Robert L. Richardson - The Jagged Edge of Duty: A Fighter Pilots World War II

The Jagged Edge of Duty

The Jagged Edge of Duty

A Fighter Pilots World War II

Robert L. Richardson

STACKPOLE
BOOKS

Guilford, Connecticut

Dedicated to peacemakers and to those who, despite their love of peace and their own natural inclinations, fought bravely in the interest of freedom and against oppressors and those who would destroy peace. And to those whose lives were ended, or altered, as a result of that fight.

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Copyright 2017 by Robert L. Richardson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Richardson, Robert L., 1949- author.

Title: The jagged edge of duty : a fighter pilots World War II / Robert L. Richardson.

Description: Guilford, Connecticut : Stackpole Books, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016055525 (print) | LCCN 2016056106 (ebook) | ISBN 9780811718424 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780811765725 (e-book) |

ISBN 9780811718424 (hardcover. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Knepper, Alan, 1916-1943. | United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Squadron, 49thBiography. | Fighter pilotsUnited StatesBiography. | Lightning (Fighter plane)Anecdotes. | World War, 1939-1945Aerial operations, American. | World War, 1939-1945CampaignsItaly. | World War, 1939-1945Africa, North. | World War, 1939-1945Regimental historiesUnited States.

Classification: LCC D790.262 49th .R53 2017 (print) | LCC D790.262 49th (ebook) | DDC 940.54/4973092 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016055525

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Preface

Shirley Dawn Finn has been the engine behind this book, and finding her made everything possible. For seventy years she kept the faith, hoping that one day her brothers story would be told. I hope this will serve.

My father wrote a short memoir of his time in the service, in which he wrote: Al and I both went missing, and they never found Al. Reading this as a young man, I was struck by Allans having gone missing, and that he was never found. It seemed so little to say about a young mans sacrifice, especially since I knew the anguish that my grandmother went through during the time that my father was missing. I knew that if I did not do something to document this young mans service, the story of his sacrifice would just drift away into obscurity. So I resolved to find out what happened to Al, but first had to complete the manuscript about my fathers service. By 2012 I had finished that work, and started to track down Allan Knepper. Finding his fate was actually a fairly easy task. I did an online search for Missing Air Crew Reports (MACR), and his name came up. I was able to obtain the MACR that pertained to his last action, and that gave me his serial number. With that information I could obtain his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) from the U.S. Army archives. That information (coming months later) gave me the names of his next of kin. I then did a search on Ancestry at the local library, and found the names of his siblings. His father, Jess, died in 1983, and his obituary included the fact that his sister, Shirley Dawn Knepper, lived in Lewiston (Allans hometown). I focused my search on that area, and in researching the archives of the Lewiston Montana Tribune I found that Shirley Dawn Knepper (Finn) had in 2010 submitted a 1951 news clipping about her third-place award at that years Blossom Festival Parade in Lewiston Orchards. So then I had her married name and was able to locate her after a brief Internet search. My phone call to her on December 13, 2013 came as a surprise, but she told me that her faith had been strong all the years since Allans loss and she felt that some information would eventually develop. She and I have become close friends, and the information about Allan that she had kept over the years was of inestimable help in the preparation of this book.

Special appreciation to William Gregory and Harold Harper, two P-38 fighter pilots from the 49th squadron, exemplars of courageous, selfless service. Thanks for your many contributions to this book, and most especially, thanks for your friendship.

To Robert Vrilakas, Jim Gregory, and Bob Riley, three fighter pilots who also served in North Africathanks, too, for your service, and for sharing your experiences and perspectives. Its a privilege to have heard your stories and to have come to know you.

The families of the young men who served with the 49th Fighter Squadron in the summer of 1943 have been of inestimable help in the preparation of this work. Special thanks to Rick and Carole Bitter, Art Taphorn, Gary Blount, Greg and Michelle (Boatman) Branch, Karl Boatman, Delana (Decker) Harrison, Tim Harris, Dawn and David Kilhefner, Bob Kocour, Dusty Lovera, Charlane Compton, Jeanette Richard, Jim and Steve Ritter, Karen Nickerson, and Hazel Trengove. Each has provided important material about their husbands, fathers, brothers, cousins, or uncles. This book could never have been written without their contributions, and their enthusiasm has lent real impetus to the project.

To all, it is my sincere hope that this effort will serve in some measure as a memorial to your loved ones, pilots who may have been unheralded and unappreciated outside of your families, but whose service and sacrifice ranks them among the wars many heroes.

Thanks to Mr. Bert Zimmerly Jr. Special recognition to the 49th Fighter Association for keeping the spirit of the squadron alive and relevant, and thanks to John Carter, Paul Skoskie, Ron Morrissette, Brian Reno, and Joe Onesty. Thanks also to the P-38 Association, and to John Stanaway. And thanks to Steve Blake for his contributions, support, and direction; to Shirley Burden at the Hanceville Library; to Kelly at the the Natrona County High School; to the Lewis Clark State College library, to the Western History Center at Casper College, and to Wanda Wade at the Cheyenne Genealogical and Historical Society. And thanks to Kent Ramsey, a world-class photo historian, and to William Larkins, a world-class photo collector.

Among the many government and nonprofit agencies, museums, associations, and archives that contributed to this work, special recognition is due the Air Force Historical Research Agency. Their archive provided much of the organizational material that serves as the foundation for this book. And within AFHRA, special thanks to Maranda Gilmore, Lynn Gamma, Cathy Cox, Marcie Green, Tammy Horton, and Leeander Morris. Thanks, too, to Joshua Fennell and Joshua Frank of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, and to the contributors from the Army Air Forces Forum. The many technicians and librarians at the National Archives in College Park deserve thanks; the depth of knowledge among staff there is matched only by their interest in helping.

And the project would have never have taken flight without the contributions from the National Archives National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

Thanks also to those who have provided photographs from their private collections and archives, without which the work would have been diminished.