WARREN E. MICKELSON.
Top Turret Gunner · 330th Squadron · Of Day County, SD, SD.
The man.
Joined 93rd Bomb Group, 330th Sqdn. at Hardwick, England; completed 35 missions on Feb. 3, 1945. Most memorable mission was his 32nd to Harburg -- severe flak damage caused loss of two engines, fuel and electrical lines, and guns and ammunition were jettisoned. Rather than flying to Sweden or bailing out, chose to attempt returning home; barely made it across the English Channel and crashed short of the emergency airfield with 300 to 400 flak damage holes in the aircraft.
Service record.
Before and after.
Born Jan. 14, 1923 in Day County, SD. Inducted into USAAC March 1943. Basic training at Sheppard Field, TX; Aircraft Mechanics at Keesler Field, MS; Gunnery at Tyndall Field, FL. Assigned on a crew as aerial engineer gunner at Westover Field, MA. Overseas training at Savannah, GA, including one week at Batista Field, Cuba. Ferried a new B-24J to Ireland.
Returned to Santa Ana, CA for reassignment; discharged November 1945. Received Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with cluster, and ETO. Retired chief engineer for a natural gas utility; resides in Lincoln, NE. Married 40 years to Jane Nelson; two daughters, one granddaughter.