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John B. Murphy
JOHN B. MURPHY, born Nov. 19,1921 in New York City, lived in Cliffside
Park, N.J. Attended University of Vermont.
Enlisted in 1942, became Aviation Cadet in
1943. Graduated class of 44-E. P47 transition in Richmond, Va. Went to E.T.O. late 1944 and assigned to 371st Fighter Group,
405th Squadron.. Flew 63 Fighter-Bomber
missions by the time the war ended. Separated from service in fall of 1945 as 1st Lt. Has been a sales representative in the construction industry ever since, primarily in steel. Has one invention patented and another pending. Married Marian Sutherland in
August, 1945 and has three sons, John,
Kevin and Dennis.
In April of 1945 the 405th Squadron of
the 371st Fighter Group had a mission to hit
an airfield in southern Germany. It was to be
a twelve ship attack. When we approached
the field, we saw smoke rising from a fire on
the field into the south west. It gave us a
perfect screen through which to make our
strafing run, usually one pass on this kind of
a mission. We made three passes on this field
through heavy ground fire with nobody getting any heavy damage, so we tried a fourth pass. This time nine of the twelve got hit. Our
flight leader, Lt. Paul Meyers, took an 88
through his cowling, actually knocking off
two cylinders from his engine, causing a fire.
After much skidding, opening and closing of
cowl flaps, etc. he managed to put the fire out
and then, flying close formation on our C.O.
Lt. Col. Robertson, flew that Jug back to
Neurnberg, which was now in allied control,
and landed safely. It was a fantastic performance by a great pilot in a great plane.
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Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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John Abbotts
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P-47 transition followed at Pocatello, Idaho and Greenville, Texas after which he was assigned to the 56th Fighter Group in England. When the news of his arrival reached Berlin, Hitler retired to his bunker with his cyanide capsule and revolver. Eva found the news equally depressing.
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Asa A. Adair
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He returned to the States in August of 1944 after participating in the invasion "D" Day. He flew P-63's, P-51's, F-80's, T-33's, F-84's, T-38's, P-47's in numerous assignments during the following twenty years in in, Japan, U.S.A. and Europe before retiring after twenty-six years of Active Duty.
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Edward B. Addison
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The 507th Fighter Group, equipped with P-47N's, won the Presidential Unit Citation for destroying 32 Japanese aircraft in the air on one mission to Seoul, Korea. The average flying time for raids to Korea and Japan would be 7 to 9 hours flying time. In a total of 31 months, the 507th not only provided top cover for B-29's, but also
dive-bombed, napalm-bombed and flew low-level on strafing missions.
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Levon B. Agha-Zarian
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It is rumored that he, took his primary training on a flying rug. He flew Spits, briefly, in England, but as the, war moved to the East, he was sent to India as a Sgt. Pilot and first saw action from Ceylon, flying the Curtiss P.36, the Brewster Buffalo, and the Hurricane. At this point he might have opted for the rug! This was at the time of the fall of Singapore and the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse.
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George N. Ahles
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Posted to A-20 light bomber squadron Barksdale Field, Louisiana. . Group moved to Hunter Air Base Savannah, Georgia. Qualified for Pilot training November 1940. Entered Aviation Cadets January 1942. Presented wings November 1942 class of 42-J. Married Mary Louise while in Advanced Pilot Training at Craig AFB, Selma, Alabama, September 1942.
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Roy J. Aldritt
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Shortly after the group moved to France he ran into some unseen flak and was forced to make a nylon descent behind the lines; some evasion and a lot of luck had him back with his unit
in 24 hours.
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Eugene J. Amaral
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After graduation from Stonington High School he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in December 1942 and was called to active duty in March, 1943. He received his wings and commission at Spence Field, Georgia as a member of the Class of 43-C.
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Talmadge L. Ambrose
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Flew 84 missions thru VE Day, was downed by 22mm ground fire over Siefried Line. He destroyed 11 enemy aircraft, 9 known confirmed in air and on
ground, including 4 FW 190-D's in one afternoon over Hanover, Germany, April 8, 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, 17 man, Oak Leaf Clusters, Good Conduct Medal, Pacific Theatre and European Theatre Meda1s with 5 Battle
Stars and Unit Citation Medal.
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John C. Anderson
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After P-47 transition he was assigned to the 406th Fighter Group, 512th Fighter Squadron. (E.T
.0.) He flew 56 missions through January, 1945 destroying supply routes, bridges, and railroads; he also flew close support missions with the ground forces, with attacks on tanks, artillery and enemy positions.
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William Anderson
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It was not always flak,two ME-109's beat the hell out of me one day. The central controller called me and said "Basher-Red Leader do you have contact Bandits," I replied, "I sure do, I'll bring them over the field in 3 minutes, they're chasing me home." Got all the usual medals including two Belgium and two French but one I'm most proud of is the Silver Star -it is the greatest.
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