John Guanu

Military
media-14413.jpeg UPL 14413 Four gunners who protected B-24D, 4111761, The Squaw, on 35 of it's 71 missions. The gunners are looking out of the waist window of, The Squaw, with a .50 Cal gun next to them. Left to right : Sergeant Weir, Sergeant Givens, Sergeant Reilly, and Sergeant Guana.

Removed associations which are not depicted in the image.

Object Number - UPL 14413 - Four gunners who protected B-24D, 4111761, The Squaw, on 35 of it's 71 missions. The gunners are looking out of the waist window of, The Squaw, ...

Crew member on the B-24D, 41-11761, The Squaw. Flew on the 1-Aug-43 Ploesti mission. Damaged by flak and diverted to Cyprus. Returned to base at Benghazi, Libya 3-Aug-43. Flew to Fort Worth, Texas for a war bond tour with, The Squaw. 1944



Awards: DFC, AM (6OLC), WWII Victory, EAME (2 x Battle Stars).

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Three airmen of the 389th Bomb Group stand with a B-24 Liberator used as a Flight Assembly Ship. Image via Tim Bivens. Handwritten caption from Bivens: 'My friend remembers it being named "Bucksheesh Benny" that it was used to fly Jack Benny around USA shows. Says it flew in North Africa with Benny and was eventually assigned to 389th as a hack and later as a form-up ship. He thinks it was originally with another group (possibly 376th or 98th).' Handwritten caption on reverse: '389th BG Form-up ship.'

98th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Ninth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

Royden Louis LeBrecht

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 18065645 / O-726423
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

41-11761

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: - Sleepy - The Squaw
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 98th Bomb Group 343rd Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Benina

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Soluch Airfield

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Albany, NY 7 June 1923 Son of George Guanu and Anna Bouras.

Enlisted

New York City, NY 18 December 1941

Other

Survived Ploesti

Ploiești, Romania 1 August 1943 Crew member B-24 41-11761 'Little Squaw' flew on the 1-Aug-43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress.

Died

Cherry Valley, Otsego County, NY 26 August 2005

Buried

Cherry Valley Cemetery Cherry Valley, Otsego County, NY 29 August 2005 Cherry Valley Cemetery Cherry Valley, Otsego County, New York

Other

War Bond Tour

Fort Worth, TX, USA Returned to Fort Worth, Texas, USA for war bonds tour with A/C.
Albany, NY, USA

Based

Assigned

Benina Assigned to 343BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF.

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/671319293
https://www.fold3.com/record/7047635/john-guanu-social-security-death-i…
https://www.fold3.com/record/83515025/john-guanu-wwii-army-enlistment-r…
https://www.fold3.com/record/621721903/john-guanu-1923-veterans-affairs…
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/219189060/john-guanu

Date
ContributorKickapoo
Changes
Sources

Removed punctuation from aircraft name, for clarity, uniformity, and readability. - Kickapoo

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

http://texashistory.unt.edu / USAAF Photo

John Guanu: Gallery (3 items)

Object number: UPL 14408 - Back Row L to R Gen Hoyt S Vanderberg P 1st Lt...

Object number: UPL 14412 - The crew standing and sitting on top of their...

Object number: UPL 14413 - Four gunners who protected B-24D, 4111761, The...