S. Charles (Chuck) Tucker Charles attended Weber College during the 1941-1942 year learning a welder's trade. After graduation from Weber, he worked at Hill Air Force Base as a welder until he enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 26 October 1942 thinking he would be a welder. He was assigned to the 59th Troop Carrier Group and sent to Bowman Field, Kentucky. After basic training he went to South Plains Flying School, Lubbock, Texas, then to Pope Field. He was first a clerk typist and later the control tower operator. The Fighting 59th's first overseas assignment was in North Africa. One long, quiet, lonely night while on guard duty, he dozed against the wheel of the plane. Something nudged his neck. He whirled and shot a camel. He really got razzed for that! After North Africa, the group was sent to Sicily, Italy, France, and England. He saw a lot of Europe. Charles had little to say about his experiences in the military, but the pictures he sent home were stark examples of the awful destruction inflicted on those nations during the war. The best of Charles' military times were in Leeds, England, directing the aircraft on and off the flying field. Their group flew troops across the English Channel pulling the large gliders behind the planes. Both were loaded with soldiers. The men in the planes jumped out ahead of enemy troops. The gliders were then cut loose and would land behind enemy lines so there would be U. S. soldiers all around them. The most dangerous part of the 59th's mission was returning to retrieve the empty gliders because the planes had to fly so low to snatch them up and return them to the air base across the Channel. Charles always loved sports, especially a good ball game. While in Sicily in October 1943 he fast pitched his enlisted men's team to first place in the National Military Softball Tournament against the officers. What a feat!!! S. Charles Tucker was awarded an honorary discharge at Fort Douglas, Utah, on September 28, 1945. He served his country honorably and well. Jon Udy John served in the USAAF from 1942 to 1946 attaining the rank of captain. He completed 35 combat missions over Germany as a pilot and aircraft commander of a B-17 aircraft in the 401st Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, flying out of a base named Deenethorpe in England. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, American Campaign Medal, EAME (European-African-Middle Eastern) Campaign Medal with Battle Star, Victory Medal WWII and the Air Force Reserve Medal. He was released from active duty in March 1946. On 16 August 1944 we flew our first combat mission to Schkeuditz/Leipzig, Germany to bomb a Ju-88 bomber assembly plant with six each 1,000-pound general purpose bombs. We were briefed at 0300 hours, and all aircraft was airborne at 0644 hours. Our squadron Commander Major R. J. White led the group on this mission. The 615th Squadron pilots and crews on this mission were: Lieutenants C. J. Parr, P. J. Sullivan, W. F. Grimm, L. E. Cooper, W. H. Mcillraith, H. E. Haskett, and me. They assigned a copilot with combat experience to fly with me on this mission, so Billy S. Hockaday got to stay home on base that day. We managed to hit the plant very well, but the flak was heavy. While we were on the bomb run, we were hit with many bursts of flak. The flak knocked out the hydraulic system, and we lost all of the hydraulic pressure to the system, including the brakes. I also thought something else really serious was damaged because the aircraft started vibrating violently, and it seemed like number three and number four engines were out of commission. The right wing 64 dropped, and we lost a lot of altitude before we could regain control and straighten out the aircraft. Apparently we had been caught in severe prop wash or microburst as it is called now. We found out later some of the controls had been shot out, but the aircraft flew all right; and we stayed in formation to get back to base. When we got back to base, we advised the control tower that our brakes were inoperative. They directed us to stay in the traffic pattern. Other aircraft in the formation were allowed to land first. We were then given clearance to land. There was an ambulance waiting at the departure end of the runway. I had all of the crew except the copilot get in the radio room with their backs to the bulkhead and their heads on their knees in case we suffered serious damage to the aircraft. I landed the aircraft on the end of the runway; however, there was not much headwind, and the aircraft would not slow down without brakes. I kept the number one and four engines running so I could ground loop the aircraft at the end of the runway if it did not stop before we got to that point. I had never ground looped any type of aircraft before, intentionally or unintentionally. I had never heard of a B-17 being ground looped and did not know if it could be done, so I was a little apprehensive (maybe more than that). The B-17 would not stop, so I let it run off the end of the asphalt onto the grass. There was a big ditch in front of us. I knew if we ran into this ditch the aircraft would be severely damaged, and the crew could be seriously injured also. I opened the throttle on number one engine. The aircraft started sliding sideways toward the ditch, and it was heading straight for a group of people standing on that side of the runway. The flight operations officer, medical personnel with the ambulance and others were there. They scattered like quail when they saw that B-17 turning towards them. The aircraft slid sideways for a short distance then the tail wheel swiveled around and the aircraft spun around and stopped short of the ditch. I was thankful that no harm had come to any of the crew, and no damage was sustained by the aircraft. I was congratulated by the flight operations officer and others who were there at the time. I was thankful we had survived our first combat mission with no injuries to the crew or me. The mission took eight hours and thirty-five minutes flying time. Of the 425 aircraft of the 1 st Air Division flying that day, ten were lost and 234 had battle damage. The date was 24 December 1944, Christmas Eve. Thirty-one crews were briefed at 0700 hours. By 1130 hours 46 aircraft were airborne from six different bases. The base or bases where these extra aircraft came from are not clear. The target was the marshaling yards and factory areas at Koblenz. We carried eight 500-pound bombs. During the bomb run we were in heavy flak for about 27 minutes. Our aircraft was heavily damaged. We were hit by flak in the oil cooler of the number one engine. The oil was rolling over the top of the wing in big lumps due to the extreme cold at 30,000 feet altitude, about 55 degrees below zero. We dropped our landing gear as a signal that we were leaving the formation. Billy Hockaday, the copilot, hit the feathering button to feather the engine. Nothing happened. This button controlled a pump that pumped oil into the propeller hub to turn the propeller blades into the wind to stop the rotation of the engine and the propeller. The feathering system would not operate. We turned off the fuel to the engine and the ignition switch. The engine kept rotating. The force of the slipstream on the propeller and the fact that the engine was turning without oil caused the aircraft to vibrate violently. Without any oil, the engine soon became so hot it seized up, and the force of the slipstream on the propeller broke the crankshaft gear and caused the propeller to run wild at several thousand RPM. Sparks were flying out of the nose section of the broken engine. I alerted all crew members to put on their parachutes for possible abandonment of the aircraft. If the engine caught fire, we had about one minute to get out of the airplane before it blew up. However our good luck was holding up, the engine did not catch on fire, and we did not get hit by enemy fighters as we were flying all alone from Koblenz to England. I had called for fighter support, but no fighters came to escort us home. The propeller on number one engine was windmilling. The severe vibration of the airplane caused the number two engine to start leaking oil. We were watching this engine very closely. I thought about trying to slow down the aircraft and maneuvering to pull the prop right off the engine. I was afraid it may come through the cockpit or another part of the airplane. I decided to just let it windmill. I stayed high to make sure I got across the English Channel in case we lost the number two engine. We were briefed that if we had to ditch in the channel or in the North Sea, we would live for about 45 minutes due to the extremely cold water. We made it across the channel all right. We had to cross the English coast at a certain point or the English would shoot at us. This was due to the fact the Germans had several B-17s and would use them to sneak in and bomb English targets. When we got to England the fog was rolling in so thick we could not get back to our base at Deenethorpe. I flew over an airfield that turned out to be a Canadian 65