Personnel

CREW



2ND LT ALVIN J. MEIKLEJOHN       P CPT 28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# O-807488

2ND LT WALTER H. HAMILTON    CP CPT 28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# O-770530

2ND LT MLADDEN D. ZECK        NAV CPT 28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# O-2060869 ("flew hamburg with another crew" saw piggyback") 

F/O ROBERT K. WALSH            BOM CPT 28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# T-3864

CPL JORGE CABRERA                ROG CPT 28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# 19129533

CPL MERVIN E. LONG               TTE CPT 28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# 38465995 

CPL RANDOLPH T. ARNOLD       BTG CPT 28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# 312626684

CPL FLOYD E. KELLS                 WG CPT 28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# 15097970

CPL HOWARD J. THAYNE          WG KIA                                  sn# 39923700   (crew took a straw vote and  he lost! He was sent to 15th AF and was shot down and KIA.) 

CPL GEORGE H. BOWLES           TG CPT  28 FEB 45 KASSEL sn# 39924464



350th sqdn.. Crew, as above, joined the 100th on 23 Sep 1944.  Plane flown was "Mile High Minnie" or "Mile High City" per article below.    Crew flew overseas in A/C 43-38501 from Grenier Field on September 7, 1944. Dropped off plane in Wales. Were sent to 100th BG to make up for the losses on Sept 11, 1944 mission to Ruhland. The first plane flown by the crew was 231991 Miss Chief" 



Recollections of Lt Zeck:

I flew as Nav with another crew on Hamburg Mission on Dec 31, 1944.  I saw the piggyback incident and watched as the two planes flew towards the same position and pancaked.  They pulled away from the formation and headed back to towards land.  Our TTE would always say "sure wish I had me some buttermilk and chili" and you know what, when I got back to the States I went and had some buttermilk and chili just to see what it tasted like! 

When the Crew had to be reduced to 9 men, we drew staws and Sgt Thayne lost. He was sent to the 15th Air Force and I believe he was shot down. 

Went back home on Queen Mary  and got the news that Roosevelt had died while they were on the ship.  

Copilot on a mission asked Dan Zeck if he had a spare pair of short because he had just Shit his pants!

Mervin Eugene (Babe) Long

5-16-1923 – 12-30-2019



Mervin Eugene ‘Babe’ Long, 96, of Hominy, OK passed away on December 30, 2019 in Owasso,

Oklahoma. He was born May 16, 1923 in Sand Springs, Oklahoma to Miles and Dessie Jewel (Galyean)

Long. Babe was raised and attended school in Wildhorse, OK. He married Marjorie Alene Baker on May

28, 1943 in St. Louis, MO. They had a son, Merle Eugene Long. After graduation from Wildhorse High

School, Babe worked a short stint in a cement powder plant in Choteau, Oklahoma. He then headed to

Vallejo, CA, where he worked as a welder in a shipyard. Babe was barely 19 when he was assigned to

the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Army Air Corp., the war’s largest offensive bombing force of World War

II. Based at Thorpe Abbot air base near Norwich, East Anglia, England, this unit became known as the

“Bloody Hundredth.” Returning home from the war he worked in the oilfield across New Mexico, Texas

and Oklahoma ultimately owning several businesses.



Survivors include a son, Merle and Barbara of Barnsdall, OK. Granddaughters, Tara and Wade Sanders of

India; Candace and Chad Meiler of Shawnee, OK. Grandson, James Jones and Michelle of Cockeysville,

MD. Grandchildren Kathryn Noelle Sanders, Olyvia Nguyen, Heath Moles, Audrey Moles, Colin Meiler,

Peyton Meiler, Jack Jones, Norah Jones, Gregory Bara, Nikko Bara; a sister-in-law, Shirley Long of

Skiatook and several nieces & nephews.



He was preceded in death by both parents – Miles & Dessie Long, wife-Marjorie Alene Long in 2011,

grandson Derek Long in 1993; brothers- Melvin Long Sr. -1994, Charles LeRoy Long – Dec. 30, 2016,

Miles Ralph (Windy) Long - 2019, sister Iva Louise (Sen) – Dec. 2016.