Radio Operator · 409th Squadron · Of Emmett, MI.
At Westover Field, MA in December 1943, his crew was formed and assigned to the 8th Air Force, 93rd Bomb Group, 409th Sqdn. in Hardwick, England. On Friday the 13th, 1945 with a lead crew of 13, he completed his last mission to Worms, Germany.
His good memories are firing flares from the flight deck of Balls of Fire, the 93rd assembly ship. Flying the Glenn Miller Band to their airbase for a performance. The V-1 and V-2 Bombs exploding in London.
Received five Air Medals, ETO Medal, four Bronze Stars, Victory Medal, American Theater, Good Conduct Medal, Presidential Unit Citation and two lead crew Certificates of Commendation.
He returned to the States in February 1945. After flight training at Reno Army Airbase with the Air Transport Command, he was assigned to the Miami Airport where he remained until his discharge in November 1945.
After a three-day London pass of fish and chips and bathtub gin, he flew the next day from Hardwick as radio operator on Capt. Spencer's crew to Munich, about seven hours at 25,000 feet, so sick that fighters and flak barely registered. He threw up in the bomb bay, then — with no toilet aboard — used his steel flak helmet, which he later called the Original Porta-Potti.
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.
Born on Sept. 19, 1923 in Emmett, MI. Joined the USAAF in April 1943, completed basic training in Florida, Radio School at Scott Field, IL and Gunnery School at Tyndall Field, FL.
He married Veronica Grace in 1948 and has four children and three grandchildren. He graduated in 1954 from U of D Dental School. He practiced dentistry in Midland, MI until his retirement in 1988.
Articles, columns, and letters naming this airman in the 2nd Air Division Association journals and the group’s own newsletters. The summaries below are ours; the pieces themselves belong to the writers and publications that produced them.
Mike Donahue's recollection of a homemade privy at Hardwick the night before a mission, a small domestic detail of station life with the 93rd.
Mike Donahue's 409th crew, flying Ma's Worry as 2nd Air Division lead to Hamm, snagged a trailing-wire antenna and still brought the ship home.
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.