transcript was obtained from the State Historical Society of Missouri. I source the location of his grave, his serial number, his awards from www.abmc.gov. I have personally spoken with Henry D. Newman the co-pilot who was the last to see Jack alive.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 12852