decwriter

That’s a huge score, congratulations!

BTT in honor of the 1 Aug 1943 Ploesti low-level mission.

BTT in honor of the 1 Aug 1943 Ploesti low-level mission.

I think it would be more appropriate to kindly ask Schofield1943 if he wouldn’t mind making great copies that you’d be happy to pay for, to include shipping, or you could copy the jpegs yourself and print them. He was gifted these items after working with this French lady and coworker for a long time.

It looks like his DFC was awarded under General Orders No. 62, Hqrs. Ninth U.S. Air Force, July 13, 1943 Nice low numbered DFC! His basic Air Medal and first OLC were awarded under General Orders No. 1, Hqrs. Ninth Fighter Command, June 15, 1943 Three OLCs were awarded under GO #2, Hq. IX Fighter Command, June 25, 1943 Another OLC was awarded under GO #5, Hq. IX Fighter Command, Aug. 7, 1943

This is your guy for sure and the picture of the small ribbon bar looked like two silver oak leaf clusters, but they are bright bronze oak leaf clusters. That's a nice caterpillar club pin and card.

This thread reminded me of another co-worker who earned the Airman's Medal as a Pararescue Jumper. He was an Airman First Class at the time and earned it with one of his senior team mates after a natural disaster in the Philippines. He crawled through collapsed buildings administering aid to the injured. Some of the actions were pretty gruesome in an effort to recover the dead, but it had to be done. He rarely talks about it, but did say he was more scared receiving the medal from the Air Force Chief Force Staff than how he earned it during the lifesaving efforts. Later on he became a warrant officer in the Army, then later commissioned in the Air Force Reserve and is now a Lieutenant Colonel. He's a great pilot and very humble as well. He lost his citation through the years and long before electronic records were mandated in our service files. His special order did survive and that's the only reason the Airman's Medal is on his ribbon rack! He did say it was moot point as to whether he would receive an additional 10% upon retirement because he was no longer enlisted.

According to the Air Force Historical Research Agency, the 76 MAS did not receive a PUC. The unit did receive six AFOUA from 1963 to 1973. If you can find another unit your father may have been assigned to, it may open a door to answer the question of the PUC.

Thanks Kurt! I learn something new every day and appreciate the gouge on engraved initials, then last name regarding research. Randy

I am standing by for a signed copy as well and ready to see the finished product! Randy

Here is his AM with official engraving. If anyone has the DFC, I would like to reunite the pair.

I bought this AM thinking it would be a name challenge, considering it was possibly or probably an abbreviation, but I rolled the dice on it anyway and waited. I knew it was official WWII engraving. There wasn’t a whole lot of interest on eBay at the time of the sale due to the “what ifs” regarding the fliers name. I did find one NARA entry, which was identical to his name, and this helped out regarding research. I also located a Selective Service Registration Card from Texas with his unique name and it appears he enlisted two months shy of his eighteenth birthday with his parent’s consent. When the USAAF award cards came online, I was able to locate his AM and DFC General Order award cards. For whatever reason, both the AM and the DFC award card were listed under the same General Order and he only received one decoration without any additional oak leaf clusters. He served in a medium bombardment group in the Tenth Air Force, but I do not know which squadron he served in. There are two medium bombardment groups to choose from, the 12th BG and the 341st BG. Both flew B-25s. His DFC citation was for flying more than 200 hours and the AM citation was for flying more than 100 hours. The citations had to be edited, but are readable.

Very nice Kurt!

I sent a request for the citation and it sealed the deal on the spelling regarding the DFC. While I appreciate all DFCs and AMs to fliers, I really like single-event decorations that pinpoint an action associated with the earning of the decoration. Here’s the citation and close up of the engraving.

The official records I received from NARA had the spelling with an ‘e’ so anything directly related with flying used ‘a’ and all other paperwork used ’e.’ Here are his discharge documents as an Aviation Cadet and at the end of the war.