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William Joseph Cusack

Military

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William Joseph Cusack June 27, 1918 - Sept. 25, 2011 Resident of Concord, California William Joseph Cusack passed away at age 93 after a long and rewarding life. "Bill," to those who new him, was born in New York. He enlisted and served in the Army Air Corps during WWII and achieved the rank of Captain, flying 30+ missions over Europe as a navigator. An accountant and comptroller for Chevron Oil Co. for over 35 years, William transferred to California in 1969 and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. Later in life, he often enjoyed a round of golf at Diablo Hills Golf Club in Concord. He is survived by four of his children: Michael Cusack, Kathleen Woodburn, Joanne Kingeter, and Thomas Cusack. His 14 grand children and 7 great grand children will lovingly remember him. His beloved wife of 50 years, Cecelia, passed in 1993. His first born, William F. Cusack, passed away in January 2011. William was a kind and generous man who always put family first.

Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross, Presidential Unit Citation, Air Medal (w/ 4 Oak Leaf Clusters), American Campaign Medal (w/ 1 Service Star), European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (w/ 4 Service Stars), World War II Victory Medal

Service

Units served with

  • 486th Bomb Group

    486th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 486th Bomb Group flew both B-24s and B-17s, swapping from the former aircraft to the latter in late July 1944 after 49 missions. In total the Group flew 292 missions during the war and remarkably the 834th Bomb Squadron lost no aircraft or...

  • 834th Bomb Squadron

    834th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

Aircraft

  • 42-98008 American Beauty

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Dallas 30/4/44; Kearney 14/6/44; Presque Is 5/7/44; Assigned PFF 834BS/486BG [2S-G] Sudbury 7/7/44; 61m transferred 92BG Podington 7/7/45; Returned to the USA Bradley 8/7/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 11/7/45; Reconstruction Finance...

  • 41-29400 Sagittarius / Sagittarias

    B-24 Liberator
    486th Bomb Group converted to B-17s in 1944; aircraft transferred to Italy 10-Jan-45 and assigned to 15th AF, 449th BG, 716th BS and renamed "Sagittarias"

  • 41-29517 'Pisces'

    B-24 Liberator
    Assignments: Originally 8th AF, 486th BG. Transferred on 1 Jul 44 to 834th BS (H8 H). Transferred to 15th AF, 461st BG, 766th BS as #51. (Also reported in 465th BG). Condemned 19 Jun 45.

  • 42-52744 'Ding Dong Daddy From Dixie' 'Capricorn'

    B-24 Liberator
    Assigned to 834BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred in Jul-44 to 835BS. May have been transferred briefly to 493rd BG but definitely transferred to MTO 10 Mar 45 by BAD 3 and assigned to 98th BG. Salvaged 27 Apr 45.

  • 42-52762 'Scorpio'

    B-24 Liberator
    Assigned 834th BS, Transferred to 833rd BS (4N F). After storage at BAD 3, Langford Lodge, Northern Ireland, it was transferred to MTO 14 Feb 45 and assigned to 465th BG / 781st BS (T). Sadly, its service in 15th AF was very short indeed because it was...

  • 42-52693 'Aries'

    B-24 Liberator
    After leaving 486th BG in July 1944, was put in storage at a depot and not received by 492nd BG at Harrington until between 7 & 23 Dec 44. Never flew in 492nd BG as a Carpetbagger. It remained a bomber (even after being painted black) and flew on all...

  • 42-52768 'Leo'

    B-24 Liberator
    Assignments: 834th BS, 486th BG, 8th AF (coded 2S-E) - Missions [7] - 27 May 44 7th BS, 34th BG, 8th AF (coded K) - Missions [6] - 11 Jun 44 860th BS, 493rd BG, 8th AF (K) - Missions [20] Jun - at least [19] Jul 44 BAD 2 (end 1944) RZI 25-Sep-45.

  • 42-52508 'Libra'

    B-24 Liberator
    Originally assigned to the 486th BG. Transferred from 834th BS to 833rd BS to become 4N-S at the beginning of July 1944. Transferred to the 857th BS, 492nd BG where it was still on inventory records in July of 1945.

  • 42-52545 'Aquaria'

    B-24 Liberator
    Renamed to 'Frisco Trudy' after transfer to 486th BG /832nd BS (3R-K).

  • 41-29490 'Gemini'

    B-24 Liberator
    Assigned to 834BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Stored BAD2. Assigned 725BSBS, 451st BG, 15AF USAAF. Salvaged 9-Apr-45.

Show more
Nationality
American
Nickname
Bill
Service numbers
0-801436
Highest rank
Captain
Role/job
Navigator
Awards
  • Air Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters
  • American Campaign Medal
  • Distinguished Flying Cross
  • World War II Victory Medal
  • European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 bronze stars

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
20 July 2021 16:23:00 jmoore43 Changes to middlename
Sources

Updated Middle Name per info in the "Summary biography".
Date Contributor Update
05 September 2020 12:54:57 decwriter Changes to service number and awards
Sources

NARA files verified Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters. Officer number is directly from the files.
Date Contributor Update
29 December 2018 12:40:26 Pepper2237 Changes to middlename
Sources

Robert C Woodburn, Jr
Date Contributor Update
29 December 2018 12:23:35 Pepper2237 Changes to middlename and aircraft associations
Sources

Robert C Woodburn, Jr
Date Contributor Update
29 December 2018 12:19:02 Pepper2237 Changes to unit associations
Sources

Robert C Woodburn, Jr
Date Contributor Update
29 December 2018 10:47:07 Pepper2237 Changes to media associations
Sources

Robert C Woodburn, Jr - William J Cusack's Grandson
Date Contributor Update
29 December 2018 10:45:45 Pepper2237 Changes to media associations
Sources

Robert C Woodburn, Jr. - William J Cusack's Grandson
Date Contributor Update
29 December 2018 10:19:59 Pepper2237 Changes to nickname, highest rank, role and biography
Sources

Robert C Woodburn, Jr - William J Cusack's Grandson.
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:28:16 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

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

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