B24H 42-95321

Shot down by an enemy intruder on the night of 27/28 June 1944 while doing a 'cross-country' training flight, the aircraft floated gently to the ground in a pinwheel fashion and shows little damage in this pre-salvage photo. The pilot, copilot and engineer were killed. Three others escaped, two of them using the same parachute in a procedure invented at the spur of the moment and later re-enacted for the benefit of all aircrew who could potentially use it in the ETO.  The incident was mentioned in the Stars and Stripes ETO issue of 13 July 1944.

The Huenekens crew was the last crew of the 850th BS to make it into Harrington from the Zone of Interior, having had trouble all along the Southern Route. They had only been on-base since late May. The surviving members had to finish their tours as substitutes on other crews. Callahan was awarded the Silver Star, one of only three that Group crewmen would be awarded during 1944.

Jump to the Huenekens FTP Casualty Directory here.

Jump to the Huenekens Honor Roll entry here.

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