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Unnamed
B-29 # 42-65368 - Lost 10 April 1945
"City of Santa Rosa"
"Uncle Tim's Cabin"
B-29 # 44-69894 - 2nd Aircraft
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Crew
4 Combat and Ground
Photo Courtesy of Joseph E. Courtney II |
Standing
L to R:
Capt Ralph Gray, AC; M/Sgt Leslie Rowe, FE; Sgt Charles R. Feaster,
Radio; S/Sgt James H. Snyder, Radio; F/O Francis R. Demchock,
Nav.; T/Sgt Richard W. Robinson, CFC; 1st Lt Edwin V. Hughes,
Radar; 1st Lt Joseph Courtney, Bomb; 1st Lt Donald C. Hedlund,
Pilot. |
Middle
Kneeling:
Sgt Lee S. Horn, LG; S/Sgt Leo B.
Sutton, TG; Unknown; Sgt Robert F. Potter, RG; Cpl Don Jerome,
Mechanic; T/Sgt George Krieger, Ground Crew Chief |
Front
Row Sitting:
#1 Cpl John H. Thompson, LG; Sgt Joseph A. Parker, Mech;all others
- unknown ground crew |
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If you can help ID the unknown men in the above photo please email:
updates@39th.org
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"On
10 April 1945, the 60th Squadron had its first serious overseas
accident. During a practice bombing mission over the Marianas,
Crew 4's aircraft commanded by 1st Lt. Ralph Gray, experienced
a runaway propeller. Within minutes it broke loose and struck
the plane, penetrating the fuselage nearly cutting it in two.
As a result, most of the flight controls were severed and all
communication lines were cut. The aircraft was at an altitude
of only 1000 feet. Yet Lt. Gray managed to keep his crippled airplane
in the air for approximately 50 minutes until he sighted a friendly
convoy.
Ordering
the crew to bail out, he remained at the controls until it reached
such a low altitude that the possibility of his own escape was threatened.
Assured that all crewmembers had parachuted to safety from the aircraft,
he left the controls. Thought he experienced extreme difficulty
when the plane lurched, he managed to jump clear. His parachute
opened just seconds before hitting the water. All but one of the
crew 2nd Lt. Joseph F. Connolly,
were picked up by a vessel in the vicinity."
For
1st Lieutentant Ralph Gray's exceptional airmanship and
his courageous action in placing the safety of his crew
above that of himself, he was awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross.
The
rest of the story:
When
the order to bailout was given, with the interphone lines
cut from the propeller cutting through the fuselage, then
2nd Lt Donald Hedlund, Pilot, volunteered to undertake
the extremely hazardous task of going through the tunnel
to the rear of the aircraft to notify those men to bailout.
With the plane at such a low altitude, adverse weather
and no assurance he himself would make it out of the plane,
Hedlund negoiated the dangerous tunnel to the aft section
and asisted then men through the rear door. He was the
last to leave the rear section and in the process his
equipment caught in the door. After finally freeing himself
he paracuted to safely into the water and was later picked
up with the others from the crew.
Then 2nd Lt. Joseph E. Courtney, Bombardier, volunteering
to crawl the tunnel and verify that Hedlund and the men
from rear section had indeed bailed out. However, in Courtney's
case .. he made a second trip through the dangerous tunnel
with the plane at an even lower altitude and struggling
to stay in the air, to inform Gray. He then parachuted to
safety landing in the water and awaited pick up by the friendly
convoy. For
Lieutenant Hedlund & Lieutenant Courtney''s courageous
actions in the placing the safety of their fellow crew members
above their own they were awarded the Air
Medal. |
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60th
Squadron Crew Index
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