media-21341.jpeg UPL 21341 AN EIGHTH AIR FORCE LIBERATOR STATION, ENGLAND -- 1st Lt. Boyd L. Lawson (right) of Billings, Mont. is decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross by Major Valin R. Woodward, squadron commander, of Arlington, Tex. The DFC was awarded Lt. Lawson for extraordinary achievement as a lead crew bombardier-navigator with a squadron of the 458th Bombardment Group. He has flown on 30 combat bombing missions in a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber over European targets, and has been overseas since Aug. 12, 1944. A few prominent missions included Berlin, Bielefeld, Paderborn, Hanau, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Osnabruck, Hanover, Harburg, Leipheim and Dortmund.




Lt. Lawson, whose wife, Mrs. Valdia M. Lawson, lives at 312 South 34th St., Billings, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Boyd A. Lawson, 122 Avenue B, Billings, Mont. In civilian life, he was a chemist for Yale Oil Corp. Of Billings, Mont. He graduated from Billings High School in 1940, attended Billings Polytechnic School for two years, was commissioned Second Lieutenant April 1, 1944 and promoted to First Lieutenant Dec. 16, 1944.




The 458th Bombardment Group, which is a part of Brig. Gen. Walter Peck’s Second Air Division, has completed 240 combat missions over European targets.
458th Bomb Group collection

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