Herrin - #17-1
Taken 6 June 1944 at Chatham Field, Savannah, GA. Combat Crew #158
Back row L-R: Douglas A. Herrin (P); John Boozer (CP); Theodore Nastoff (B); Harvey Trombly (N)
Front row L-R: Walter G. Bentley (TG); Bob Haserlat (AE/TTG); John Juran, (E/WG); Bob Broughan (ARO/NTG); Louis J. Kain (RO/WG); Ray Slanika (A/BTG)
On the August 1944 mission report - Genoa Gun Positions - more happened than planes coming back with parts of Cain's plane in them. In fact our plane ended up on a mountain on Corsica as a result of Cain's plane blowing up. A plane blowing up near you sort of turns everything yellow orange. Anyway Douglas Herrin was our pilot and is listed in the Aircraft Losses, he got our plane to Corsica with no direction control. Corsica just happened to be there. The control wheel turned to full stop in one direction. There were no windows in the plane. There was no wing between engine #3 & #4 (copilot said wheel went through there). All engines were running. A shell went through left wing and out again somehow not going through the gas tank. The people in the rear said they put out a fire. We flew right in front of a flight of B-17's making them scatter all over to miss us. When we got over Corsica Herrin turned around to me and said the plane was not going to make it over the mountains ahead and he was going to get out, every one got out okay except Joe Bersensky who injured his leg when landing in a tree. I landed on top of a mountain and had to climb down meeting some wild boars and a Frenchman on a donkey going up to get my parachute, and also meeting a high school friend on the ground who had watched everything. Joe was the bombardier, I was the navigator and I believe Chester Rudel - POW - was copilot. Do not know names of anyone else. I have always wanted a list of people flying each day with what happened and have had no luck getting it. James Hardy of Tucson was ground crew chief of the plane. The brother of the bombardier on Cain's plane has written about the explosion of his brother's plane including visiting the site where the plane crashed and interviewing people involved - James Starkey of Kansas City, Mo.
Thanks to Ray Grew for this information.
Harold McCrary flew with this crew on the day this crew was shot down.
Courtesy of Kathryn Guffey
Harold McCrary (G) standing 2nd from left.
Harold McCrary (G)
Courtesy of Kathryn Guffey
Harold McCrary (G) standing 2nd from left.