pfrost Posted October 6, 2007 Share #1 Posted October 6, 2007 An 8th AAF B-17 grouping to John Kennedy. This guy was a POW in Stalag 3. I did a great deal of research on Mr. Kennedy at the National Archives and have copies of the MACR, and the E&E file for the airplane, but I cant put my hands on it right now. In a nut shell, I was able to learn that returning from a bombing run, the plane had some engine trouble or flak damage, and fell behind the formation. They were attacked by German fighters, and the pilot and (best I can recall) the bombardier were killed outright. Kennedy kept the plane aloft long enough for about half the crew to bail out, the rest crashlanded in france. Kennedy was wounded and stayed with the mortally wounded pilot, while the rest of the surviving crew escaped. I believe about 1/2 the crew evaded, the other half were captured. Kennedy and the pilot were taken to a french hospital, where the pilot died. Kennedy eventually ended up in Stalag 3. I believe that he acted as the camp dentist (Kennedy's father was a dentist and after the war Kennedy returned home and was the dentist in his home town). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted October 6, 2007 Author Share #2 Posted October 6, 2007 Scans of his patches and wings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted October 6, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted October 6, 2007 Bullion pilot wing on blue background. The bullion is directly sewn into the blue felt. also, his POW dogtag from stalag 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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