Paul P. Jorgensen
391st Bomb Group, 573 Bomb Squadron
- Here's a list of the fellows on my crew in the ETO
-
- Pilot: Capt. James H. Doolittle Jr (transferred in early spring of
"45". and replaced by: Lt. Hershel D. Wilson from Belle, West
Viginia.).
- Co-Pilot: (unknown)
- Bombardier: Lt. E.E. Basco
- Engineer: S /Sgt. Tony Detizio
- Radio-Gunner: T/Sgt. Paul P. Jorgensen
- Armorer-Gunner: S/Sgt. Vince Bowen
-
- We flew together from Sept. 1944 to March 25, 1945, when we received
flak damage to "Little Pink Panties" That ruptured our hydraulic lines
to our landing gear, causing them to collapse on landing, after we had
lowered them by cranking them down, and the instrument lights showed
them down and locked, thus putting the plane out of commission. Then Lt.
Wilson and I were given the A-26 Invader to fly the rest of the war out,
while the others on the crew were transferred to a unit the still flew
the B-26 Marauder
- I flew with the 573rd, Bomb Squadron, 391st Bomb Group, from
Sept.1944, thru the rest of the war, May, 1945, and stayed with the
outfit on A-26 Invaders thru the summer training to go to the Pacific,
but was transferred to a B-26 outfit in Belgium, when they started
discharging guys on the Point system, to await my discharge order, and
send me home.
-
- My pilot after Capt. James Doolittle, Jr. left, in the spring of
1945, was Lt. Hershal Wilson, and we flew the rest of the war out
together, after we crash landed Little Pink panties on March 25, 1945,
due to flak damage to our hydraulic system, and we went over from
Marauder, to the Invader plane.
-
- Lt Dunns plane received a direct hit with an 88 mm. but flew back
and landed at our field, on Dec 2, 1944, with a large hole just aft of
the wing, The planes # was, 43-34165 T6-H.
-
- Little Pink Panties, was #42-107841 T6-A. and Lt. Wilson was our
pilot, and we got flak damage on March 25, 1945, and crash landed, and
that was her last flight.
-
- Lt. Dunn's plane was the one that I was photographed with by the man
from the planes maker, standing in the hole blown by the shell, with my
arms stretched out sideways from front to rear of plane.
-
- Also the squadron photographer took a photo of little pink panties.
after we crashed, and he gave me one that I have misplaced since.
The one with the A-26, was taken a couple of years after
the war, where Wilson lives,
and he was active reserve, his wife, him and me.
After the war ended, Wilson and I flew down the Rhine river as far as
Remagen,
and took a few pictures, like of a bridge, and I believe the one of the
City, was Cologne.
There a a couple of photos from just before the war, one of my mother and
me, when I was in high school sitting on the fender of our old, "1926
Essex car".
I was in ROTC uniform, from my school. there is one
of me, taken before we got into the war by my old model "A", Ford.
The one of the Gliders on the ground was where we went
in by Wesel.
Lt.
Wilson, at Roye-Amy, France.
The one
of me in exercise clothing with the tents, was in the spring of 1942,
when I was an aviation cadet, at Santa Ana, California before I washed out.
And an earlier one of me, holding a model Bellanca that
I had
built that was powered buy a Carbide engine.
B26.COM
