Sterling E. Carper.

Staff Sergeant Sterling E. Carper (my father) flew with the 93rd Bomb Group (Heavy), 409th Squadron stationed in Hardwick, England. The 93rd BG flew the Consolidated B-24 Liberator four engine bomber. He flew the required 25 missions - most as tail gunner; a few at the waist gunner position. St. Nazaire Submarine Pens - Essen - Dusseldorf - Schweinfurt - Regensburg - Hamburg - Berlin - The Ploesti Oil Fields. All in broad daylight. Virtually no fighter support, as a fighter had not yet been developed that could make it deep into Germany and back again. Their Group lost 30 aircraft at a time on some missions - that’s 30 10-man crews. 300 men. And they did their jobs with bravery and determination, fully knowing they may not make it home. Sterling was wounded a few times; crash landed and saved the lives of two buddies in his plane before it was engulfed in flames. For his bravery, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Army Air Corps’ second highest award. When given the choice of manning a typewriter, or being stationed in Ireland for 9 weeks as a gunnery instructor, he went to Ireland. (Sterling was one of the best turret gunners in the 93rd Bomb Group). He volunteered in February of 1942, just 2 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He said, “We just had a job to do and we went over there and took care of it.”