Jesse Tunstill was a star quarterback at Paducah Tilghman High School in Paducah, Kentucky. After graduating in 1941, he joined the football team at the University of Kentucky.
During WW2, Tunstill was a second lieutenant, a bombardier, and a combat flier in the Army Air Force. He was assigned to the 716th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group (Heavy), based at Grottaglie, Italy. He flew the group's big, four-engine B-24 "Liberator" long-range bombers.
On June 9, 1944, Lieutenant Tunstill took off in a B-24, called the "Ghost O' The Omar" nicknamed for a Kansas City, Mo., cocktail lounge that was a favorite watering hole for many of the plane's crew. The "Ghost" was in a group of bombers whose target was Munich, Germany. German anti-aircraft fire shot Tunstill's plane down and the 11-man crew bailed out. Lt. Tunstill was captured 24 hours later near Wolfsburg, Germany.
Lt. Tunstill was confined to a German prison camp called Stalag Luft III, near Sagan, Germany, now Żagań, Poland. He remained a POW until shortly before WW2 ended in 1945. He lived and worked in Paducah, Kentucky for the rest of his life.
Jesse A. Tunstill was a football hero and a war hero.
Bio by Patricia Lee Sanders
During WW2, Tunstill was a second lieutenant, a bombardier, and a combat flier in the Army Air Force. He was assigned to the 716th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group (Heavy), based at Grottaglie, Italy. He flew the group's big, four-engine B-24 "Liberator" long-range bombers.
On June 9, 1944, Lieutenant Tunstill took off in a B-24, called the "Ghost O' The Omar" nicknamed for a Kansas City, Mo., cocktail lounge that was a favorite watering hole for many of the plane's crew. The "Ghost" was in a group of bombers whose target was Munich, Germany. German anti-aircraft fire shot Tunstill's plane down and the 11-man crew bailed out. Lt. Tunstill was captured 24 hours later near Wolfsburg, Germany.
Lt. Tunstill was confined to a German prison camp called Stalag Luft III, near Sagan, Germany, now Żagań, Poland. He remained a POW until shortly before WW2 ended in 1945. He lived and worked in Paducah, Kentucky for the rest of his life.
Jesse A. Tunstill was a football hero and a war hero.
Bio by Patricia Lee Sanders
Jesse Tunstill was a star quarterback at Paducah Tilghman High School in Paducah, Kentucky. After graduating in 1941, he joined the football team at the University of Kentucky.
During WW2, Tunstill was a second lieutenant, a bombardier, and a combat flier in the Army Air Force. He was assigned to the 716th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group (Heavy), based at Grottaglie, Italy. He flew the group's big, four-engine B-24 "Liberator" long-range bombers.
On June 9, 1944, Lieutenant Tunstill took off in a B-24, called the "Ghost O' The Omar" nicknamed for a Kansas City, Mo., cocktail lounge that was a favorite watering hole for many of the plane's crew. The "Ghost" was in a group of bombers whose target was Munich, Germany. German anti-aircraft fire shot Tunstill's plane down and the 11-man crew bailed out. Lt. Tunstill was captured 24 hours later near Wolfsburg, Germany.
Lt. Tunstill was confined to a German prison camp called Stalag Luft III, near Sagan, Germany, now Żagań, Poland. He remained a POW until shortly before WW2 ended in 1945. He lived and worked in Paducah, Kentucky for the rest of his life.
Jesse A. Tunstill was a football hero and a war hero.
Bio by Patricia Lee Sanders
During WW2, Tunstill was a second lieutenant, a bombardier, and a combat flier in the Army Air Force. He was assigned to the 716th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group (Heavy), based at Grottaglie, Italy. He flew the group's big, four-engine B-24 "Liberator" long-range bombers.
On June 9, 1944, Lieutenant Tunstill took off in a B-24, called the "Ghost O' The Omar" nicknamed for a Kansas City, Mo., cocktail lounge that was a favorite watering hole for many of the plane's crew. The "Ghost" was in a group of bombers whose target was Munich, Germany. German anti-aircraft fire shot Tunstill's plane down and the 11-man crew bailed out. Lt. Tunstill was captured 24 hours later near Wolfsburg, Germany.
Lt. Tunstill was confined to a German prison camp called Stalag Luft III, near Sagan, Germany, now Żagań, Poland. He remained a POW until shortly before WW2 ended in 1945. He lived and worked in Paducah, Kentucky for the rest of his life.
Jesse A. Tunstill was a football hero and a war hero.
Bio by Patricia Lee Sanders
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