Dailies of the 323rd - the 91st Bomb Group!
Dailies of the 323rd - the 91st Bomb Group!
Dailies of the 323rd - the 91st Bomb Group!
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and crew; #151, Lt. Sheriff and crew; #040, Lt. Collier and crew;<br />
#909, Lt. Hackleman and crew; #580, Lt. Gorby and crew; #636, Lt.<br />
Riser and crew; #075, Lt. Gardner and crew; #542, Capt. Ranzoni<br />
and crew; #504, Lt. Bruce and crew; #276, Lt. Thomas and crew.<br />
All ships and <strong>the</strong>ir crews returned safely to base. In this<br />
respect, <strong>the</strong> squadron had it lucky as <strong>the</strong> flak was heavy and<br />
accurate and as several losses <strong>of</strong> ships and personnel were<br />
sustained by o<strong>the</strong>r organizations participating in this mission.<br />
Ship #116, was severely damaged and <strong>the</strong> crew seemed to believe<br />
<strong>the</strong>y were especially fortunate in escaping injury. In addition to<br />
Lt. Hackleman, 1/Lt. Edward J. Kaiserski, <strong>Bomb</strong>ardier; and 1/Lt.<br />
Carl L. Kroll, Navigator, completed <strong>the</strong>ir tours <strong>of</strong> duty with <strong>the</strong><br />
squadron and will be assigned elsewhere.<br />
Ground school and training activities were participated in by<br />
personnel not flying on today's mission, but <strong>the</strong>re was a small<br />
attendance due to <strong>the</strong> large number <strong>of</strong> crews on <strong>the</strong> mission.<br />
30 April 1944: On <strong>the</strong> 30th, nine ships from <strong>the</strong> <strong>91st</strong> <strong>Bomb</strong> <strong>Group</strong><br />
participated in a mission against an Airdrome near Lyons, France.<br />
This squadron furnished three <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nine as follows: Ship #075,<br />
Lt. Kovachevich and crew; #560, Lt. Collier and crew; #234, Capt.<br />
Kuehl and crew. All three returned without injury or much<br />
excitement in <strong>the</strong> way <strong>of</strong> enemy opposition. On this mission, 1/Lt.<br />
William C. Hotsinger, flying as a Copilot, completed his tour <strong>of</strong><br />
duty; so did 1/Lt. Dan Jordan, Navigator . On <strong>the</strong> 22nd <strong>of</strong> March,<br />
Lt. Hotsinger was checked out as a Pilot. Such attainment is<br />
something that one may well be proud <strong>of</strong>, for it shows that <strong>the</strong><br />
person concerned has continued gaining in pr<strong>of</strong>iciency under <strong>the</strong><br />
difficult condition <strong>of</strong> aerial combat when <strong>the</strong> average person does<br />
well to maintain <strong>the</strong> rating he starts in with, let alone reaching<br />
to new heights <strong>of</strong> achievement in a career that is nerve racking<br />
to say <strong>the</strong> least.<br />
Results <strong>of</strong> bombing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> target show that <strong>the</strong> mission was very<br />
successful. So ends <strong>the</strong> chronological account <strong>of</strong> activity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
squadron for <strong>the</strong> month <strong>of</strong> April, 1944. An attempt will be made in<br />
<strong>the</strong> following paragraphs to comment on a few <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> highlights <strong>of</strong><br />
that activity.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> month <strong>of</strong> April <strong>the</strong> squadron participated in fourteen<br />
operational missions over enemy territory not including <strong>the</strong> one<br />
<strong>of</strong> April 9, 1944, when only one <strong>of</strong> our ships completed its<br />
mission due to <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> mission had been recalled. No<br />
losses <strong>of</strong> ships or personnel due to enemy action was sustained<br />
during this time, however, Sgt. Anthony C. Frevete, 32692196,<br />
suffered serious wounds on <strong>the</strong> mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 13th and was later<br />
relieved from flying duty. Such a record during <strong>the</strong> month when<br />
114 sorties were flown without losses indicates that a high