James E. Rutherford

The Man Behind the Name

§ Biography

Rutherford flew as a lead pilot with the 93rd Bomb Group from Hardwick. His first fifteen combat missions were aboard B-24 U.S. Express. On 12 October 1944 he was flying deputy lead to Osnabrück; after the lead ship was hit he took over the formation and completed the bomb run. He finished thirty combat missions and sailed for the United States on V-E Day.

Service record.

§ As Catalogued

Rank

1st Lieutenant

Position

Pilot

Mission Count

Theater of Operations

08 May 1945

Hometown

Mart, TX, TX

Missions flown.

5 catalogued · 22 Feb 1945 — 12 Sep 1944

The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.

№

Date

Target

Aircraft

“Piccadilly Commando”

Before and after.

§ The Civilian Years

Before the War

Born April 11, 1921 in Mart, TX. After two years of college, entered aviation cadets -- cadet officer at each station. Graduated as second lieutenant, Class 43-K, from Ellington Field, TX. Trained in B-24s at Liberal, KS. Flew B-24 Little Chum (named after wife Dorothy Wemple) from Topeka, KS to the European Theater of Operations.

After the War

Voluntarily discharged July 25, 1945; returned to Waco, TX. Recalled to active duty as captain in 1951: instructor pilot in ATC in Texas (until 1955); rescue aircraft commander in Alaska (until 1958); base operations officer at Larson AFB, WA; radar operations at Roswell AFB, NM; Keflavik AFS, Iceland; Norton AFB, CA; Luke AFB, AZ; Qui Nhon, Vietnam (airfield commander); HQ 7th Air Force, Tan Son Nhut (Plans). Retired from Luke AFB as colonel in August 1968. Real estate broker in Glendale and Phoenix since 1970. Celebrated golden wedding anniversary May 7, 1992 with wife Dorothy ("Little Chum"); three children, two grandsons. Died February 12, 2010.

Read the records.

1 document

Original documents behind what this page says about this airman — reports, records, and histories the archive holds and is free to reproduce. Check the sources for yourself.

Supports 1 fact

2nd Air Division Association Journal — Falll 1991

Periodical · 2nd Air Division Association · Vol. 30, No. 3 · 1991 · Second Air Division Journal

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Sources.

§ Provenance

Second Air Division

Page 333

Published