Personnel

CREW



2nd Lt William F.Frazier                  P  CPT 25/12/44  Kaiserlauntern

2nd Lt Andrew J.Stephens,Jr.        CP  CPT 25/12/44  Kaiserlauntern

2nd Lt Walter P.Kliniksowski         NAV  CPT 09/04/45  Munich          Became a Lead Navigator

2nd Lt Owen E.J. Larson      BOM/NAV  CPT 25/12/44  Kaiserlauntern          sn#0-768817

 S/Sgt Joe W.Clark                   TTE   CPT 25/12/44  Kaiserlauntern

   Sgt Thomas P.Smith              ROG  CPT 24/12/44  Kaiserlauntern

   Sgt Nick A.DeLuca                 BTG  CPT 24/12/44  Kaiserlauntern

   Sgt Francis F.Healy                  WG CPT 25/12/44  Kaiserlauntern

   Sgt Seymour Myers                 WG  Removed from crew to reduce to 9 men and given Ground job.

   Sgt Harold E.Heid                     TG  Removed from crew"AS result of an accident", Heid was sent home towards the end of his tour.



349th Sqdn.  Crew,as above,joined the 100th Group about the last week of July 1944. 

Crew flew at least 8 missions in "Once In' A While"



A letter from A.J.Stephens (April 1984) says that  Klinikowski,after about ten missions,was made a lead 

navigator and Lt.Larson became the crew navigator. At that time,S/Sgt George H. Dudley became 

the crew togglier. He was from the crew of T.H.Kemp.



Of Heid's replacement on the crew, Stephens has this to say;  . . ."The only thing I can remember 

about the man (don't even recall his name) is that he flew his very first mission as our tail

gunner. That happened to be the day we had a malfunction in the oleo strut in our right gear on 

take off. We left the runway and went barrelling out across the field through the mud and the 

crud with 2780 gallons (topped off) and eight 1000 pound GPs. He got so excited he bailed out in 

the mud while we were still slipping and sliding and cutting all kind of fancy didos. We never 

would have found him if someone hadn't seen the mud wiggling. Then he was unzipped,the mud shot 

out like his clothes had been filled with a grease gun."





Missions of 1st Lt Owen E.J. Larson (mpf 2001)



1. 11/08/44 Villacoublay     A/C "Once In A While"

2. 13/08/44 Nantes

3. 14/08/44 Ludwigshaven

4. 24/08/44 Ruhland

5. 25/08/44 Politz

6. 26/08/44 Brest

7. 27/08/44 BERLIN

8.  1/09/44  Mainz

9.  3/09/44  Brest

10.  5/09/44  Stuttgart

11. 13/09/44 Sindelfinger

12. 18/09/44 Warsaw (Second Russian Shuttle)

13. 19/09/44 Szolnok

14. 25/09/44 Ludwigshaven

15. 27/09/44 Mainz

16.  2/10/44  Kassel

17.  3/10/44  Nurnburg

18.  5/10/44  Handorf

19.  6/10/44  BERLIN

20.  7/10/44  Bohlen

21. 12/10/44 Bremen

22. 17/10/44 Cologne

23. 22/10/44 Munster

24.  5/11/44  Ludwigshaven

25.  9/11/44  Saarbrucken

26. 10/11/44 Mainz

27. 21/11/44 Osnabruck

28. 26/11/44 Hamm

29. 29/11/44 Hamm

30. 30/11/44 Merseburg

31.   2/12/44 Coblenz

32. 12/12/44 Coblenz

33. 18/12/44 Mainz

34. 24/12/44 Biblis

35. 25/12/44 Kaiserlautern

********************************************************************************************************

***********************************************************************************************************



Thomas P. Smith Jr., 84, Philadelphia police official and SEPTA police chief

By Gayle Ronan Sims 



Inquirer Staff Writer



Thomas P. Smith Jr., 84, a former Philadelphia police chief inspector, the first chief of SEPTA's Transit Police Department, a World War II hero, and a Villanova University football star, died of kidney failure Friday at Nazareth Hospital. He lived in Mayfair.

Born in Port Richmond, Mr. Smith graduated in 1942 from St. Joseph's Prep, where he was president of his class and captain of the football team. He attended Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., for a year before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1943.



Mr. Smith was a waist gunner and radio operator on a B-17 bomber assigned to the 100th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, often referred to as the "Bloody Hundredth." Stationed in England, Mr. Smith flew 35 combat missions over enemy territory.



After World War II, Mr. Smith married Regina Hampson, and the couple raised three children in Mayfair.



Mr. Smith used the GI Bill and a football scholarship to earn a bachelor's degree in business from Villanova. Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 220 pounds, the burly undergrad was an effective left guard for the Wildcats.



Mr. Smith coached football at North Catholic and St. Thomas More High Schools for a year before graduating from the Philadelphia Police Academy in 1950.



He walked a beat near 19th and Oxford Streets and was a commander of the South Police Division at 28th and Wolf Streets before being promoted to chief inspector in 1976.



"He was one of the finest human beings and police officers I have ever known," former Commissioner Joseph F. O'Neill said. "He was a professional, but had a great sense of humor.



"He was a sight in 1975 when he was driving home from the Shore and came upon an unruly crowd at Frankford and Cottman after the Flyers won the Stanley Cup. He was wearing his seashore clothes and came out of his car with his nightstick, ready to do battle. I'll never forget that sight."



Mr. Smith was with the Command Inspections Bureau when he retired from the force in 1978.



Two years later, he was hired as the first chief of SEPTA's Transit Police Department. Mr. Smith oversaw the first class of SEPTA police officers to graduate from the Philadelphia Police Academy. Before that, transit police officers did not carry weapons and did not have the power to arrest criminals.



"Tom was a highly regarded and well-respected law enforcement professional," said Joseph Casey, SEPTA's general manager. "He was instrumental in establishing SEPTA's Transit Police Department and served with distinction as the first chief."



Mr. Smith retired in 1986.



"My husband had a commanding presence. He could take care of himself," his wife said. "Yet he had a big heart. He was a special human being."



In addition to his wife, Mr. Smith is survived by a son, Thomas P. III; daughters Jean Marie Smith and Maryanne DeCree; and four grandchildren.



Friends may call after 8 a.m. Saturday at Burns Funeral Home, 9708 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia. A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Bernard Roman Catholic Church. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.



Donations may be sent to St. Bernard Church, 7341 Cottage St., Philadelphia 19136.





Thomas P. Smith Jr.



Thomas Smith died Feb. 22, 2008, in Nazareth Hospital, Philadelphia, at 84. During his career, Mr. Smith had been a member of the Philadelphia police force for many years, serving as a commander of the South Police Division at 28th and Wolf streets, and, also, as chief inspector, from 1976 until his retirement from the Command Inspections Bureau in 1978. Mr. Smith then began working for SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) in 1980, as the first chief of its transit police department; he continued in this position until his retirement in 1986. A member of the Army Air Corps during World War II, Mr. Smith had been a waist gunner and radio operator on a B-17 bomber assigned to the 100th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force; stationed in England, he flew 35 combat missions. Following the war, Mr. Smith pursued his bachelor’s degree in business at Villanova (Pa.) University, where he had been a star player on the football team; he later coached football at North Catholic and St. Thomas More high schools for one year, before graduating in 1950 from the Philadelphia Police Academy. Mr. Smith is survived by his wife, Regina; a son; two daughters; and four grandchildren.



THOMAS P. SMITH JR.

Two sources I confirmed for his actiual date of death, Social Security and his former college

very interesting obit on his history.

BORN 9 FEB, 1924

DIED 22 FEB,2008, 84 years old, in Philadelphia,PA  19136

 

I attached a Holy Cross obituary for him from the class of  1946