His name is Daniel Freitas. He is my great Uncle in-law, the husband of my Great Aunt. He's a really friendly old man, and he likes Golf and Flyfishing.
I didn't even realize until two nights ago that he was a veteran! In a Christmas Card he mentioned he was a part of the 401st and I was suprised. I suppose I could have heard about it when I was younger and it didn't ring a bell. But now I know for certain. I did know my grandfather was on a submarine in WWII, but my dad says he never talked about it much, and now he's dead.
So I got to talk to Uncle Daniel on the phone ten minutes ago and learned more about his wartime experiances.
Before I go into what he said here is a quick history of what the 401st Bomb Group did. It was made up of four Bomb Squadrons.
For the Record - Accomplishments of the 401st Bomb Group
* Two Distinguished Unit Citations
* Best bombing accuracy record among B-17 groups in the Eighth Air Force
* Second lowest loss ratio among B-17 groups in the Eighth Air Force
* First group in the ETO to complete 100 combat missions in seven months
* Combat missions: 254
* Accredited sorties: 7,413
* Percentage of aircraft available for each mission: 95.6%
* Aircraft lost on operational missions: 94
* Aircraft returning with battle damage: 1,872
* Total personnel entering enemy territory: 69,910
* Total battle casualties (KIA, MIA, wounded): 1,078
* Tons of bombs dropped (all targets): 17,784
* Rounds of ammunition fired: 916,920
* Enemy aircraft claimed (confirmed): 193
* Individual awards and decorations: 11,884
Mr. Freitas belonged to the 401st Bomb Group in England, one of the units of the Eighth Air Force in England. He was a Radio Operator on a B-17 Flying Fortress during WWII. I didn't find out his military rank, or his squadron, I should have. Today he still likes radio, and is a member of the Humboldt Amateur Radio Club.
He said he flew over Germany and that two of his crew members were killed while flying in another plane than his, and that ended the original crew. I think he also said, It was a bit hard talking over the phone, that one of the waist gunners in his crew was also wounded, and that one time his Bombardier was the only survivor from a B-17 that exploded. The Bombardier was blown out from the nose and his parachute opened and he survived, but the navigator didn't. He said that if the Navigator had been wearing the bombardiers parachute, he may have survived.
I didn't ask him if it's ok that I'm telling you guys these things, but he is pretty active in many WWII organizations, including one of the Directors of 401st Bomb Group Association, an Event Organizer of the Collings Foundation, Secretary/Treasurer of the Doolittle Chapter of the 8AFHS, and is also active in Navy, Marine veteran organizations, ect. He sure gets around! I imagine he's told a lot of other people about his WWII memories over the years. But I'll ask him next time.
Here is the 401st Bomb Group association and if you look down the directors you can find his name on the list. The site also has a lot of other information about the group you might find interesting.
The 401st Bomb Group Association
I'm glad to have found a veteran in the family from WWII still living and also one who flew planes!
Merry Christmas to everybody!
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