Carl Thomas Stibbens

Military

Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. Wheels-up landing at night during a training flight on 31-Mar-44 in B-17F 42-29624 'Pappy'. Returned to Duty (RTD). 32 x combat missions. 10 flown on 42-97170 'Julie Mae'. He was shot down twice over enemy lines.



Awards: DFC, WWII Victory, EAME, UN and Korean medal.



Post war: Retired from the US Air Force after 20 years of service.



From his daughter Linda:

"He never shared much about the war, other than being shot down twice behind enemy lines. He said on one occasion they were just hours from the border on another occasion he said it took them 3 days to get back."

Connections

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Units served with

People

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Julie Mae
  • Unit: 379th Bomb Group 527th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: The Birmingham Jewell
  • Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Gravel Gertie

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

15 November 1919 Son of John Thomas and Minnie Ola [Blakey] Stibbens.

Enlisted

19 August 1940 Bexar County, Texas

Died

25 July 2002

Buried

28 July 2002 Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas Plot: 21-2015

Based

Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF.

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Removed an empty event.

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
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Removed # from A/C serial No. to aid clarity and consistency

Date
Contributorjmoore43
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Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
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ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Correspondence with Carl Stibbens' daughter, Linda.

Enlistment record: https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&tf=F&q=sti…

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces