353rd Fighter Squadron/354th Fighter Group/9th Air Force
| Squadron | Sqn Code | Sqn Color |
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| 353 FS | FT | Yellow |
Click on an image below to see larger view.
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Squadron board that displayed photos of the flights of the 353rd |
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Tonopah - 353rd FS July 29, 1943 (L to R) Front Row: Major Owen M. Seaman, Lt. Col. Jack T. Bradley Middle Row: James Cannon, Willie Y. Anderson, J.J. Baird, Grant Logan, Carl C. Carrason, Robert G. Silva, David B. O'Hara, Don M. Beerbower, Wao Kao Kong, F. Mike Rogers, W. Frank Alford, John D. Hattlie, Ridley E. Donnell, Carl Lind Back Row: Buford M. Eaves, Carl Frantz, Richard H. Klein, Thomas S. Varney, Carl G. Bickel, Don McDowell, James J. Parsons, Wallace M. Emmer, Glenn E. Eagleston, Donald W. Stretz, Edward R. Regis, Charles L. Uhlenberg, Edward E. Hunt Not Pictured: Arthur W. Owen, Charles W. Koenig, James W. Kerley, James P. Keane |
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Lt. Col. Glenn T. Eagleston, 3133 Poplar Blvd., Alhambra, CA, one of the leading 9th AF aces, in his North American P-51 Mustang 'Feeble Eagle' 44-63607 at an advanced base in Ober Olm, Germany on 7 April 1944 |
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Lt. Col. Glenn T. Eagleston conducting a mission brief on field in front of Feeble Eagle |
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Back at his front line field after a successful attack on German supply and communications targets, Maj. Glenn T. Eagleston (center), one of the leading 9th AF aces, explains a maneuver to fellow pilots of the 354th fighter-bomber group. Left to Right: 1st Lt. Omer W. Culbertson, Minneapolis, Minn., Capt. Orrin D. Rawlings, Depue, Ill., Major Eagleston, Alhambra, Calif., Capt. James B. Dalgish, Rome, N.Y., and 1st Lt. Lloyd J. Overfield, Leavenworth, Kansas |
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In the photo: (L to R) Lt. Doc Eldered, Lt. Francis O'Donnel, Lt. Col. Jack Bradley, and Lt. Thomas Mills. All are pilots of the 353rd FS, 354th FG, 9th AF |
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Lt. Col. Bruce W. Carr, Union Springs, NY, stands by "Angels Playmate", he had claimed 22½ aerial victories by the end of WWII |
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Capt. Don M. Beerbower, Hill City, Minnesota, the leading 9th AF Ace |
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Capt. Bradley at dinner |
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Bradley, a Brit, and Eagleston in front of P-51D FT-L Feeble Eagle |
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Lt. Kong of the 353rd FS. |
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Lt. Andrew J. Ritchey, formerly of the 353rd FS as seen transitioning into post-war jet fighters. |
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353rd P-51 taxiing |
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David B. O'Hara's P-51D FT-P |
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Capt. Don M. Beerbower, Hill City, Minnesota, the leading 9th AF Ace who was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action, sits in the cockpit of his North American P-51 Mustang fighter-bomber plane at a 9th AF base somewhere in France.Note the 17 Swastikas painted on the side of the aircraft |
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Picture of Beerbower's P-51B FT-E 'Bonnie B II' |
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Capt. Kenneth Dahlberg, St. Louis, Mo., and St. Paul MN, (left), one of the leading aces of the 9th AF with 15½ enemy planes to his credit, supervises the loading of the machine guns on his Republic P-47 Thunderbolt at a front line field. Loading the ammunition are S/Sgt. Harry D. Phillips, Dallas TX, the crew chief (center) and Pfc. George Spikes, Rochester, NY |
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Cpl. Leroy Turner of Altoona, PA, (rear) and Sgt. Henry A. Bucko, of Hammond, IN, caught wheeling out a bomb trailer with a 500 pounder under the nose of a P-51 Mustang "Yahootie Too" for loading on the plane flown by 1st Lt. John R. Bernert of Steubenville, IA. The shattering force of the 9th AAF fighter-bombers striking at vital industrial & military targets in the ever-increasing aerial schedule is becoming one of Hitler's chief headaches |
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A mechanic works on 'Rigor Mortis', the North American P-51 of Edward R. 'Rugged' Regis, of the 353rd FS, 354th FG |
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A ground crewman riding the wing of a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt direct the pilot, a member of the 354th fighter-bomber group, taxiing his plane on the runway of a front line 9th AF field. The pilot, his vision obscured, receives information from the 'wing-man' to avoid obstacles. Mechanics meet the plane at the end of the runway. France |
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Crews load the .50 caliber machine guns on P-47D FT-S. Note improvised dispersal shelters from dirt mounds |
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353d FS P-47s taxiing to runway |
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Men of the 401st Bomb Group look over a North American P-51 'Mustang' at an 8th Air Force base in England, 27 December 1943. The aircraft is from the 353rd FS, 354th FG |
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Confederate Air Force P-47D Thunderbolt restored in the colors of the 353rd FS/354 FG/9 AF |
Many thanks to TSgt James Bollinger, former 353 CTS Unit Historian for sharing his research into his unit's WWII heritage.