The 382nd Bombardment Group (VH) trained during 1945 to go to battle in B-29s in the Pacific with the 8th Air Force, but didn't get to go due to the delightful end of the conflict. The parent page to this webpage gives more of the history of the group and its training. This particular page is to serve as a place to organize photographs of the group and its personnel as they become available.
Unless noted otherwise, all photos are courtesy of veterans, or the veterans families, and were relayed to me through Glenn Carmen. Glenn is researching the 316th Bombardment Wing, of which the 382nd BG (VH) was a part. Thanks, Glenn! Many of these pictures are of the advance crews (I believe three from each of the squadrons) that were sent out to the Pacific prior to the conflict ending.
Officially the Air Echelon didn't see combat as the 382nd BG. In November 1945, nine crews of the 382BG were transfered to Okinawa, attached to the 346th Bomb Group. Those crews were the following (listed by aircraft commander):
Click on each photograph to see a larger version.
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A bunch of the squadron while on training in Cuba. [Picture provided by Harold Dusenbury, through Glenn Carmen.] |
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The crew with 1st Lt. Harold Abshear. [Picture originally provided by the wife of Tommet, through Glenn Carmen. This particular version was edited further by Sheila, the daughter of radio operator Clairis Hullihen] |
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A crew with Major Garold Buzzard, one of the Flight Commanders. |
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The crew of Captain Percy Cyr. Here is another picture of just the enlisted men. [Pictures provided by Ernest Rawlings, through Glenn Carmen.] |
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The crew of 1st Lt. Walter Garretson, one of the advanced crews, later sent to the 346th BG. |
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The crew of Capt. Harry Holt. |
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The crew of Capt. Lewis C. Jones. [Picture from Clifford Dean, via Glenn Carmen.] |
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The crew of 1st Lt. Pete Skordas. [Picture from Joe Fetzger, navigator, via Glenn Carmen.] |
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The crew of Capt. Warren Duncan, one of the crews that came by way of the Combat Crew Training School at Alamogordo, New Mexico (see the transfer orders below, page 2). Rodney Shepherd was the radio operator for the crew. Here is a "fun" picture of the enlisted men of this crew, as well as several of the same guys casually at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. Here is the more "traditional" Sloppy Joes picture of several of the crewmembers. [Photos provided by Rodney Shepherd, through his son, Mike Shepherd, plus another that came through Glenn Carmen.] |
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Officers of the 1st Lt. Robert Fahrland crew. The photo was taken at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. |
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The crew of Capt. Loren Hall. The photo was obviously taken at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. [Photo from George Moline, the navigator, through Glenn Carmen.] |
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A crew with Captain Robert Karnan, one of the advanced crews, later sent to the 346th BG. |
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A crew with Major Donald Kelly, one of the advanced crews, later sent to the 346th BG. |
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The crew of 1st Lt. Ralph McCracken. |
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The crew of 1st Lt. Claude Newell. Here is another picture. Finally, a third picture, with names, taken at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba [Photos provided by Herb Traub, Marvin Revell, and Ed Slapik, through Glenn Carmen]. |
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The crew of Capt. Edgar Zwicker. |
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The crew of 1st Lt. Curtis Follansbee. Here is a photo, taken at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. |
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The crew of Capt. Roscoe Foster. |
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The crew of 1st Lt. Jack Hutcheson, Crew # 50. (This photo courtesy of Shofestal, through Glenn Carmen) Here is a photo, with names, taken at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. (This photo apparently taken by Annalora, the tenth member of the crew, who is not in the picture.) |
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A crew of 1st Lt. Allen Ledbetter, Crew # 47. This picture was taken at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. (Photo provided by the Catlett family, via Glenn Carmen.) |
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A crew of 1st Lt. William Myres, one of those on detached service, later sent to the 346th BG. |
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A crew with Major Lohman Rosenheimer. [Photo from Claire Swenson, the pilot ("co-pilot").] |
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The crew of 1st Lt. Robert Underwood, one of the original crews transferred to the 382nd BG in January 1945 from the Combat Crew Training School at Almogordo AAF. (Copies of the transfer documents are below.) This picture was taken in early May 1945 at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. Here is another version of the same photograph, still in the original frame, but without names. |
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The crew of Capt. Jack Womack. The photo was obviously taken at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. |
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A variety of the 382nd BG crew members, including the Halliday crew, taken at Sloppy Joes in Havana, Cuba. |
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Several of the original crews of the 382nd BG (VH) apparently came in January 1945 as a block, 17 crews in all, from the 2nd AAF Combat Crew Training School (CCTS) at Alamogordo Army Air Field. Here is page 1 (of 5) of Special Order No. 14, 231st Base Unit, transfering these officers and enlisted men to Salina and the 382nd BG. Additional pages are available: Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, and Page 5. |
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Another block of the original crews of the 382nd BG (VH) apparently came at the end of February 1945 as a block from the 2nd AAF replacement pool at Lincoln Army Air Field in Nebraska. Here is page 1 (of 3) of Special Order No. 56 transfering these officers and enlisted men to Salina and the 382nd BG. Additional pages are available: Page 2, and Page 3. |
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Part of an overseas shipment, transfering nine (9) crews of the 382nd BG to the 346th BG (VH), also part of the 316th BG, on Okinawa. This is in November 1945. Additional pages are available: Page 2 and Page 3. |
Link back to the main tribute page on the 382nd BG (VH).
Website dedicated to the 435th BS of the 333rd BG (VH), 316th BW. This website is authored by Glenn Carmen, in honor of his father, William Carmen, who served with the 435th. Glenn is researching all of the groups of the 316th BW, 8th AAF in the Pacific, of which the 382nd BG (VH) was to be a part.
Website dedicated to the 346th BG (VH), another of the groups in the 316th BW, 8th AAF in the Pacific. This website is also authored by Glenn Carmen, with technical support from Craig Goldwyn (whose father was in the 346th).
Glenn Carmen has also created a Yahoo! Groups forum dedicated to the 316th BW: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/316thwing/. Not much activity yet, but this could nonetheless be a gathering place as veterans of the individual groups continue to leave us.
Kevin Anderson
Dubuque, Iowa
Webpage initially created 19 September 2006
Last updated 3 June 2010
