Bert F. Alexander

Alexander transferred from the 12th Field Artillery to Aviation Cadet training, graduating as a pilot in Class 43-A. He completed B-24 transition training at Alamogordo, NM, then joined Ted's Travelling Circus in the 330th Squadron in May 1943. The group deployed to Benghazi, North Africa, and on their third mission covering the invasion of Sicily, the crew missed the airdrome on return and bailed out over the Libyan Desert. Six of the ten-man crew survived ten days before rescue.

Alexander completed 25 missions (including one as waist gunner to Wiener-Neustadt, Austria) by February 28, 1944, then rotated stateside. In 1945 he flew as co-pilot on C-54s transporting occupation troops into Japan. He was discharged as master sergeant at Randolph AFB. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart, European Theatre Ribbon with three Battle Stars, Pacific Campaign Medal, China Service Medal, and Distinguished Unit Citation with one Oak Leaf Cluster.