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Glider Pilot Daughter
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Glider Pilot Daughter

I hope this is the correct forum for this question.

 

I am still working on putting together a grouping of my Father's WWII war years. I keep finding more records mixed in with his post-war military career records and they are bring up questions.

 

My Father's individual Flight records don't show him flying into Sicily, Normandy, or Rhineland, yet post war documents and personal discussions seem to differ.

 

y Father only discussed his war time experiences with one war time friend (Keith Silvers). I happened to overhear some of these discussions as a child. I heard them talking about my Dad being a flight instructor for the British pilots while in North Africa and being shot down on his approach to Sicily. After my Father's death my Mother and I attended a WWII glider pilot meeting in Portland and met up with Keith. I had brought along several photos from my Father's collection and Keith discussed several of those photos. He pointed out two pictures of crashed gliders that Dad took in Normandy and explained that Dad had carried a gun in his glider and Keith had landed next to him with a the trailer (?) for the gun on D day +1. Yet my Dad's Individual Flight records don't show him flying that day.

 

Keith has passed away so I don't know what to believe. Can anyone decode this combat record?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

post-167781-0-38776400-1512439375.jpg

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WDGO 24 = War Department General Order 24, which is basically a list all the battles or campaigns, in this case that Richard Larson was in.

BSS = Not positive, but believe it stand for Bronze Service Star

AR = I believe stands for Action Report, in this case a Letter (Ltr) from the 9th Troop Carrier Command, undoubtedly detailing some action that Richard was in.

ETO = Eastern Theatre of Operations

 

Looks like he had 2 combat missions and 3 combat hours.

 

Hope that helps some.

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