WAR NEWS FROM KNOXVILLE!
I'd say that I most likely have them out of order since only one was dated.
NAMED SERGEANT
| WENDOVER AIR BASE, Utah---James D. Waldrop, son of Mrs. J. J. Waldrop, 601 Ivy Street, Knoxville, has been promoted to sergeant after being graduated from the Aerial Gunnery School here. He entered service Feb. 11 at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., and has been in training at the Buckley Field and Lowery Field, Colo., armor schools. He worked with a plastic company in Knoxville before entering the Army, and is a graduate of Stair Tech High School. |
3 KNOX MEN ARE LISTED MISSING
Other East Tennesseans and Virginians Are Casualties. Three Knoxvillians are among those listed as missing in action in a War Department release. Those missing in the Mediterranean area were: Sgt. Clure H. Hodge, husband of Mrs. Alma K. Hodge, Holston River Road, and Sgt. James D. Waldrop, son of Mrs. Grace G. Waldrop, 602 Ivy Street. Pvt. Charles A. Wright, son of Mrs. Cordie Hour Wright, 2316 Louise Avenue, was missing in the European area. Other East Tennesseans listed were: European area: Sgt. Coyle J. Acuff, Washburn; Sgt. Lawrence E. Dean, Kingsport; Sgt. Joseph A. Duch, Copperhill; Pfc. Robert N. Johnson, Greeneville, Pfc. John P. Keplinger, Jonesboro; Second Lt. John V. McGee, Lancing; Pfc. James E. Violes, Bulls Gap; Pfc. Harry B. Watson, Fountain City; Mediterranean area: Pvt. James H. Campbell, Newport; Sgt. Edgar S. Goins, Jr., Cleveland; Pvt. Paul J. Orick, Duff; Sgt. William B. Peel, Johnson City; Pfc. Albert Taylor, Rockwood; and Sgt. Harold H. Turney, La Follett. Virginians listed were: Pfc. Robert E. Alvis, Gate City; and Pfc. Carl B. Lanealso, Gate City, both missing in the Mediterranean area. |
Sgt. Waldrop Gets Flying Cross After Hazardous Austria Raid
| Staff Sgt. James D. Waldrop, 19, son of Mr. And Mrs. James J. Waldrop, 601 Ivy Street, has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for participation in attacks against the oil refineries at Florisdorf, Austria. A tail gunner on a Fifteenth Air Force Liberator, Waldrop's ship developed engine trouble coming onto the target, but the pilot held his course in spite of intense anti-aircraft fire and dropped his load of bombs. Forced out of formation, the plane was jumped by enemy fighters, but the sergeant knocked down one of the planes. "The flack shot up our ship like an old tin can." Said Waldrop. "But she flew. The fighters hit us as we started for home. They shot rockets into us but we smeared three of them. I just sat there and when one came into my sights I let him have a long burst. He exploded like a light bulb." The crew was forced to bail out in enemy-occupied territory when the floundering ship became hopeless, and the subsequent trip back to Italy was long. |
Knox Man Gets DFC for Austrian Raid
Staff Sgt. James D. Waldrop, 19, son of Mr. And Mrs. James J. Waldrop, 601 Ivy Street, has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as the result of this work in a mid-summer mission against the oil refineries at Florisdorf, Austria, a dispatch from the 15th AAF in Italy reveals. Sgt. Waldrop is a tail gunner on a 15th Air Force Liberator. His ship developed engine trouble coming into the target, but the pilot took the crippled ship through the bombing run as briefed. The bomber was further damaged by intense anti-aircraft fire and was forced to leave the formation, where it was jumped by enemy fighters. Sgt. Waldrop dropped one of the fighters. "He exploded like a light bulb," said Waldrop. The crew was forced to bail out in enemy occupied territory, and the subsequent journey back to Italy was a long haul. A graduate of Stair High School, Sgt. Waldrop was employed as a plastic molder for B. B. Smilax Co. before his enlistment. |
Staff Sgt. Waldrop is Awarded Oak Cluster
8/3/44
Waldrop, who is with the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy, is a tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber with 21 missions to his credit. Formerly a plastic molder, Waldrop has been overseas since March.
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Vienna is Ack-Ack Town to Knox Man
| Vienna may be a city of a million mysteries but to Staff Sgt. James D. Waldrop of Knoxville, "it's just a battered town with a thousand ack-ack guns and almost solid walls of flack." The 19-yearold son of Mr. and Mrs. James J. Waldrop, 601 Ivy Street, has become a member of the Half-a-Hundred Club by flying his 50th mission in the 15th AAF theater in Italy. Tail gunner in a B-24, Sgt. Waldrop started his string during early May. "Number one, I'll always remember," he said, "it was the railway yards at Parma in northern Italy. It was the first time I'd ever seen flack." "Whap, whap, it sounds like nothing human and it scared me at first." Then came the oil fields of Ploesti, the sub pens at Toulon and the refineries at Vienna. Formerly a plastic molder for the BB Simcoat Co., Sgt. Waldrop holds the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. |
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