Adrian M Poletti

Military
Chaplain Adrian Poletti of the 303rd Bomb Group prepares the Altar for Mass inside the station Chapel. Image stamped on reverse: 'Copyright Current Affairs Ltd.' [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 28 Jan 1943.' [stamp] and '245678.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: 'Preparing for Mass at the American Army Camp in Britain is Chaplain Adrian M Poletti of 203 Oak Street Weehawken , N J. Chaplain Poletti, who is 35 years of age, was formerly at St Michaels School, Union City. His parents reside media-378804.jpg FRE 936 Chaplain Adrian Poletti of the 306th Bomb Group prepares the Altar for Mass inside the station Chapel at Thurleigh.

Image stamped on reverse: 'Copyright Current Affairs Ltd.' [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 28 Jan 1943.' [stamp] and '245678.' [Censor no.]

Printed caption on reverse: 'Preparing for Mass at the American Army Camp in Britain is Chaplain Adrian M Poletti of 203 Oak Street Weehawken , N J. Chaplain Poletti, who is 35 years of age, was formerly at St Michaels School, Union City. His parents reside at 203 Oak St, Weehawken. He sends them all this message- "Everything going swell. Enjoying my work and putting on weight".' Roger Freeman Collection

Changed group from 303rd to 306th Bomb Group. This image was intially filed with images from the 303rd Bomb Group by Roger Freeman, and is part of a series of Current Affairs Photos of airmen from 303rd and 306th BG personnel

There are documents and photos pertaining to Poletti and his service in the < href="http://www.306bg.org/PDFcorres/p/poletti_adrian.pdf"> 306th BG archives

Object Number - FRE 936 - Chaplain Adrian Poletti of the 306th Bomb Group prepares the Altar for Mass inside the station Chapel at Thurleigh. Image stamped on reverse:...

Catholic. He married about seventy soldiers of the 306th and attached units. He was ordained a priest on 28 April 1934. He was assigned to the 306th on 08 October 1942.

Pictures of 306th Bomber Group Chapel https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/airwar-ww2-the-pilots.54010/page-…





Presidential Citation, Bronze Star,



Born Arthur Poletti, he was the son of Emile and Abigal Mead Poletti. He was professed on August 15, 1928 and received the name Adrian. He was ordained on April 28, 1934.



In 1942 Father Poletti volunteered to become an Air Force Chaplain in World War II. In July 1944 he was featured in a Sign Magazine article entitled "Bomber Base in England." Where he wrote about his routine and life with the 306th Bomb Group. He described his three years with the 306th Bomb Group as "some of the happiest of my life", and doubted that any other group received better religious attention than his.



Later he served as pastor of St. Joseph's Monastery Church, Baltimore, Maryland. He worked with care to beautify the church and loved to catch many of the parish events by taking his own pictures.



From 1970 Father Poletti worked as a field representative for Sign Magazine. which meant he often traveled from parish to parish in his car to get permission for Passionist preachers to preach in order to increase subscriptions to the magazine.

Connections

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

Units served with

Official insignia of the 306th Bomb Group, approved 6 January 1943, and updated 2 October 1951.

306th Bomb Group

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

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Union, NJ, USA 8 September 1907 Born Arthur Poletti, he was the son of Emile and Abigal Mead Poletti

Other

Professed

15 August 1928 Professed and received the name Adrian

Other

Ordained

28 April 1932

Other

Arrived in UK

Podington 17 August 1942 Arrived in UK and Assigned to 15th Bomb Group (Medium) at Podington

Died

24 December 1980

Buried

Passionist Commuity Section, New Cathedral Cemetery, Baltimore

Enlisted

Volunteered to become an Air Force Chaplain

Other

Pastor

St. Joseph's Monastery Parish Office, 251 South Morley Street, Baltimore, MD 21229, USA Following the War he became Pastor of St Joseph's Monastery Church

Other

Feild Representative for 'Sign' Magazine

Based

Thurleigh A few weeks after arriving in Podington, he was reassigned to 306th BG at Thurlegih, where he remained throughout the war

Revisions

Date
ContributorSnautzer
Changes
Sources

https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/airwar-ww2-the-pilots.54010/page-…

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Name incorrectly spelt as 'Andrian', Obituary, 306th BG Archives and Current Affairs Press Photo (see associated media) give his first name as Adrian

Obituary

Documents pertaining to Adrian Poletti, including 'Sign' Magazine article from July 1944 at 306th BG Archives

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Associated Freeman Image based off name in caption

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Chaplains' Board, First Over Germany pg. 71, 172 & 323, 306th BGA Collection, Russell Strong Index Cards, / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / http://www.306bg.org/crewphotos/Crew%20Pictures%20Adam-Rector/Crew%20Pi…

Adrian M Poletti: Gallery (1 items)

Chaplain Adrian Poletti of the 303rd Bomb Group prepares the Altar for Mass inside the station Chapel. Image stamped on reverse: 'Copyright Current Affairs Ltd.' [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 28 Jan 1943.' [stamp] and '245678.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: 'Preparing for Mass at the American Army Camp in Britain is Chaplain Adrian M Poletti of 203 Oak Street Weehawken , N J. Chaplain Poletti, who is 35 years of age, was formerly at St Michaels School, Union City. His parents reside

Object number: FRE 936 - Chaplain Adrian Poletti of the 306th Bomb Group...