Bio

Michael J. Halaiko was a First Lieutenant, Navigator/Bombardier, with The Mighty Eighth Air Force in WWII.  Mike was stationed in Alconbury, England, as a member of the 813th Bomb Squadron, 482nd Bomb Group, and flew 12 missions from 9/1/1944 to 4/25/1945. According to Mike's Military Certificate of Service, Mike departed for The European Theater of Operation on a B-17G on June 2, 1944.  The exact route to his final destination of Alconbury Royal Air Force Base, near Peterborough, England is estimated to be from Langley to New Foundland, to Greenland, to Iceland, and finally Alconbury.  The record shows that his squadron did not arrive until June 11, 1944. Mike's Military Record further shows that he was trained in the use of the H2X Radar at Alconbury Air Force Base, and Certified as a Radar Navigator-Bombardier at The 482nd Pathfinder School on July 28, 1944.  The date of Mike's First Mission was September 1, 1944 to somewhere in Belgium.  The record reads "Spec. Mission Belgium".  The record shows that this Mission took 6 hours and 45 minutes. This could be a description of his First Mission: "Mission 599: 3 of 3 B-17s fly a Micro H mission to attack a fuel dump in the Bois del la Haussiere, Belgium without loss. Escort is provided by 2 of 2 P-51s." The above description is taken from:  http://www.8thafhs.com/get_one_mission.php?mission_id=1456 More information to follow soon...