Robert William Ahern Jr
Military ROLL OF HONOURSabra Potter - Grand-niece
Robert was one of 5 children. Born in Duluth, Minnesota and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. His last mission involved the bombing of a train. He flew over the train once as a warning for passengers to evacuate. On the second flyover, he was shot down and crash landed in a field nearby. A local village family wrote of how grateful they were for his service and how he purposely missed their village while crash landing. He died on impact. He was 23 years old.
Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124.
Awards: DFC, AM (3 OLC), PH.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
- Unit: 20th Fighter Group 55th Fighter Squadron
Places
- Site type: Cemetery
- Known as: Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Duluth, Minnesota | 11 April 1921 | Son of Robert W Sr and Ruth Mary [Prindiville] Ahern. |
Enlisted |
Patterson Field, W 8th St, East Liverpool, OH 43920, USA | 13 April 1942 | Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio |
Based Assigned |
Wittering | 27 August 1943 - 23 April 1944 | Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. |
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
Valmeray, 14370 Moult, France | 23 April 1944 | Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124. |
Other Promoted |
Wittering, Peterborough, Peterborough PE8, UK | Promoted to 1st Lieutenant. | |
Buried |
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial | Re-Interred Normandy American Cemetery Colleville-sur-Mer, France Plot B Row 23 Grave 33 | |
Cincinnati, OH, USA |
Revisions
Merged with duplicate entries to include details from:
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia ;
- MACR 4124, ;
- King;'s Cliffe Memorial Edition;
- Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Ahern
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbmpilot.asp?Pilot=Ahern
https://www.fold3.com/page/84224682_robert_w%20ahern/details/
http://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=97448
http://www.20thfightergroup.com/kiakifa.html
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Ahern&GSfn=Robert…;