Subject: [303rd BG News] 30 August 2009
From: Gary Moncur <[email-masked]>
To: Gary L Moncur <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:57:19 -0600

_*303rd Bomb Group <http://www.303rdbg.com>*_
*
N E W S   U P D A T E S*
*30 August 2009*
*www.303rdBG.com <http://www.303rdbg.com>*
*_
_*_*
WEBSITE FUND DRIVE
*_Susan and I sincerely thank those of you who have contributed to the 
fund drive.  Your names are shown on the website, along with those you 
chose to honor.   See:  http://www.303rdbg.com/contribute.html.  Anyone 
still wishing to contribute is welcome to do so.  Information is on the 
page linked above, or from the red "MAKE A DONATION" button on the 
website home page.  We are deeply grateful for your support and help in 
preserving this priceless legacy.
*_

_*Further research by Roy Bozych, 323rd BG historian, and Jim Hamilton, 
author of /The Writing 69th/, have provided additional information on 
this famous Bettmann/Corbis photo.  The aircraft is B-26 Martin Marauder 
"USO" (#41-31951),  323rd Bomb Group, 454th Bomb Squadron. The pilot was 
1Lt Jack W. Nye.  The mission date was February 9, 1944 and the target 
was a V-1 rocket site in Freval, France.  The crew members in the photo 
are, (L-R) T/Sgt Ceibert C. Bragg (FE), S/Sgt Enrique Zepeda (TG), S/Sgt 
Arthur W. Brand (R), 1Lt Norman M. Rosner (B), 1Lt Jack W. Nye (P) and 
Mr. Walter Cronkite (United Press).  Thanks to Roy Bozych, 
http://www.323bg454bs.org/  and Jim Hamilton, 
http://www.greenharbor.com/wr69/wr69.html.
_*
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WALTER CRONKITE WITH THE 427th BS CAPTAIN ROBERT W. SHEETS CREW

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/*303rd BG Mission 172  -  D-Day June 6, 1944  -  Target: Caen, France*/
/* (L-R) 1Lt F.E. Umphress, Jr. (B), Capt Robert W. Sheets (P),
Walter L. Cronkite (United Press), T/SGT Francis X Neuner (E)*/

The photo above is the only known photograph of Walter Cronkite with a 
303rd Bomb Group crew.  It was taken on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when Mr. 
Cronkite flew with the 427th BS Captain Robert W. Sheets Crew.  The 
photograph was signed and sent to Bob Sheets in March 1997, along with 
the letter shown below.  The inscription reads, "For Captain Bob Sheets 
- With a lifetime of gratitude for getting us back!"  Bob Sheets passed 
away December 21, 2000.  Walter Cronkite passed away July 17, 2009.  The 
other members of the crew, not shown in the photo, were  2Lt Darwin D. 
Sayers (CP), 1Lt Kenneth L. Olsen (N), S/Sgt Earl J. King (BT), T/Sgt 
Andrew G. Benevento (R), Sgt Tom C. Sullens (TG), S/Sgt Leonard C. Smith 
(LWG) and S/Sgt James F. Donnelly (RWG).   The photograph and letter are 
courtesy of Sally Wiggins, daughter of Bob Sheets.*_
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*_Mr. Cronkite's third paragraph indicates missing 303rd Bomb Group 
records.  I don't know what missing log he was referring to.  The Sheets 
Crew, including Mr. Cronkite, is clearly shown in the official Mission 
Report for that mission.  His flight was also noted in the 1st Edition 
of /Might in Flight/, published in 1993, and the 2nd Edition, published 
in 1997.
_*

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*_Previous News Updates are now available online.  See:  
http://www.303rdbg.com/newsupdates.html
Your thoughts and comments are welcome and may be included in future 
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_*

TAPS
*_ *
**Thomas M. **O'Donnell*, 88,  passed away Aug. 23, 2009, from 
complications related to Parkinson's disease. . . .  He entered the U.S. 
Air Force in 1943 where he was commissioned and then assigned to the 
303rd Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force stationed in England. During World 
War II he was a B-17 pilot and participated in 35 combat missions over 
enemy territory. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal 
with five oak-leaf clusters, and a Unit Presidential citation. He also 
received the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal with three 
Bronze Stars.   One plane he piloted, The Thunderbird, is now depicted 
in a mural on display in the National Air and Space Museum in 
Washington, D.C.

Keeping the Legacy Alive,
Gary

-- 
___________
*Gary L. Moncur
**303rd Bomb Group Historian
[email-masked]
www.303rdBG.com

*