Lt. Easterwood was born April 4, 1923 and moved to Dadeville, AL as a child. He graduated Tallapoosa County High School in 1941 and studied engineering at Auburn University for one year. He played football through high school and college. On October 19, 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces and was called to duty February 1, 1943, reporting to Miami, FL for basic training. He was classified as a pilot and received training at Maxwell AAF, Courtland AAF, and Craig AAF. He got his wings and commission on February 8, 1944. He was selected as an instructor pilot and went to Randolph AAF, TX for instructor training. He requested combat duty and was sent back to Craig AAF for P-40 gunnery, training. He went to a replacement pool at Richmond, VA, but there was little need at that time for P-40 pilots. He was sent to Camp Springs, MD for A-24 and P-47 training and on to Millville for P-47 advanced training in early September 1944. On his eighth flight at Millville, September 23, he struck a tow target and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Lt. Easterwood and his P-47 were never found.
Flight Officer Morrison was born in Niagra Falls, New York on January 22, 1921. He graduated from Trott Vocational School in 1939 and was employed by the Hooker Electrochemical Company until 1940 when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 1943, he transferred to the U.S. Army Air Force. The fall of 1944 found him assigned to Advanced Fighter Training at the Millville AAF. He lost his life when his engine failed after takeoff and crashed into Union Lake in Millville on December 22, 1944.
Lt. Weber was born in Muscatine, Iowa on January 6, 1923 and lived there until entry in the service. He attended Muscatine Public Schools and Muscatine Junior College. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in July 1942 and was called to duty in February 1943. He received his wings and commission on January 7, 1944 at Aloe Field, Texas. Lt. Weber was sent for P-47 training in the Spring of 1944 and on May 23 he died when his airplane struck the target on a ground gunnery range.
Lieutenant Hepburn was born in Merion Station, PA on April 259 1919. He attended Episcopal Academy and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1941, where he studied law and participated in many sports. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces just after Pearl Harbor, but was notified he would be called only for a non-combat role because of complications from an old operation. His only choice was to under go dangerous surgery in September 1942 in order to become a pilot. He survived the surgery and went on the get his wings and commission on March 12, 1944. A short break in his training as a fighter pilot enabled him to get married on June 5, 1944. Tragedy struck on July 12. As his wife watched at the officers club, Lt. Hepburn crashed short of the runway, while on a tow-target mission, and was killed.
Captain Crossley was born in East Templeton, Massachusetts, May 6, 1917. He attended Gardner High School, Cushing Academy and The University of Vermont. He entered military service in Boston on September 4, 1941 and attended flight schools in the Southeast. He received his wings and was commissioned on April 29, 1942. He flew the P-40 in combat over North Africa and Southern Europe, where he shot down two Nazi aircraft and destroyed two more on the ground. After completing 60 combat missions, he was sent back to the states to be an instructor, and was sent to Millville in February 1944. On April 2, 1944, he was killed in a crash in the ocean 10 miles off of Atlantic City.
Lt. Thompson was born in Portsmouth, Virginia on January 20, 1924. He graduated from Churchland High School in 1941. He worked in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and had been a flight instructor at the Portsmouth Airport before entering the Army Air Force in 1943. He received his wings and commission on May 28, 1943, and was assigned to the 387th FS, 365th FG in the Summer of 1943. The 365th conducted gunnery training in Millville in September and October 1943. On October 23,1943, Lt. Thompson was killed when he crashed behind a target range.
F/O Driskill was born July 24, 1922 in Van Horn, Iowa and moved to Lone Rock, Wisconsin as a child. He graduated the Richland Center High School in 1940 and enlisted in the Army November 12,. 1942. He went to basic training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas and was later accepted as an aviation cadet and sent to San Antonio, Texas for Preflight. He received basic, primary, and advanced flight training at fields in Oklahoma and Texas. On February 8, 1944 he received his wings and was sworn in as a Flight Officer. He was sent to Camp Springs, Maryland for P-47 transition training and on to Millville for P-47 advanced. On his last flight at Millville, just one day before graduation, he was killed about 5 miles Southeast of Trenton in a crash during a night navigational training mission.
Lieutenant Rumbaugh was born August 30, 1917 in Millersburg, Ohio. He graduated from Millersburg High school in 1935 and attended Ohio State University. He was then employed by the Lima Gro-Cord Sole and Heel Company as a chemist.
Rumbaugh was an avid outdoors man and loved hunting and fishing. He also raised carrier pigeons for many years. He entered the Army Air Force in 1942 and received his wings at Spence Field, GA. on June 30, 1943. He served briefly in the 325th Fighter , Squadron at Richmond AAF and was assigned to the 388th FS, 365th FG on August 9th. The 365th was sent to Millville for gunnery training in the fall. On October 18, Lt. Rumbaugh was towing a gunnery target off of Atlantic City. He developed a problem in flight and crashed while trying to make an emergency landing at Bader Field.
Lt. Pryor was born in Calhorn City, Mississippi on March 24, 1921. He attended Columbia Military Academy, Columbia, Tennessee, Mississippi State University, and Delta State University before entering the College of Mortuary Sciences in St. Louis, Missouri, where he graduated in 1941. In January 1942 he passed the state board and received his embalmer’s license. He entered the Army Air Force in 1943 and received flying training in Nashville, Keesler Field, Maxwell Field, and Camp Springs. He was assigned to Millville for advanced fighter training in March 1945. On his final mission at Millville, May 2, he was killed in a midair collision of two P-47’s.
Lt. Barton was a resident of Sheridan, Wyoming most of his life, He graduated from. Sheridan High -School in 1936 and from Hastings College, Hastings, Nebraska where he studied music He entered the Army Air Corps in December 1941 and received training as a fighter pilot in Arizona, California, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. He was assigned to the 352nd Squadron of the 353rd Fighter group. The 353rd was assigned to Millville for the final phase of their training. On April 17, 1943, while on an instrument mission he went into an uncontrollable spin. He escape from the airplane, but too late to use his parachute. The accident occured over Barnegat Bay near Seaside Park, NJ.