Name	Rank	Position	Date of Assignment	Status	Missions	Kills	Notes
Kurt Klippert	1LT	Pilot	24 Jun 43		6		Received Silver Star on mission 14. (Pyote, Texas)
Ken Rice	1LT	Co-Pilot	24 Jun 43		6		Received Silver Star on mission 14. (Fifty-Six, Arkansas)
Scott Newby	2LT	Bombardier	24 Jun 43		6		Received Silver Star on mission 14. (Shiloh, Georgia)
Mike Clare	2LT	Navigator	05 Aug 43		3		(Burdett, Kansas)
Steve Michaels	2LT	Navigator	24 Jun 43	KIA	3		Received Silver Star and Purple Heart on mission 14. (Mays Chapel, Maryland)
John Noigebauer	SSG	Engineer	24 Jun 43		6	2	Received Silver Star on mission 14. Shot down ME 109 Shot down IAR 80/81 (Chebanse, Illinois)
Patrick Miller	SGT	Nose Gunner	10 Sep 43		0		(Fairmount, Indiana)
Dave Pearson	SGT	Radio Operator	24 Jun 43		6		Received Silver Star on mission 14. (Brewster, Minnesota)
Paul Hardt	SGT	Waist Gunner	24 Jun 43		6		Received Silver Star on mission 14. Received Purple Heart on mission 15. (Caledonia, Ohio)
Carl Christianson	SGT	Belly Gunner	24 Jun 43		6		Received Silver Star on mission 14. (Caspian, Michigan)
Dave Wright	SGT	Tail Gunner	06 Aug 43		3	2	Shot down FW 190 Shot down ME 110 (Waverly, Tennessee)
Dan Hanson	SGT	Tail Gunner	24 Jun 43	sent home	3		Received Silver Star and Purple Heart on mission 14. (Stratford, Wisconsin)

DIARY
Our crew trained in Nebraska in the fall of 1942. By June of 43 we had completed all out training and prepared to go overseas. We named the plane after Pilot Klippert’s girlfriend. Early on the morning of June 25^th, 1942, we began our flight overseas. Our route took us down to Florida where we were outfitted with extra fuel, rations and life rafts. We also were carrying SSgt’s  Dave Johnson and Bill Witmann, along with their tool kits-they were to join the ground crews of the Bomb Group we were yet to join-and so far, none of us knew who that was. The Captain had sealed orders that we opened once we left Pensacola. Our flight took us down to Brazil where we refueled and did maintenance, then we hopped the Atlantic for Africa. After a 4 day flight that included landing in Tunisia and Casablanca, we joined the 44^th BG outside Benghazi. Boy, was it hot! The 44^th , however, welcomed us rather coldly…later we realized that it wasn’t coldness, it was just that nobody wanted to be close friends with new guys-it was easier in case they were shot down, which happened a lot.

  The cool reception wasn’t all we had to worry about. On top of requalifying as a crew with the 44^th, we had to contend with desert life. The heat, sand, bad water and worse rations took their toll on both the plane and us. Speaking of the plane, we had to fight to keep her. She was a new E-model and the older crews-the ones with Majors and LTC’s as pilots- wanted her badly. We managed to keep her- but that’s another story.

  We flew several practice missions and two real ones against Sicily- we bombed Ok, but saw no enemy fighters. We continued to fly practice missions-long low level stuff that had the rumor mongers fairly bursting with the new “poop” every day. We were told to keep our mouths shut and continue to train.