Service No. O-662668
Walter was a newspaper reporter in Ft. Worth. He started out covering community affairs, later reporting on court proceedings and murders. For one assignment he volunteered in an experiment and would report what he experienced. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether alcohol could be absorbed through the skin and make a person intoxicated. Booze soaked bandages were wrapped all over his body and for three days they watched and waited. The outcome: one cannot become intoxicated by osmosis.
Walter enlisted during World War II over his mother's objections. He entered Pilot Training and in late summer of 1942 he was transferred to McDill field in Miami, Dade County, Florida. This base had the slogan of "One a day in Tampa Bay," because of the number of airplanes that landed in the ocean upon take-off or landing. Several men died in this way. But not Walter.
On October 3, 1942 Walter and crew of four others took off on a routine night training flight. They had a green navigator on board. Thier route was from Miami, following the coast up to Tallahassee, returning to Miami following the Gulf coast. Some time after passing Tallahassee on their last return leg of this flight, a radio transmission was picked up as far away as Missouri that this crew was having prblems and were ditching the plane. No specific problem was reported. No further word was heard from any of the crew, ever. A search lasting a week was conducted. Nothing was found of the plane, no debris or wreckage, no bodies. Two years later, the military rendered a Finding of Death for each of the crew memebers, including Walter.
Here are the known facts about the flight:
The plane was a B-26B, ser # 41-17701.
Crew: 2 Lt. Arthur Young, Pilot; 2 Lt. Walter Pridemore, Co-pilot; 2 Lt. James Degan, Navigator; Sgt. Carl Fountain, Engineer, Cpl. Harvey Donahue, Radio Operator.
The plane took off at 19:30 EWT from McDill field. At 1:24 EWT crew radioed distress call and crew announced abandoning plane. Ground based radio operators in St. Louis, Missouri heard the transmission. Presumed dead.
Walter was a newspaper reporter in Ft. Worth. He started out covering community affairs, later reporting on court proceedings and murders. For one assignment he volunteered in an experiment and would report what he experienced. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether alcohol could be absorbed through the skin and make a person intoxicated. Booze soaked bandages were wrapped all over his body and for three days they watched and waited. The outcome: one cannot become intoxicated by osmosis.
Walter enlisted during World War II over his mother's objections. He entered Pilot Training and in late summer of 1942 he was transferred to McDill field in Miami, Dade County, Florida. This base had the slogan of "One a day in Tampa Bay," because of the number of airplanes that landed in the ocean upon take-off or landing. Several men died in this way. But not Walter.
On October 3, 1942 Walter and crew of four others took off on a routine night training flight. They had a green navigator on board. Thier route was from Miami, following the coast up to Tallahassee, returning to Miami following the Gulf coast. Some time after passing Tallahassee on their last return leg of this flight, a radio transmission was picked up as far away as Missouri that this crew was having prblems and were ditching the plane. No specific problem was reported. No further word was heard from any of the crew, ever. A search lasting a week was conducted. Nothing was found of the plane, no debris or wreckage, no bodies. Two years later, the military rendered a Finding of Death for each of the crew memebers, including Walter.
Here are the known facts about the flight:
The plane was a B-26B, ser # 41-17701.
Crew: 2 Lt. Arthur Young, Pilot; 2 Lt. Walter Pridemore, Co-pilot; 2 Lt. James Degan, Navigator; Sgt. Carl Fountain, Engineer, Cpl. Harvey Donahue, Radio Operator.
The plane took off at 19:30 EWT from McDill field. At 1:24 EWT crew radioed distress call and crew announced abandoning plane. Ground based radio operators in St. Louis, Missouri heard the transmission. Presumed dead.
Service No. O-662668
Walter was a newspaper reporter in Ft. Worth. He started out covering community affairs, later reporting on court proceedings and murders. For one assignment he volunteered in an experiment and would report what he experienced. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether alcohol could be absorbed through the skin and make a person intoxicated. Booze soaked bandages were wrapped all over his body and for three days they watched and waited. The outcome: one cannot become intoxicated by osmosis.
Walter enlisted during World War II over his mother's objections. He entered Pilot Training and in late summer of 1942 he was transferred to McDill field in Miami, Dade County, Florida. This base had the slogan of "One a day in Tampa Bay," because of the number of airplanes that landed in the ocean upon take-off or landing. Several men died in this way. But not Walter.
On October 3, 1942 Walter and crew of four others took off on a routine night training flight. They had a green navigator on board. Thier route was from Miami, following the coast up to Tallahassee, returning to Miami following the Gulf coast. Some time after passing Tallahassee on their last return leg of this flight, a radio transmission was picked up as far away as Missouri that this crew was having prblems and were ditching the plane. No specific problem was reported. No further word was heard from any of the crew, ever. A search lasting a week was conducted. Nothing was found of the plane, no debris or wreckage, no bodies. Two years later, the military rendered a Finding of Death for each of the crew memebers, including Walter.
Here are the known facts about the flight:
The plane was a B-26B, ser # 41-17701.
Crew: 2 Lt. Arthur Young, Pilot; 2 Lt. Walter Pridemore, Co-pilot; 2 Lt. James Degan, Navigator; Sgt. Carl Fountain, Engineer, Cpl. Harvey Donahue, Radio Operator.
The plane took off at 19:30 EWT from McDill field. At 1:24 EWT crew radioed distress call and crew announced abandoning plane. Ground based radio operators in St. Louis, Missouri heard the transmission. Presumed dead.
Walter was a newspaper reporter in Ft. Worth. He started out covering community affairs, later reporting on court proceedings and murders. For one assignment he volunteered in an experiment and would report what he experienced. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether alcohol could be absorbed through the skin and make a person intoxicated. Booze soaked bandages were wrapped all over his body and for three days they watched and waited. The outcome: one cannot become intoxicated by osmosis.
Walter enlisted during World War II over his mother's objections. He entered Pilot Training and in late summer of 1942 he was transferred to McDill field in Miami, Dade County, Florida. This base had the slogan of "One a day in Tampa Bay," because of the number of airplanes that landed in the ocean upon take-off or landing. Several men died in this way. But not Walter.
On October 3, 1942 Walter and crew of four others took off on a routine night training flight. They had a green navigator on board. Thier route was from Miami, following the coast up to Tallahassee, returning to Miami following the Gulf coast. Some time after passing Tallahassee on their last return leg of this flight, a radio transmission was picked up as far away as Missouri that this crew was having prblems and were ditching the plane. No specific problem was reported. No further word was heard from any of the crew, ever. A search lasting a week was conducted. Nothing was found of the plane, no debris or wreckage, no bodies. Two years later, the military rendered a Finding of Death for each of the crew memebers, including Walter.
Here are the known facts about the flight:
The plane was a B-26B, ser # 41-17701.
Crew: 2 Lt. Arthur Young, Pilot; 2 Lt. Walter Pridemore, Co-pilot; 2 Lt. James Degan, Navigator; Sgt. Carl Fountain, Engineer, Cpl. Harvey Donahue, Radio Operator.
The plane took off at 19:30 EWT from McDill field. At 1:24 EWT crew radioed distress call and crew announced abandoning plane. Ground based radio operators in St. Louis, Missouri heard the transmission. Presumed dead.
