The Man Behind the Name
Alfriend was assigned to the 8th Air Force, 93rd Bomb Group, 328th and 329th Bomb Squadrons, as a tail gunner. He trained at Keesler Field, MS; Harlingen Field, TX; and Pueblo, CO before deploying to Hardwick, England.
He participated in the Central Europe, Ardennes, North France, and Rhineland campaigns, flying 25 missions over Germany. A particularly vivid memory was the heavy flak over Magdeburg on September 11, 1944. He received an honorable discharge on October 25, 1945 at Sioux Falls, SD. He was awarded the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters and the ETO Ribbon with four Battle Stars.
Service record.
Missions flown.
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.
Before and after.
John E. Alfriend was born June 30, 1925. He enlisted in the USAAF on September 2, 1943.
Alfriend married and had one daughter. He retired from Mobil Oil Corporation.