LLOYD M. BENTSEN Jr. (B-24 Pilot) - U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1993-94)

(February 11, 1921 - May 23, 2006)

B-24 Pilot for the 449th BG, 717th BS (June 1944 - November 1944) and rose to the rank of Major as a squadron commander in Europe for the 449th BG, 716th BS (November 1944 - February 1945).

Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. He was promoted to colonel in the Air Force Reserve before completing his military service.

In the 1988 presidential election, the Democratic ticket of Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen was defeated by George Bush and Dan Quayle.

LLOYD M. BENTSEN Jr. Book:

The Secretary of the Treasury Through Lloyd Bentsen ('All the President's Men and Women')

GEORGE S. BROWN (B-24 Pilot) - Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff

(?? - December 5, 1978)

Born: George Scratchley Brown

His first assignment after flying training was at Barksdale Field, La., where as a member of the initial cadre of the 93d Bombardment Group, he flew B-24 Liberators. Moving with the organization to Ft. Myers, Fla., he flew antisubmarine patrol.

In August 1942 he flew with the 93d Bombardment Group to England, the first B-24 Group to join the Eighth Air Force. Until April 1944, he served in various positions with the group, including commander of the 329th Bombardment Squadron, group operations and then executive officer. It was as executive officer that he took part in the famous low-level bombing raid against oil refineries at Ploesti, Rumania, Aug. 1, 1943. The 93d Group was the second of five B-24 groups that raided Ploesti from a temporary base at Bengasi, Libya. The 93d group, led by its commander, flew directly into heavy defenses to hit three of the six target refineries. The lead plane and 10 others were shot down or crashed on the target. General Brown, then a major, took over the lead of the battered 93d and led it back to Bengasi. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on that mission.

His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

Promoted to full general, he was sent to Vietnam in 1968 to command the Seventh Air Force.

GEORGE S. BROWN Book:

George S. Brown, General, U.S. Air Force: Destined for Stars

JOHN "RED" COCHRAN (B-24 Pilot) - Pro Football Player/Coach/Scout

Click for MORE INFO

(August 2, 1922 - September 5, 2004)

Served with the 14th AF, 308th BG, 373rd BS on

"The BIG SLEEP" (V2)...

http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-B-BIG_SLEEP-THE-V1-V2.htm

"LITTLE EGYPT"...

http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-L-LITTLE_EA-LITTLE_EZ.htm

Chicago Cardinals Running Back (1947-50)
Green Bay Packers Backfield Coach (1959-66) - (1971-74)
Green Bay Packers Scout (1974-2004)

JAMES E. COUNSILMAN (B-24 Pilot) - Swimmer/Coach

(December 27, 1920 - January 4, 2004)

Served with the 15th AF, 455th BG. Awarded the DFC when he crash-landed his shot-up B-24 at Zara, Yugoslavia.

After the war, he went to the University of Iowa where he earned his doctorate in physiology. The nickname "Doc" followed him to a coaching job at Cortland State University in New York, where he was also a professor. In 1968, at Indiana University, Doc had successfully built a team of gold medalists and world record holders including Charlie Hickcox, Jim Montgomery, and Mark Spitz.

In 1979, he swam the English Channel at age 58, and became the oldest man (at that time) to successfully complete the swim. What made the swim even more difficult, was that four years earlier, Doc had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease!

Author of several Books on Swimming 

SABU DASTIGIR (B-24 Ball Turret Gunner) - Actor

(January 27,1924 - December 2, 1963)

AKA "Toomai The Elephant Boy"

Served with the 13th AF, 307th BG, 370th BS on "JANIE" 44-41535 ...


http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-J-JAN-JAR.htm

Indian born Sabu Dastagir was already an established American film star by the late 1930s, became a United States citizen, enlisted in the Army Air Forces, and served 40 missions as a ball turret gunner in B-24 Liberators in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

He died at the age of 39 of a heart attack.

SABU DASTIGIR Best known Film:

Elephant Boy (1937)
[Role: Toomai]

FRED FISKE (B-24 Radioman/Gunner) - Senior Commentator

(?? - )

Flew 30 missions over France and Germany and served under squadron leader, Colonel Jimmy Stewart.
Awarded Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals.

Senior Commentator at WAMU 88.5 FM radio in the greater Washington D.C. area.

DON HERBERT (B-24 Pilot) - Actor

(July 10, 1917 - June 12, 2007)

AKA "Mr. Wizard". Watch Mr. Wizard premiered on 3 Mar 51.

Flew 56 missions and participated in the invasion of Italy. When Herbert was discharged in 1945 he was captain and had earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.

Assigned on 18 Aug 44 and served with the 15th AF, 461st BG, 767th BS and flew 42-40592 (no name).
Shown (kneeling 2nd from right) with crew #70-2...

http://www.461st.org/Crews/Herbert.htm

 DON HERBERT Book: 

Mr. Wizard's Experiments for Young Scientists

RUSSELL JOHNSON (B24 Crew Member) - Actor

(November 10, 1924 - )

Born: Russell David Johnson

AKA "The Professor" (Roy Hinkley) on 'Gilligan's Island' (1964-1967)

Earned a Purple Heart (for injuries during battle) when the B-24 Liberator bomber he was a crewman on was shot down during a bombing run against Japanese targets in the Philippine Islands (March 1945).

RUSSELL JOHNSON Best known Film:

It Came from Outer Space (1953)
[Role: George]

IRVIN KERSHNER (B-24 Navigator) - Director

(April 29, 1923 - )

IRVIN KERSHNER Best known Film:

Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back (1980)

BEIRNE LAY Jr. (B-24 Pilot) - Screenwriter/Producer/Author

(September 1, 1909 - May 26, 1982)

8th AF 487 BG group commander; shot down in Europe, but evaded capture and made it back to England.
In 1942 Capt. Beirne Lay Jr. (retired as Col.) was one of the officers who helped to form the bombing arm of the USAAF – the 8th Air Force, and in 1944 he alluded capture after his B-24 was shot down in Nazi-occupied France. When he returned to America, Lay captivated audiences with his flair for storytelling and by writing highly successful screenplays that captured the spirit of his time in Europe, and the lifestyle of American pilots, without giving way to any of the “usual Hollywood errors.”

BEIRNE LAY Jr. Books:

Presumed dead : the survival of a bomb group commander

Twelve O'Clock High (Great Classic Stories of World War II)

BEIRNE LAY Jr. Best known Film:

Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

DELBERT MANN (B-24 Pilot) - Director

(January 30, 1920 - November 11, 2007)

Joined the Eighth Air Force, for which he completed thirty-five missions as a pilot of a B-24 bomber with the 467th BG. Later he served with the 491st BG as Intelligence Officer assisting Verle Pope, the Group Intelligence Officer.

Received Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

Won the Academy Award in 1956 as best director for his debut feature film, Marty, which starred Ernest Borgnine.

DELBERT MANN Best known Film:

All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)

DELBERT MANN Book:

Looking Back... at Live Television and Other Matters

WALTER MATTHAU (B-24 Radioman/Gunner) - Actor/Director/Producer

(October 1, 1920 - July 1, 2000)

Born: Walter Matthow

Served as a radio cryptographer with the 453rd Bomb Group.
SSgt Walter Matthow (not an actor at the time) served under Jimmy Stewart.

WALTER MATTHAU Aviation film:

Fail Safe - Special Edition (1964)
[Role: Professor Groeteschele]

GEORGE McGOVERN (B-24 Pilot) - United States Senator

(July 19, 1922 - )

Inducted into the USAAF in 1943, sent to Europe as a B-24 Pilot (flying 35 missions). May have been on YO-YO (455th BG / 741st BS), and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.

http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-Y-YOA-YOU_B.htm

Defeated by Richard M. Nixon in the 1972 presidential election.

GEORGE McGOVERN Book:

Vietnam : Four American Perspectives : Lectures

GEORGE McGOVERN Featured in:

The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany

GEORGE OLESEN (B-24 Pilot) - Cartoonist

(December, 1924 - )

As a pilot of a B-24 flying "The Hump" in the Far East during WWII, he supplied a much-appreciated daily cartoon for the Officers' Mess.

From George (Himself)

"I might want to add that I actually did pencil both the daily and the Sunday Phantom. From 1962 to l984 I mainly penciled the Sunday story, and from 1984 to 1994 I penciled  the daily as well the Sunday story. When Sy Barry retired in 1994, I took over and got my name on the Phantom. In June 2000 I gave up drawing the Sunday stories in order to have more leisure time, but till this day I draw the daily strip." -- George

GEORGE OLESEN Artwork:

"Little Beaver" - (Comic Book)

"Ozark Ike" - (Newspaper Sunday Comics)

"The Phantom" - (Newspaper  Daily and Sunday Comics)

JACK PALANCE (B-24 Pilot in Training) - Actor

(February 18, 1919 - November 10, 2006)

Born: Walter Vladimir Palanuik

Joined the Army Air Forces (August 1942) and began training as a bomber pilot in San Antonio, Texas. A year later, during a take-off near Tucson, Arizona, the engine of his B-24 bomber failed and crashed. After long time recovery, ended service April 2, 1944.

JACK PALANCE  Best known Film:

City Slickers (1991)
[Role: Curly Washburn]

PAUL PICERNI (B-24 Bombardier) - Actor

(December 1 1922 - )

One year after enlisting in the Army Air Corps, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant Bombardier at Victorville Air Force Base in California. Few 25 combat missions (in the China, Burma, India theater of war) and received the Air medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Was the bombardier on the plane that bombed and destroyed the real bridge made famous in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957).

Trained on "501" (V1)...

http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-500-519.htm

Served with the 10th AF, 7th BG, 493rd BS on "WANDERING WANDA (V2)"...

http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-W-WAN-WAQ.htm

From Paul himself : "I was with the 493rd BS from Sep 44 until Sep 45. I was a 1st Lt Bombardier with Bob Lindquist's crew: http://www.7thbg.org/LindquistsCrew.htm. We flew 25 combat missions and flew gas over the "Hump" to Luliang, China. After the war I graduated from Loyola U. in Los Angeles and became an actor in Hollywood. I made approximately 65 motion pictures and appeared in some 500 TV shows. I starred in House of Wax, To Hell and Back and was co-star on the TV series The Untouchables among others.
I wrote a book, recently published and it includes some of my experiences while I was with the 7th BG."

PAUL PICERNI Book:

Steps to Stardom: My Story

PAUL PICERNI Best known Television Series:

  The Untouchables (60 episodes from 1960-1963)
[Role: Agent Lee Hobson]

PAUL PICERNI Best known Film:

To Hell and Back (1955)
[Role: Valentino]

CARROLL PRATT (B-24 Pilot) - Sound Engineer/Developer

(April 19, 1921 - )

Carroll Holmes Pratt served with the 8th AF, 44th BG, 67th BS on "unnamed" 42-41017 (L). On 1 October 1943, 2/Lt. Carroll H. Pratt was on his 6th mission as Co-pilot with 1/Lt. Reginald L. Carpenter, flying from Oudna, Tunisia, to Wiener Neustadt, Austria, to bomb a Messerschmitt airframe plant. Became a POW and interned at Stalag Luft III. - see pages 129 and 130 of Will Lundy's "44th Bomb Group Roll of Honor and Casualties".

His Father, Carroll "Skipper" Pratt Sr., was the Chief of the Sound Department at MGM in Culver City, California at the original development of sound, and his Son, Scott Pratt, is a producer.

Won 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 10 nominations...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0695433/

Developer of the "Laugh Track"

JACK R. SMIGHT (B-24 Navigator) - Director/Producer

(March 9, 1926 - September 1, 2003)

Served with the 5th AF, 90th BG, 320th BS on "OLD IRON SIDES" 42-110053 ...

http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-O-OLD_I-OLD_L.htm

From the 1950s through the 1970s, he directed episodes for series such as "Naked City," "The Twilight Zone," "Route 66," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," "Dr. Kildare," and "McCloud."

His movies include: • Number One With a Bullet (1987) • Kaleidoscope (1966) • Harper (1966) • La Nuit du serail • The Illustrated Man • The Secret War of Harry Frigg • No Way to Treat a Lady • Fast Break • Loving Couples • Midway • Damnation Alley • Airport 1975 • I'd Rather Be Rich • Rabbit, Run • The Third Day • The Traveling Executioner

JACK R. SMIGHT  Best known Film:

Midway (1976)

JIMMY STEWART (B-24 Pilot) - Actor

(May 20, 1908 - July 2, 1997)

Joined USAAC in 1940, was initially refused entry because he was 5 pounds under the required 148 pounds, but he talked the recruitment officer into ignoring the test. Eventually became a Colonel, 8th AF Sqn Cmdr 703 BS 445 BG, and Ops Officer 453 BG (&rt;456 BG), awarded the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Croix de Guerre, and 7 battle stars. Flew B-52 and B-58 in Vietnam. In 1959, while in the USAFR, he was promoted to BrigGenl, the highest ranking actor in military history (but would not allow his war record to be used in movies or as publicity).

Served with the 8th AF, 453rd BG, 734th BS on "MALE CALL (V2)"...


http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-M-MALE_CALL-V1-V4.htm

Academy Award (1940)
AFI Lifetime Achievement Award (1980)

JIMMY STEWART Book:

Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot

JIMMY STEWART Best known film:

It's a Wonderful Life (DVD) (1947)
[Role: George Bailey]

STEWART L. UDALL (B-24 Armorer Gunner)- Secretary of the Interior

(January 31, 1920 - )

Served with the 15th AF, 454th BG, 736thd BS on "FLYIN' HOME"...

http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-F-FLYIN_A-FLYIN_M.htm

Arizona Congressman for District 2 from 1954-1961 and as Secretary of the Interior from 1961-1969 in the administrations of President John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

STEWART L. UDALL has published nine books, including...

National Parks of the United States (1973)

DAVID WESTHEIMER (B-24 Navigator) - Screen Writer/Author

(1917 - November 8, 2005)

Personal experience inspired David Westheimer in the writing of Von Ryan's Express. The Houston-born writer had served with distinction in World War II as a B-24 navigator (Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal) and had been a prisoner of war both in Italy and in Germany. His recreation of the tension, the fear and the absurdities of the situation bring suspense and sharp humor to this amazing story of unlikely heroism.

Westheimer is the author of some 12 novels, the first of which -- Summer on the Water -- was published in 1948. A graduate of Rice University, he worked for the Houston Post before turning his attention to writing fulltime. His novels include Watching Out for Dulie, The Magic Fallacy and, in 1970, a sequel to Von Ryan's Express called Von Ryan's Return. Westheimer's 1965 novel My Sweet Charlie became a play and, in 1968, an acclaimed television film. The author continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve -- holding the rank of lieutenant colonel when Von Ryan's Express was published -- and returned to the Houston Post briefly to write a column (1984-88). 

DAVID WESTHEIMER Best known film:

Von Ryan's Express DVD (1965)

Von Ryan's Express VHS (1965)

DAVID WESTHEIMER Books:

The Great Wounded Bird

Sitting It Out: A World War II Pow Memoir

JAMES C. WRIGHT, JR. (B-24 Bombardier) - Speaker of the House

(December 22, 1922 - )

Enlisted in the United States Army Air Force in December 1941; commissioned in 1942 and flew combat missions in the South Pacific; was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Served with the 5th AF, 380th BG, 530th BS on "GUS'S BUS"...

http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-G-GUS-GV.htm

Until his resignation on June 30, 1989, Speaker of the House of Representatives (One Hundredth and One Hundred First Congresses)

PB4Y

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY Jr. (PB4Y Pilot) - Elder brother of the future United States President, John F. Kennedy

(July 28, 1915 - August 12, 1944)

Son of the former United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, Joe Kennedy, Sr.

Lieutenant J. P. Kennedy, Jr. was killed while flying a Consolidated PB4Y-1 (Navy B-24) Liberator (Bureau No. 32271. Coded T-11) robot drone of United States Navy Squadron VB-110. The aircraft exploded in mid-air over Southern England.

He was Flying out of Fersfield-Winfarthing airfield near Diss in Norfolk, while on a top-secret RAF Special Air Unit  mission officially called "Operation Aphrodite" (also known as "Project Anvil"). The crew consisted of only two men, himself and his Co-Pilot, Lieutenant Wilford J. Willy, USN.

Posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and the Air Medal for heroism.

Served with VB-110...


http://www.navylib.com/Y1SAUK1.htm

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY Jr. Featured in:

The Kennedys at War, 1937-1945

TYRONE POWER (PB4Y Pilot) - Actor

(May 15, 1914 - November 15, 1958)

Born: Tyrone Edmund Power Jr.

Served with VMR 353 in the Pacific.

He died of a heart attack while on set, brought on by having to carry Gina Lollobrigida up and down the stairs 40 times for retakes, while filming "Solomon and Sheba" in Madrid, Spain! (Well, if you have to go...)

Solomon and Sheba (1959)
[Role: (unaccredited)]

TYRONE POWER Best known Film:

A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)
[Role: Tim Baker]

ROBERT STACK (PB4Y Gunnery Instructor) - Actor

(January 13, 1919 - May 14, 2003)

Born Robert Langford Modini.

Best known as TV's Eliot Ness. Began his acting career more than 60 years ago opposite Deanna Durbin in First Love (1939). He earned an Oscar nomination for Written on the Wind (1956), won an Emmy in 1960 as Ness in The Untouchables (1959-63), and served as host of TV's Unsolved Mysteries for an entire decade (1988-99).

ROBERT STACK Best known Film:

Airplane! (1980)
[Role: Captain Rex Kramer]