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 Henry R. Dwyer is first on the right, back row. Other names of this 745th Bomb Squadron crew unknown at this writing.

 The "Gooney Bird" with crew, S/N unknown at this time. Anthony J. Arpaia, crew chief and gunner, is second from right, front row. He completed 50 missions with the 456th. He also flew aboard "Fat Stuff". According to his son, "Anthony had many interesting stories. Most notably a night after a long mission, my father went to sleep only to awake the next day after the base had been bombed by 2000 lb bombs, and he only had a vague recollection of waking up on the floor, getting up and going back to sleep in his bunk. He felt so embarrassed the next day having slept through the bombing that he told no one, as they talked about what happened the night before. He served his 50 missions in Africa, Italy and Europe."

"We had a 21 gun salute ceremony at the grave site when he passed away. He was awarded 2 bronze stars, with oaks clusters."

"There were 3 brothers, of which my father was the youngest, that all flew in the Army Air force. Frank was a 2nd lieutenant/ navigator on a B-17, Mike the oldest (still alive and well) was Capt. on a B-17 and squadron lead bombardier for the 339th. They all served their missions and returned to the states to have large families."

 S/Sgt Roger Ferguson, second from left. According to his son Brian, "He was about 26-27 yrs. old and must have been the "old man" in the squadron. I have no idea where it was taken or who the other three are."

 S/Sgt Roger Ferguson, ball turret gunner in the 744th Bomb Squadron from 20 Feb 1945 to the end of the war, with crew.  The crew names written on the upper panel are: Otis Griffith, Fran Misantone, Julius Glasenthal, Bill Picket, John McMurphy. The bottom panel names are: Mike Carnevale, Glen A. Black, Fred Smith and Rog.

Written on the side panel: "From Primary to Lincoln, Neb. crew make-up base, assigned to crew #281-13 Lt Glen A. Black commanding. Oct. 3 '44 - Oct. 15 '44. Back to Arizona, Davis Monthan Field, AAF B-24 overseas training unit. Flew bombing, gunnery and navigation flights, Oct. 16 '44 - Jan. 1, '45."

Courtesy Brian Ferguson

Robert C. Alexander  and  Victor Bruegman were both on board a 744th Bomb Squadron aircraft on July 2, 1944 when it was shot down over Hungary. The pilot, Page Hendrickson, had an unusable parachute and tired to hold on to Lt. Alexander, but was unable to and fell to his death. Victor Bruegman was killed but Robert Alexander, the co-pilot, was uninjured and taken POW. The above names are external link to very informative sites on these two men.

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