David Berwick Vinson Jr
MilitaryHandwritten caption on reverse: '94BG.' On reverse: Associated Press [Stamp], 'Passed for publication 14 December 1943.'[stamp].
Printed caption on reverse: 'Operations Room of US Bomber Base - Key spot and heart of the planning and organization of a mission is in the operations office of a base. Manned 24-hours a day, a funnel for all the incoming information and data that is needed to plan the thousands of details to complete a successful mission. The 'Ops' room is the brain of a bombing mission. Intelligence information about the target, planned bomb load, amount of gasoline needed to make the flight with a safe margin, are put together and readied to pass along the line to ground officers to put into effect , and to the crews at briefing before takeoff time. Associated Press photo shows: At work in the 'Ops Room' during the planning of a raid, left to right ; Assistant Operations Officer, Capt. James H. Ainsworth, Rutland, Ver, Lt. David B. Vinson Jr., 3110 Federal St., El Paso, Tex, Lt. Mathew Murray, 276 Great Kills Road, New York City, Sgt. M. D. Horn, 3822 NE Milton Portland, Ore, Col. Louis G. Thorup, Group Air Executive Officer, 115 Edith Ave., Salt Lake City, Utah, and S/Sgt. Joseph D. Lugosh Jr., 348 Springfield Terrace, Haddonfield, NJ.' Roger Freeman Collection
Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual, p9
Psychologist David Vinson's original intention was to join the Navy but he failed the sight test, instead landing up as a Private in the Air Corps assigned to the Psychological Research unit at Santa Anna where he was supposedly designing tests to classify air crew. Not happy with that he applied for OCS and took the first offer - Chemical Warfare at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland and, after graduation joining the 312 Service Group bound for overseas. Not to North Africa as anticipated but to England at the 94th BG then at Earls Colne.
In the summer of 1943 the 94th moved to Rougham near Bury St Edmunds and there was a new CO, Colonel Frederick Castle, who requested a Group motto. Vinson came up with
'Results Count'. Castle was very much the 'new broom' and agreed to Vinson flying combat missions to investigate the issues of combat stress and operational fatigue. David flew on seven missions altogether, with all four of the 94th squadrons and also - from September to December 1944 - worked closely with two psychiatrists at the 65th General Hospital in Redgrave Park resulting in a paper ' Neurotic Behaviour Patterns arising out of the Combat Situation'.
In September 1944 a friend based at the 128th Evacuation Hospital in Belgium invited him over. He applied for permission which was refused but he went anyway, hitching a ride on a C-47. On his return he was met by the Adjutant making 'disciplinary' threats but got away with it.
On Christmas Day 1944 he was transferred to the 65th General for duty in the neuropsychiatric section, his own experiences on combat missions proving to be very useful in the understanding of psychiatric casualties. Post VE Day he participated in Air Intelligence 'Operation Lusty' the assignment being to find out how the Lutwaffe had handled combat stress. His orders were to contact the famous German test pilot Hanna Reitsch who was in hospital in Kitsbuhl Austria. He did manage to meet her in spite of opposition from the French - Kitsbuhl being in the French zone - and she agreed to be interrogated. He smuggled her out wearing a GI uniform and purporting to be Vinson's driver and took her to her family home in Salzburg where he was able to question her at length. His subsequent report was buried for a number of years as being too 'pro-German'. He kept in touch with Hanna until her death many years later.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Medical Unit
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Rougham
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Houston, Teas | 7 October 1917 | |
Enlisted |
El Paso, Texas | 4 March 1942 | |
Died |
Fredericksburg, Texas | 5 January 2008 |
Revisions
Biography completed by historian Helen Millgate. Information sourced from newsletters of the 94th Bomb Group related to the service of David Vinson.