WWII bomber crew members awarded Distinguished Flying Cross

Air Force Links ^ | Staff Sgt. J.G. Buza

[PAR35]

Looking here, it appears that The Black Fox was shot down over Austria on July 16, 1944. Sounds like a match. (A Black Fox II went down over Germany in late 1944).

For Flak Man, it shows
01/20/45 Taxi Accident
03/19/45 Landing Accident

(PDF file) http://www.zplace2b.com/464th/images/464-AC-Jan07.pdf

[Diver Dave]

Heartwarming story, SandRat.

[sophiasmom]

My grandfather was one of the crew members. They received the medal for the mission in the Flak Man. The same crew was shot down on July 16 (the next day) in the Black Fox. One member was killed, the rest were prisoners until the end of the war.

[sophiasmom]

Thank you very much for posting this story. I emailed the information to all the media outlets in my community, but not one has expressed any interest yet. My grandfather was on the crew that was awarded the medal. He died seven years ago, but our family attended the ceremony on Tuesday April 24 to receive the medal in his place. This has been an amazing experience, and we are so appreciative to the Air Force for all they did to honor our family members.

[SandRat]

As with all Armed Forces Press Releases it was sent directly to all print media outlets and is available freely on the web. So, even though you sent the story to your local media outlets I'm not surprised at the contumeliousness (insulting display of contempt in words or action) of the media towards anything about the military.

[PAR35]

The July 15th raid took place; what I couldn’t find was a reference to the plane having taken major damage in the raid. The damage was probably fairly minor, but enough to take the plane out of service for a period of time.

Here’s a reference to the attack:

SATURDAY, 15 JULY 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force):
In Rumania, 600+ B-17s and B-24s bomb 4 oil refineries in the Ploesti area and the Teleajenul pumping station; and P-51s and P-38s fly 300+ escort sorties.

and the one where they were shot down:

SUNDAY, 16 JULY 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): In Austria, around 380 bombers attack oil and aircraft targets in the Vienna area, bombing Munchendorf Airfield, Winterhafen oil depot, Vienna marshalling yard, and Wiener Neudorf engine factory; P-51s and P-38s fly 150+ sorties in escort while 132 other P-51s sweep the Vienna area; 100+ fighters oppose the raids; 10 AAF aircraft are lost and several others are missing; AAF claims of fighters shot down total 30+.

Source: http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Jul.44.html

[sophiasmom]

Thank you for that interesting information. Another interesting fact: one of the crew members insists that the Air Force made a mistake with the name of the plane. He believes that the July 15 and July 16 planes were one and the same — the Black Fox. That is according to his memory, although the Air Force does disagree and believes that it was the Flak Man. Perhaps that could explain why there is no record of heavy damage to the Flak Man. Either way, my grandfather and the rest of these men are still heroes!

[sophiasmom]

That’s disappointing — it seems they’re more interested in drowning us in stories about Anna Nicole Smith’s baby than stories of true valor.

[DocRock]

I just spoke with a B-24 radio operator yesterday that had 34 missions over Germany and a DFC.

[PAR35]

Another interesting fact: one of the crew members insists that the Air Force made a mistake with the name of the plane. He believes that the July 15 and July 16 planes were one and the same — the Black Fox.

Either explanation is possible. The "too damaged to fly" could have been minor enough to have not been recorded, and could have occurred before the 15th rather on that date.