Personnel

CREW



1ST LT BERNARD A. DeMARCO                         P POW 08 OCT 43 BREMEN

F/O JAMES P. THAYER                                 CP POW 08 OCT 43 BREMEN

1ST LT JOHN W.DOWNS                           NAV POW 08 OCT 43 BREMEN

2ND LT FRANCIS C. HARPER                       BOM POW 08 OCT 43 BREMEN

CPL THORNTON STRINGFELLOW                   ROG POW 08 OCT 43 BREMEN

T/SGT BENJAMIN J. BARR                           TTE POW 08 OCT 43 BREMEN

S/SGT ALBERT M. FREITAS                         BTG POW 28 APR 44 SOTTEVAST (WITH LT LAKIN/COL KELLY CREW)

CPL LEO T. CALLAHAN                                WG POW 21 FEB 44 BRUNSWICK (WITH LT WILLIAM FLETCHER CREW) 

S/SGT HARRY C. CALHOUN                          WG POW 08 OCT 43 BREMEN

S/SGT LEON A. CASTRO                               TG APPOINTED AVIATION CADET.



350TH SQDN.  THIS IS AN "ORIGINAL" 100TH CREW.



LEON CASTRO HAD BEEN SHIPPED BACK TO THE STATES FOR CADET TRAINING PRIOR TO 8 OCT 43; HE WAS REPLACED BY JEROME FERROGGIARO FROM THE N.H. SCOTT CREW.  ALBERT FREITAS AND LEO CALLAHAN WERE RECOVERING FROM WOUNDS RECEIVED ON THE 6 SEP 43 (STUTTGART) MISSION AND WERE REPLACED BY WILLIAM J. WILLIAMS OF CAPT MARK CARNELL'S CREW AND WILLIAM R. WOODBURY, A REPLACEMENT GUNNER.



GALE W. (BUCKY) CLEVEN, 350TH CO, FLEW AS COMMAND PILOT.

 

Note from..jb



Flak and Fighters over target. This ship leading the 350th.  Hit by flak & fighters and forced to leave formation. Three men

injured, all eleven (11) bailed out and landed near Essen, Germany.  Taken to Frankfurt for interrogartion. Downs (Lt John W. Downs)

says bailed out near Oldenburg. Cleven (Maj. Gale W. Cleven) says bail out near Osnabruck.



CREW (see graphic)



1st Lt Wiliam H. Fletcher             P   POW  21/2/44   Burnswick

2nd Lt Richard M.Roper            CP   POW    21/2/44   Brunswick

2nd Lt George A.Browning     NAV   POW    21/2/44   Brunswick

2nd Lt Howard D.Venzie        BOM   POW    21/2/44   Brunswick

 T/Sgt James H.Whitton         TTE  Injured in crash after about 7 missions 

 T/Sgt George A.Reid           ROG   POW   21/2/44   Brunswick

 S/Sgt Pietro J.Giaquinto         BTG   POW  21/2/44   Brunswick

 S/Sgt John J.Seman           RWG   POW  21/2/44   Brunswick

 S/Sgt Alexander Sosik           LWG   POW  21/2/44   Brunswick

 S/Sgt David V.Robb,Jr.            TG   POW  21/2/44   Brunswick



 MACR #276l Micro fiche #924    A/C #42 37796



350th Sqdn. Crew,as above,joined 100th Group in early Oct.1943

On 21/2/44,T/Sgt Leo T.Callahan,from the "Original" crew of B.DeMarco,was aboard in place of 

Sgt.James Whitton and became a POW. See p.184 MIGHTY EIGHTH WAR DIARY for picture and story of 

21/2/44  Also letter from Fletcher's nephew,Joseph M.Lee (1983) --PRESENT ADDRES IS 3 SYCAMORE STATION,

DECATUR, GA 30030 PHONE (404) 373-1336..paul west (Nov 1993)



CREW

            

350TH CREW #10  A/C #42-30047 "SWEATER GIRL"



CAPT    MARK E. CARNELL                      P: CPT   ORGINAL 100TH PILOT

2ND LT  EDWARD K. MOFFLY                CP: CPT

1ST LT  ANTHONY P. GOSPODAR        NAV: CPT   11 DEC 43 EMDEN

1ST LT  JAMES P. FITTON                   BOM: CPT

T/SGT   VERN M. BEST                         TTE: CPT

S/SGT   WILLIAM J. WILLIAMS   WG: POW  8 OCT 43 BREMEN (CREW #15 LT BERNIE DeMARCO)

SGT     EDMUND A. OLIVER                ROG: POW   10 JUL 43 PARIS (CREW #12 LT CHARLES DUNCAN)

S/SGT   STEVE BOSSER                     BTG: CPT

S/SGT   PAUL A. VRABEC, JR              WG: CPT   24 DEC 43 ST JOSEPH(NOBALL)

S/SGT   FLOYD P. BULLARD                  TG: CPT       24 DEC 43 ST JOSEPH(NOBALL)



NOTE: PAUL VRABEC NOT ONLY COMPLETED 25, BUT VOLUNTEERED AND FLEW FIVE ADDITIONAL MISSIONS.



On 10 July 1943, radio operator Ed Oliver flew with Crew #12 which was lost that day and Oliver became a POW.  He was soon replaced on the crew by George Rudden from Crew #17 which went down over Kiel on 25 July.  On 8 October 1943, William Williams flew with Crew #15 and went down over Bremen.



Accordinq to a letter from Vern Best in 1980, Mark Carnell suffered a broken arm in a bicycle accident on the field and was unable to fly for a considerable length of time.  He was replaced by Bill Desanders whose crew (#17) had been lost on 25 July.  Best also says that Paul Vrabec not only completed  25 missions but volunteered for five additional and finished those.





CREW

                             1ST LT BERNARD A. DEMARCO

                             ORGINAL 100TH PILOT

CREW #15  A/C #42-3233 "OUR BABY"         MACR #950



1ST LT  BERNARD A. DeMARCO         P: POW 8 OCT 43 BREMEN

F/O     JAMES P. THAYER                CP: POW 8 OCT 43 BREMEN

IST LT  JOHN W. DOWNS             NAV: POW 8 OCT 43 BREMEN

2ND LT  FRANCIS C. HARPER         BOM: POW 8 OCT 43 BREMEN

T/SGT   BENJAMIN J. BARR            TTE: POW 8 OCT 43 BREMEN

CPL     LEO T. CALLAHAN               WG: POW 21 FEB 44 BRUNSWICK (WITH LT WILLIAM FLETCHER CREW)

COL     THORNTON STRINGFELLOW ROG: POW 8 OCT 43 BREMEN

S/SGT   ALBERT M. FREITAS           BTG: POW 28 APR 44 SOTTEVAST

S/SGT   HARRY C. CALHOUN             WG: POW 8 OCT 43 BREMEN

S/SGT   LEON A. CASTRO                 TG: APPOINTED AVIATION CADET



        ON THE BREMEN MISSION LOE CALLAHAN, ALBERT FREITAS AND LEON CASTRO HAD BEEN REPLACED BY JEROME FERROGGIARO WHO FLEW AS TTE ON THIS MISSION (FROM CREW 13), WILLIAM J. WILLIAMS-BTG (FROM CREW 10) AND REPLACEMENT GUNNER WILLIAM R. WOODBURY-LWG. THE 350TH SQUADRON COMMANDER MAJ GALE "BUCK"  CLEVEN WAS ON BOARD.  ALL ELEVEN MEN REACHED THE GROUND SAFELY AND WERE TAKEN PRISONER.  CLEVEN LATER ESCAPED, RETURNING TO THORPE ABBOTS.  AS ESCAPING POWS WERE RESTRICTED FROM  RETURNING TO OPERATIONS, HE RETURNED TO THE STATES.



Bernard "Ben" Andrew DeMarco|b. 8 Feb 1918

d. 19 Aug 1992|p24.htm#i280|||||||||||||||||||

Birth*: Bernard "Ben" Andrew DeMarco was born on 8 February 1918; Florida Death Index, on line, May 10, 2003. 

Marriage*: He married Rita Ann Sullivan on 28 December 1946.

Death*: Bernard "Ben" Andrew DeMarco died on 19 August 1992 at Flagler County, Florida, USA, at age 74; Florida Death Index, online, May 10, 2003, Certificate # 86856.2