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0106-W2M-01/2004
Victor C. Rose, Sr.
U. S. Army Air Forces
WWII US Military
B-26 pilot/344th Bomb Group 51 missions in Europe
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He was watching a movie when the projectionist stopped the film and announced Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Born in Shreveport, Victor graduated from high school in 1941 and went to work for the First National Bank. He entered the U.S. Army Air Forces on November 18, 1942, and trained as a gunner on a B-17 at Langley Field, Virginia. He was assigned to the 579th Squadron, 344th Bombardment Group, and was sent to a base at Stansted, England in July of 1944. There he started training on the B-26, and flew his first mission on August 2. "We could fly three missions a day," he says. "I never got hurt. Never had a crewmember ever get hit," he recalls. He once counted 256 holes in his aircraft. As a top turret gunner, Victor flew in missions over targets that included airbases and bridges. "I flew fifty-one missions and I never fired my gun at an enemy aircraft," he says. He saw one German jet fighter while on a mission. "It came in and got out of our sight so fast," he still marvels. He was in Brussels, Belgium on V-E Day, May 8, 1945. "You couldn't walk the streets," he recalls. "They were so crowded. And everybody celebrating and they were glad to see American soldiers. They loved American soldiers." Victor was discharged in San Antonio on November 18, 1945 He worked for Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company for thirty-seven years, and retired in 1984.