William F. Nuding
WILLIAM F. (BULL) NUDING,
born 1/31/21 Parker, S.D. Raised in Pennsylvania graduating H.S. Class of 39. Worked
at Rainey Wood Coke Co. as a pump room
operator until joining the Army Air Corps as
a cadet, class 43A. Went to pre-flight at Santa
Anna, primary at Rankin Academy, basic at
Lemoore and commissioned Second Lt., 4
January 43 at Luke Field and on to R.T.U. in
P-40's at Sarasota, Florida.
Joined the 57th Ftr. Group, 64th Squadron about a week after the Palm Sunday
Massacre - Cape Bohn - 1943. I believe
the score was 74 JU-52s and 16 ME-I09s
clobbered in the air that day by the 57th.
Chased the Germans out of Africa, flew off
Malta; on invasion of Sicily, moved to Lentine, Sicily for the Italy invasion and on into
the Foggia Flats area of Italy where we
switched to Jugs. Got two confirmed ME-109s in the Kitty Hawk plus the usual
damaged or probables. Checked out in the
T -Bolt in Tunis, Africa - damn near got
killed - seems the prop pitch on the P-40 is
in about the same place as the mixture
control in the Jug. Wondered why the
R.P.M. wasn't decreasing as I pulled the
handle back after take-off across Tunis Bay.
On looking down I found I had been pulling
the mixture control back (supposedly prop
pitch) and was just about into idle cut-off,
never did that again! We moved from Foggia,
Amendola, over to Naples where I had the
experience of watching our "0" Club in San
Sabastoni wiped out by Vesuvius when it blew
up in early '44. We covered the push through
Italy, moving the 57th to Corsica, postholing
railroads and disrupting other German supply lines. I will never forget my call to
Racecard, (Allied Control) ie "The Oranges
Are Very Sweet At Grosetto", which resulted
in our nailing the Herman Georing Division,
for the second time, which was trying to
move to defend Rome.
I wound up my WW -II combat as we were
covering the invasion of southern France
completing 127 missions. I got one confirmed victory (FW-190) and three probables in the
T -Bolt. Continuing my career in
the military for the span of over 28 years, I
held numerous command and senior supervisory positions to include Deputy for Material,
Wing level. With the exception of a tour in
Vietnam and nine months at Charleston
A.F.B., S.C., where I retired, my entire
military career was spent in fighter type
aircraft.
Military awards include the Distinguished
Flying Cross, Bronze Star, French Croix De
Guere, Air Medal plus seven Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, Presidential
Unit Citation plus two clusters and many
service ribbons including Korea and Vietnam.
Retired in 1970 and worked for a GM-auto
agency for five years after which I decided to
enjoy life becoming self-employed, still in the
auto business.
Married Ruth Mayall in January, 1943,
and have two living children, Ruth Ann and
Michael.
Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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John Abbotts
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P-47 transition followed at Pocatello, Idaho and Greenville, Texas after which he was assigned to the 56th Fighter Group in England. When the news of his arrival reached Berlin, Hitler retired to his bunker with his cyanide capsule and revolver. Eva found the news equally depressing.
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Asa A. Adair
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He returned to the States in August of 1944 after participating in the invasion "D" Day. He flew P-63's, P-51's, F-80's, T-33's, F-84's, T-38's, P-47's in numerous assignments during the following twenty years in in, Japan, U.S.A. and Europe before retiring after twenty-six years of Active Duty.
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Edward B. Addison
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The 507th Fighter Group, equipped with P-47N's, won the Presidential Unit Citation for destroying 32 Japanese aircraft in the air on one mission to Seoul, Korea. The average flying time for raids to Korea and Japan would be 7 to 9 hours flying time. In a total of 31 months, the 507th not only provided top cover for B-29's, but also
dive-bombed, napalm-bombed and flew low-level on strafing missions.
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Levon B. Agha-Zarian
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It is rumored that he, took his primary training on a flying rug. He flew Spits, briefly, in England, but as the, war moved to the East, he was sent to India as a Sgt. Pilot and first saw action from Ceylon, flying the Curtiss P.36, the Brewster Buffalo, and the Hurricane. At this point he might have opted for the rug! This was at the time of the fall of Singapore and the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse.
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George N. Ahles
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Posted to A-20 light bomber squadron Barksdale Field, Louisiana. . Group moved to Hunter Air Base Savannah, Georgia. Qualified for Pilot training November 1940. Entered Aviation Cadets January 1942. Presented wings November 1942 class of 42-J. Married Mary Louise while in Advanced Pilot Training at Craig AFB, Selma, Alabama, September 1942.
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Roy J. Aldritt
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Shortly after the group moved to France he ran into some unseen flak and was forced to make a nylon descent behind the lines; some evasion and a lot of luck had him back with his unit
in 24 hours.
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Eugene J. Amaral
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After graduation from Stonington High School he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in December 1942 and was called to active duty in March, 1943. He received his wings and commission at Spence Field, Georgia as a member of the Class of 43-C.
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Talmadge L. Ambrose
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Flew 84 missions thru VE Day, was downed by 22mm ground fire over Siefried Line. He destroyed 11 enemy aircraft, 9 known confirmed in air and on
ground, including 4 FW 190-D's in one afternoon over Hanover, Germany, April 8, 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, 17 man, Oak Leaf Clusters, Good Conduct Medal, Pacific Theatre and European Theatre Meda1s with 5 Battle
Stars and Unit Citation Medal.
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John C. Anderson
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After P-47 transition he was assigned to the 406th Fighter Group, 512th Fighter Squadron. (E.T
.0.) He flew 56 missions through January, 1945 destroying supply routes, bridges, and railroads; he also flew close support missions with the ground forces, with attacks on tanks, artillery and enemy positions.
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William Anderson
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It was not always flak,two ME-109's beat the hell out of me one day. The central controller called me and said "Basher-Red Leader do you have contact Bandits," I replied, "I sure do, I'll bring them over the field in 3 minutes, they're chasing me home." Got all the usual medals including two Belgium and two French but one I'm most proud of is the Silver Star -it is the greatest.
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