[Homer_J_Simpson]

The first short excerpt, concerning the date of Overlord, is continued from December 28. The third, concerning Tito, is continued from yesterday.

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today Homer’s uncle and the rest of the Billy Chason crew fly their first combat mission with the 533rd Bombardment Squadron, 381st Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. Here is the entry from the squadron’s war diary :

“Huge formations of American "heavies" flew 1090 miles today to smash Ludwigshafen, led by the group commanding officer, Lt Col Joseph J. Nazarro.

"The 30 ships which made up the 381st contingent encountered little opposition, but reports indicate that the formation behind were not so fortunate. The lead groups experienced no fighter attacks on the way in although they saw a large number of dog fights taking place in the distance.

"Nine ships from this squadron were part of the formation, the pilots participating were: Lts Gleichauf, Butler, Chason, Crozier, Parsons, Nason, Fridgen, Klein and Stewart Hanson. One of our men, radio operator S/Sgt Curtis E. Hickman died of anoxia on the return trip. His body was taken to the 121st Station Hospital at Braintree, a few miles away.”

The man who died from anoxia was part of the Chason crew. I wonder what happened.