Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Veterans Day 2010

If you read last year's post you may remember that I mentioned my grandfathers fought in WWII, one of whom was in a bomber in the Pacific.  He joined the service in 1931 at the age of 19 and served till 1965.  In the late stages of WWII he was a gunner on a B-24 Liberator.  The bomber only lasted 19 missions before being shot down over Indonesia.  My grandfather was not on that mission and I do not know the fate of that crew.

There are just a handful of these planes left in operating order.  Fortunately I got to visit one at a local airport this summer.








The plane my grandfather was crewing was named Patty's Pig. 

Source: Horton/Horton, King of the Heavies, p. 156

He was in the 531st Squadron, sporting this fierce Donald Duck insignia, sewn on their leather flying jackets.

Thanks for your service Robert E. Walters (aka Grandpa).
And thanks to all the past, present and future military veterans.
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 18, 2010 at 7:05 PM

    Scott, Great pictures! Thanks for honoring our Grandfather!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Judy (Walters) MooreNovember 23, 2010 at 10:26 PM

    Sorry I'm so late seeing this. What a wonderful tribute. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dave NolanJanuary 27, 2013 at 3:33 PM

    My Dad's best friend 2LT John T. O'neill was the Co-Pilot when the plane went down 09 October 1944. It took a Large Caliber Round between the Fuselage and the #2 Engine and ditched in the Ocean off of Koepang, Timor, Indonesia. I do not believe there were any survivors.

    Thanks for your service Mr. Walters

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. J. Scott MooreFebruary 3, 2013 at 2:16 PM

      Interesting info Dave. One wonders if my grandfather knew your father or 2LT O'Neill. Our family doesn't know as much as we would like about that time in his life.
      Do you know why the plane was named Patty's Pig??

      Delete
    2. AnonymousDecember 9, 2014 at 4:56 PM

      Dave, I'm related to John T. O'Neill. Do you have any photos from the flight crew or any other information? You can e-mail me at stotik78@hotmail.com. Thanks.

      Delete
  4. LkiiiJanuary 29, 2016 at 6:41 PM

    Anyone who knows info louis j kempf sr.
    531st commander?

    Please contact me
    Louis kempf iii
    Lkiii.kci@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

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