Posted:
By: Art Seder
On: 08/04/2001
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Your grandfather was the waist gunner on Captain Rundell's crew, assigned to the 614th Squadron. The crew included Captain F. E. Rundell, pilot; 2nd Lt. R. E. Johnson, co-pilot; 2nd Lt. R. P. Champagne, Navigator; 2nd Lt. W. N. Shearer, Jr., bombardier; 2nd Lt. A. Currie, radar navigator; S/Sgt. A. J. Trajanowski, radio operator; T/Sgt. H. B. Mears, Engineer; T/Sgt. R. E. Lee, tail gunner; and your grandfather, J. J. Huffman, waist gunner.
The crew flew 13 missions, mostly in B-17 No. 42-102659, named "Hard Seventeen". However, on the 13th missions, when shot down, they were flying a radar-equipped airplane that was not named.
Group records state that "The aircraft received a direct flak hit on the No. 2 engine, which started flaming. The prop was feathered but the wing broke off and the aircraft appeared to break into pieces, falling down through the clouds." All members of the crew were listed as prisoners of war.
Captain Rundell, who is a member of the 401st Bomb Group Association, retired as a Colonel in the USAF. His e-mail address is rundell@aol.com.
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