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This mission was flown in the aircraft named, “Butcher Shop”, not his regular plane. The mission was to bomb a rail yard in France. On August 17, 1942, he flew the first American plane on a daylight bombing raid over German occupied Europe. Paul was made the Executive Officer of the 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy). This was the first group of American-manned, tactical aircraft to reach the United Kingdom in WWII. Most of this time, he slept in his clothes.įrom Bangor, Maine, he flew across the North Atlantic to England. He trained his crew in the B-17 and flew many hours, day and night. He was made Commander of the 40th Squadron, 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy) at MacDill Air Base, Tampa, FL. He temporarily flew the B-18 on anti-sub duty off the U.S.
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He was then transferred to the 29th Bomb Group to fly the new B-17. Returning from one of these missions in December 1941, he heard on his aircraft radio that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Paul flew B-10 and B-12 aircraft in low flying exercises. He has some great stories to tell about him. He also served as Patton’s pilot during tank range maneuvers. They became good friends and spent many hours on the shooting range. Benning, GA., and being a shotgun enthusiast, he was assigned to the base Skeet Shooting range. He left medical school in 1937 and joined the Army Air Corp. He spent all of his spare time and money taking flying lessons.
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But, his love for flying became number one in his life. He then went to the University of Cincinnati Medical College, with the expectation of carrying on the family tradition of medical doctors. While there, he took flying lessons at the Gainsville Airport. He attended the University of Florida in 1933. With this job, his love for flying was born and would last a lifetime.At the age of 13 he went to the Western Military Academy in Alton, IL. It was to drop Baby Ruth candy bars at a carnival to the crowd below. Paul Tibbets was born in Quincy, IL., on February 13, 1915.
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Tibbets memorabilia including his full dress blue Air Force Brigadier General uniform and much more. The Motts Military Museum displays the largest collection of Gen. He was a loyal supporter and was always willing to help us with fund raising events. General Tibbets will be remembered for piloting the Enola Gay, the B-29 "Superfortress" that dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in combat. Until his death in November 2007, at the age of 92, the Motts Military Museum was honored to have General Paul W. He is one of two Ohio residents still living to have received the Medal Of Honor in the state of Ohio. Ron ended his military career as a Master Sergeant. It was presented to him by President Harry S. See Medal of Honor Citations for the full citation and listing of other recipients. 67, dated July 7, 1952, awarded Ron Rosser the Medal Of Honor. Though wounded, Rosser spent the rest of the battle retrieving wounded friends from between the lines. A third time he would charge up the slopes of Star Hill, until, on that single day of action, Ron Rosser had single-handedly killed 13 of the enemy. With friends falling all around him, he fought on until out of ammunition again. Returning to the front, he led charges on two more bunkers. Now out of ammunition, Rosser ran back to resupply ammunition and grenades. Hurling a grenade into a bunker, he shot two more Reds as they came out. Five more of the enemy were dead in minutes. It was just the beginning, as he realized that the trench was filled with members of an enemy group that just 11 months ago had killed his brother Richard. Ron Rosser was about to enter the history books.Ĭharging ahead of the rest and diving into a trench, Ron quickly killed two of the enemy, one with a shot in the head, the other in the chest. Hearing a voice say, “Let’s go,” he dropped the radio, grabbed his carbine and a fistful of grenades. As Love Company started up Star Hill in the Iron Triangle in the vicinity of Ponggilli, Korea, a burst of machine gun fire betrayed an enemy ambush. Army’s 38th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, was holding nothing more harmful than a radio, acting as a communications “pointer”. On January 12, 1952, a very cold day, Corporal Ronald E.