Thurman Matson Geren

Military
media-25880.jpeg UPL 25880 Thurman Matson Geren 8th Army-Air force 401st 613 bs

Daughter

Object Number - UPL 25880 - Thurman Matson Geren 8th Army-Air force 401st 613 bs

On a mission over Germany on 5, April 1945, the Bandwagon II was attacked by several enemy jet-propelled fighters, damage included all 4 engines, all trim tab cables were severed plus more. Sgt. David M Lesher was fatally wounded. The plane was forced to leave formation and Lt. Geren maintained full left aileron for over 2 hours until friendly territory was reached. The crew lowered Lesher and bailed seconds before the Bandwagon went into a nose dive and crashed. He was awarded the DFC for saving the crew. He flew 18 missions and completed 16.

Thurman also flew over 100 missions on the Berlin Airlift and was part of the "Big Push". He stayed in the reserves and retired a Major 25 Nov 1975. In civilian life he was an accountant at Marathon Oil for 25 years, a farmer of 3 farms, a carpenter, an avid gardener and had a 300+ tree apple orchard.



Air Medal

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Units served with

A pathfinder B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-8258) of the 401st Bomb Group. Image by Robert Astrella. Written on slide casing: '48258 14 A, Mount Farm.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Engineer/Top turret gunner

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: No. 2 Bandwagon, Mrs. Wing Ding
  • Unit: 94th Combat Bomb Wing 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Leipsic, OH 45856, USA 25 November 1915

Enlisted

Toledo, OH, USA 5 March 1941

Other

Retired

Findlay, OH 45840, USA 25 November 1975

Died

Toledo, OH, USA 9 April 2005

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Thurman Matson Geren: Gallery (13 items)