1st/Lt Warren Whittemore was a pilot assigned to take the place of Ed Sajesky for a B-24-J crew #42-95027. They flew from Texas to Mass. for deployment to Welding, England. In England they were part of the 577th Squadron and flew 12 successful bombing missions including the D-Day Invasion.On their 11 Mission June 21, 1944: Bombardier 2/Lt Milton Issenberg reports that his pilot, 1/Lt Warren Whittemore, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions on this mission. According to 2/Lt Issenberg, "There was very accurate intense flak. I counted six enemy fighters. We caught a 20mm shell in a wing. We flew deputy lead and took over lead and led part of the group home. We had the most flak holes ever, and our rudder cables were severed by flak. We almost bailed out, but Whit [1/Lt Whittemore] and our engineer, Carl Peterson, and I held a quick conference. Carl went to the rear and took both ends of the cable. I stood halfway up the bomb bays, and as Whit wiggled the controls and loosened up the cable, I signaled back and forth between the two of them and Carl tied the two ends together. It worked. We sweated out the miles all the way home, for now we were alone, but we made it. We lost one ship in our element, but many on that mission were lost on that flight. It was our longest mission, nine hours and forty minutes. Whit handled the plane gingerly, the controls softly, so as not to separate the cables and we were the last plane to land at base." On their 13th mission June 23, 1944, Mission #120, Field Order#361, flying Lead Plane ( With extra men in the crew and Graper as the Pilot),"the aircraft took a direct hit by flak in #3 engine and bomb bay, at the target. The plane immediately went into a dive, then pulled up slightly, rolled over and went out of control. They were shot down over enemy occupied, Laon, France. (5) chutes seen." Warren made a successful jump, and was captured on the ground by the Germans. He was sent to a POW camp. MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #06215 AIRCRAFT: #42-95027 (NO NICKNAME) "B-PIus" 17th Mission

AIRCREW: WHITTEMORE (CA: GRAPER) * SQUADRON: 577th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P (C)CAPT Graper, Melvin H. KIA
P 1/LT Whittemore, Warren T. POW
CP 2/LT Ackerman, James M. POW
N 2/LT Rich, Clarence B. EVD
B 2/LT Issenberg, Milton POW
NG/N 2/LT Birnbaum, Standford I. KIA
R/O S/S Ammon, Robert H. KIA
EnG T/S Peterson, Carl L. KIA
WG S/S Altemus, Charles V. POW
WG S/S Lampe, Maurice POW
TG S/S Tremlett, Robert S. KIA

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