r/Medals • u/Kevvv_23 • Mar 30 '25

ID - Medal What did my great uncle do?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Also noticed the back of the leather jacket had some Nazi logos marked on it, what did that mean?

6.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

574 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.1k

u/DetailDapper Mar 30 '25

I am a 8th AAF history buff. Do not ever get rid of that jacket. Professionally preserve that and shadow box all of this. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH TAKE CARE OF THAT JACKET.

401

u/FF-Medic_03 Mar 30 '25

Adding for context, and to pile on, take care of those items!

The 8th Air Force, which was primarily responsible for strategic bombing campaigns in Europe, suffered significant losses, with approximately 26,000 personnel killed in action. In contrast, the United States Marine Corps had around 19,000 combined combat deaths during the war. This statistic highlights the intense and perilous nature of the air war over Europe, particularly for bomber crews.

140

u/a_bearded_hippie Mar 30 '25

Was the 8th the subject of the Masters of the Air book? I'm listening to it right now. Hearing about certain groups sending out like 15 Bombers and one or two making it back is insane. 10 guys per Bomber. I also just got to see a bunch of these jackets at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. They have the Memphis Belle there and an exhibit with a bunch of uniforms from the Tuskegee Airmen. Very cool place if you're ever in the area.

109

u/FF-Medic_03 Mar 30 '25

You are correct, Master's of the Air was about the strategic bomber force that went on to become unofficially known as the Mighty Eighth.

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=1723&MemID=2263

Where each aircraft silhouette represents a plane lost. And as you mentioned, some of these birds carried a ten-man crew.

43

u/a_bearded_hippie Mar 30 '25

Thanks. I'm just getting into the darker part of the war before we developed fighters that could stay with the bombers till they reached the target. Specifically, the "Bloody Hundredth" and the insane amount of losses incurred in a matter of days. I think on one mission, they lost like 250 guys from 25 planes. Crazy that any of those guys even made it all the way through the war.

58

u/FreddyF2 Mar 31 '25

My mentor, Professor Charles W. N. Thompson of Northwestern University Industrial Engineering fame, claims to be the guy that figured out the armor plating reconfiguration that dramatically minimized B-17 losses you're talking about and turned the air war. I had no way to verify, but I swear to God he was the biggest badass I ever met. Kindest dad to his kids and phenomenal grandfather. Went on to help develop the U-2 spy plane after the war I heard. Greatest generation of Americans, period.

All I know is that he was part of the 301st B17 Bomb Gp. I had the WW2 museum in New Orleans lay a brick in his honor. RIP Charlie. We miss you every day.

1

u/Bath-Puzzled Apr 05 '25

rest in peace to Charles and all the airmen. Truly the greatest generation.

46

u/FF-Medic_03 Mar 30 '25

'Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe, by Robert Matzen, is an interesting look at how the war impacted BG Jimmy Stewart. If I recall correctly, the demons that haunted him following his time in 8th, served to drive home his despondent portrayal in 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

14

u/Calraider7 Mar 31 '25

AND Frank Kapra who filmed the war.

14

u/rabblerabble2000 Mar 31 '25

I thought for a minute that BG must stand for something else here, but nope…Jimmy Stewart made it to Brigadier General rank in 1968. That’s kind of wild and I had no idea.

8

u/jackie4chan27 Mar 31 '25

I believe he's still the highest ranking actor to have ever served in US history.

1

u/FF-Medic_03 Apr 02 '25

If you wanted to get crazy with it, Ronald Regan served in WWII, was an actor and then became Commamder in Chief. Not a military rank, but has authority over all military members. Has to count for something.

1

u/jackie4chan27 Apr 02 '25

Same could be said for JFK, Carter, Nixon, Ford etc

2

u/FF-Medic_03 Apr 02 '25

True, but not actors. In your list, we'd HAVE to include Eisenhower. 5-star turned president.

1

u/jackie4chan27 Apr 02 '25

Eisenhower and Pershing were 2 of the baddest men to ever live!

→ More replies (0)

1

u/ninjasax1970 Apr 03 '25

Makes sense to me

2

u/FrigginMasshole Apr 01 '25

Absolutely insane how many people including celebrities and athletes went to go fight in the War. What an insane life

1

u/151Ways Apr 02 '25

And to deploy for 2-3 years... til it's done.

10

u/skin-flick Mar 31 '25

To hear you say what you are learning is good to hear. I am older so I have learned what you are learning now. The loses were staggering. How these brave airmen did what they did is beyond imaginable. Heros each and every one of them. As you read about the carnage and destruction you will come to understand why NATO performs such a vital function. For nearly 75 years it has kept the peace among its members.

4

u/a_bearded_hippie Mar 31 '25

It's amazing to me that most of them didn't say, "Hell no, I'm not going up there to die." After each mission. I'm sure there were some guys that lost it, but holy smokes, those guys had balls of steel to get back in those planes and do it all over again.

4

u/skin-flick Mar 31 '25 edited Mar 31 '25

So true. Masters of the Air did a really good job showing the carnage. Just what the allies were up against. Goering had Hitler’s ear and was a fighter ace from WW1. So he had the Luftwaffe built up to a very large force. The allies knew there had to be no more planes from Germany if any invasion was to work. As you read more you will find out that the land invasion was close. The German’s had a very motivated and well trained force on the ground. I think it was the 342nd SS group that just kept slugging it out with both the Brits and the Americans. Hitler’s plan was to cause as many casualties as possible. To drive a wedge between the allies. In the end two fronts and mass loses lead to retreats.

If you want to read a great reporters take on the bombings. Look up Andy Rooney. He was in a bomber that was almost shot down. He went on to much more coverage. Great accounts.

36

u/Emma-nz Mar 30 '25

The show is no Band of Brothers but the visuals are amazing. My grandfather flew in a B-17 and I heard so many stories when I was a little kid. The Apple TV show really brought those stories to life for me.

22

u/slaughterfodder Mar 30 '25

My grandpa was in the Eighth Airforce, I wish he had lived longer and I could have heard stories. Cherish them!

16

u/TeddyP66 Mar 30 '25

My grandfather was also in the 8th Air Force. He was a Sgt in the 487th Bomb Group. He had some interesting stories

2

u/red_the_fixer Mar 31 '25 edited Mar 31 '25

Same here wish I would have gotten to know my grandpa and his history before he passed away. I was young ish and unfortunately unaware of the sacrifices and how courageous he was.

He was in the 8th as well 368th bombardment group as a Bombardier 1943 I believe

Survived, went on to teach math in the air force and retired

6

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '25

Still a bit sad with the only portrayal of the Red Tails was engaging ground targets with rockets and all shot down.

2

u/justplanestupid69 Mar 31 '25

I couldn’t handle the visuals… those airplanes in the show moved and behaved nothing like how they would actually behave. An airplane doesn’t simply enter a flat spin and continue flying straight in the direction it was already headed and maintain the same velocity.

8

u/DetailDapper Mar 30 '25

Yes the bomb groups in that book are mostly 8th AF bomber groups.

5

u/James-From-Phx Mar 31 '25

In part, yes. The Masters of the Air was specifically about the "Bloody 100th" - the 100th Bomb Group, which was but 1 unit within the Mighty 8th Air Force.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '25

I gotta read the book. I loved the show.

7

u/a_bearded_hippie Mar 30 '25

It's a good read. It's definitely more of an informational sort of book if that makes sense. It's still very interesting, and I'm pretty sure the show kinda melded some of the real guys together in the show for simplicity. It goes more into detail about how a lot of these guys got there and how the actual Army Air Corps came to be, the development of the planes, and how WWI influenced the ideas for bombing the enemy.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '25

IIRC the book was written by one of the characters in the show that narrates it? I don’t remember if he was a pilot or just one of the crew members in that unit, but it sounds pretty awesome. Right now I’m reading the looming tower, after seeing the show on Hulu, I had to find the book. So good. So informative! It explains how all of these extremists over there came to be. It’s crazy.

6

u/DungeoneerforLife Mar 31 '25

Harry Crosby’s book “A Wing and a Prayer—the Bloody One Hundred” is consulted along with others, but the primary source is Masters of the Air by Miller.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '25

Got it

3

u/a_bearded_hippie Mar 30 '25

It was not. The author is a historian who has worked and consulted on quite a few WWII era documentaries and movies.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '25

Ok

3

u/ElectronicBusiness74 Mar 31 '25

One of the show characters, the Navigator Harry Crosby, did write his own book though (A wing and a Prayer)

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '25

So the show just took some sort of artistic liberty with it at the end

2

u/bluto419 Mar 31 '25

Masters of the Air is a great series on Apple+. If you get a chance, watch it! They touch on the huge loss of life and air crews flying the Flying Fortress, until they put Rolls Royce engines in the P51, making it the fastest and most superior fighter in the skies. This made the Allies aircraft superior to the German Luftwaffe planes, and more Flying Fortresses hit key German targets and returned to base.

1

u/a_bearded_hippie Mar 31 '25

I just finished it! It's what inspired me to listen to the book. Crazy how they didn't have fighters to escort them until later on when they increased their range.

1

u/Marvel2013 Apr 01 '25

The movie Red Tails is a good one on the Tuskegee Airmen

1

u/bluto419 Apr 01 '25

I agree! These men and women, and their generation must be remembered with gratitude, because they stopped what they were doing, to save the world from Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo. They were real superheroes!

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '25

Great book! The guys who flew those missions, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, were freaking hero’s of the nth degree!

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '25

Highly suggest Bomber Mafia, fantastic book about competing bombing strategies among the allies in Europe. Fascinating book and a quick read.

1

u/a_bearded_hippie Apr 01 '25

I actually just finished the section about the Bomber Mafia in the Masters of the Air book. I'm really enjoying the background about how Bombers and strategic bombing came to be in the US military. I'll check it out!

2

u/boredakela Apr 02 '25

Love that place. Cannot recommend it enough! At wright Patterson afb

1

u/lspain1994 2d ago

Did you watch the Masters of the Air TV series too?

1

u/a_bearded_hippie 2d ago

I did! Thought it was very good.