Captain, U.S. Army Air Forces
Service number: O-450120
8th Air Force, 390th Bomber Group (Heavy), 568th Bomber Squadron
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
Enlisted October 15, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hiram married Jane Martin on February 11, 1941. They were both from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After his death, Jane remarried and took the surname of Blanchard.
Prior to being deployed to the European Theatre, he was stationed at Hendricks Army Airfield. This was a training base for four-engine heavy bomber flight crews.
On Saturday, December 11, 1943, Capt. Skogmo was piloting the lead aircraft on a mission to Emden, Germany, a port town on the North Sea. As the lead aircraft in the formation, Maj. Hansel, the command pilot, occupied the co-pilot seat, and 2nd Lt. Poythress acted as the tail gunner and observer, reporting on the formation to Maj. Hansel via the aircraft intercom. They were attacked by six twin engine Messerschmitt 110 fighters that dove out of the sun toward the front of the formation and concentrated on the lead plane, hitting it with a rocket.
Only three men survived; Capt. Warren, Capt. Lifson, and T/Sgt. Phillips, one of the waist gunners. Capts. Lifson and Warren landed by parachute on the German island of Norderney, and Phillips came down in the water nearby. The three were captured and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. This was Capt. Skogmo's 17th mission, and the 36th of 300 missions flown by the 390th.
B-17G, Serial number 42-31122
"Six Nights In Telergma"
Aircraft squadron marking, BI-A
390th BG (H) tail marking, Square J
Hiram C. Skogmo, pilot
Ralph V. Hansel, command pilot
Ralph H. Sindeldecker, engineer/top turret
Irving R. Lifson, navigator
Donald L. Warren, command navigator
Johnnie U. Adams, radio operator
Merle M. Cloud, bombardier
Jack P. Fariss, ball turret
Ernest Phillips, waist gunner
Patrick G. Welch, waist gunner
Whitney F. "Billy" Poythress, tail gunner
Service number: O-450120
8th Air Force, 390th Bomber Group (Heavy), 568th Bomber Squadron
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
Enlisted October 15, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hiram married Jane Martin on February 11, 1941. They were both from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After his death, Jane remarried and took the surname of Blanchard.
Prior to being deployed to the European Theatre, he was stationed at Hendricks Army Airfield. This was a training base for four-engine heavy bomber flight crews.
On Saturday, December 11, 1943, Capt. Skogmo was piloting the lead aircraft on a mission to Emden, Germany, a port town on the North Sea. As the lead aircraft in the formation, Maj. Hansel, the command pilot, occupied the co-pilot seat, and 2nd Lt. Poythress acted as the tail gunner and observer, reporting on the formation to Maj. Hansel via the aircraft intercom. They were attacked by six twin engine Messerschmitt 110 fighters that dove out of the sun toward the front of the formation and concentrated on the lead plane, hitting it with a rocket.
Only three men survived; Capt. Warren, Capt. Lifson, and T/Sgt. Phillips, one of the waist gunners. Capts. Lifson and Warren landed by parachute on the German island of Norderney, and Phillips came down in the water nearby. The three were captured and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. This was Capt. Skogmo's 17th mission, and the 36th of 300 missions flown by the 390th.
B-17G, Serial number 42-31122
"Six Nights In Telergma"
Aircraft squadron marking, BI-A
390th BG (H) tail marking, Square J
Hiram C. Skogmo, pilot
Ralph V. Hansel, command pilot
Ralph H. Sindeldecker, engineer/top turret
Irving R. Lifson, navigator
Donald L. Warren, command navigator
Johnnie U. Adams, radio operator
Merle M. Cloud, bombardier
Jack P. Fariss, ball turret
Ernest Phillips, waist gunner
Patrick G. Welch, waist gunner
Whitney F. "Billy" Poythress, tail gunner
Captain, U.S. Army Air Forces
Service number: O-450120
8th Air Force, 390th Bomber Group (Heavy), 568th Bomber Squadron
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
Enlisted October 15, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hiram married Jane Martin on February 11, 1941. They were both from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After his death, Jane remarried and took the surname of Blanchard.
Prior to being deployed to the European Theatre, he was stationed at Hendricks Army Airfield. This was a training base for four-engine heavy bomber flight crews.
On Saturday, December 11, 1943, Capt. Skogmo was piloting the lead aircraft on a mission to Emden, Germany, a port town on the North Sea. As the lead aircraft in the formation, Maj. Hansel, the command pilot, occupied the co-pilot seat, and 2nd Lt. Poythress acted as the tail gunner and observer, reporting on the formation to Maj. Hansel via the aircraft intercom. They were attacked by six twin engine Messerschmitt 110 fighters that dove out of the sun toward the front of the formation and concentrated on the lead plane, hitting it with a rocket.
Only three men survived; Capt. Warren, Capt. Lifson, and T/Sgt. Phillips, one of the waist gunners. Capts. Lifson and Warren landed by parachute on the German island of Norderney, and Phillips came down in the water nearby. The three were captured and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. This was Capt. Skogmo's 17th mission, and the 36th of 300 missions flown by the 390th.
B-17G, Serial number 42-31122
"Six Nights In Telergma"
Aircraft squadron marking, BI-A
390th BG (H) tail marking, Square J
Hiram C. Skogmo, pilot
Ralph V. Hansel, command pilot
Ralph H. Sindeldecker, engineer/top turret
Irving R. Lifson, navigator
Donald L. Warren, command navigator
Johnnie U. Adams, radio operator
Merle M. Cloud, bombardier
Jack P. Fariss, ball turret
Ernest Phillips, waist gunner
Patrick G. Welch, waist gunner
Whitney F. "Billy" Poythress, tail gunner
Service number: O-450120
8th Air Force, 390th Bomber Group (Heavy), 568th Bomber Squadron
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
Enlisted October 15, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hiram married Jane Martin on February 11, 1941. They were both from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After his death, Jane remarried and took the surname of Blanchard.
Prior to being deployed to the European Theatre, he was stationed at Hendricks Army Airfield. This was a training base for four-engine heavy bomber flight crews.
On Saturday, December 11, 1943, Capt. Skogmo was piloting the lead aircraft on a mission to Emden, Germany, a port town on the North Sea. As the lead aircraft in the formation, Maj. Hansel, the command pilot, occupied the co-pilot seat, and 2nd Lt. Poythress acted as the tail gunner and observer, reporting on the formation to Maj. Hansel via the aircraft intercom. They were attacked by six twin engine Messerschmitt 110 fighters that dove out of the sun toward the front of the formation and concentrated on the lead plane, hitting it with a rocket.
Only three men survived; Capt. Warren, Capt. Lifson, and T/Sgt. Phillips, one of the waist gunners. Capts. Lifson and Warren landed by parachute on the German island of Norderney, and Phillips came down in the water nearby. The three were captured and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. This was Capt. Skogmo's 17th mission, and the 36th of 300 missions flown by the 390th.
B-17G, Serial number 42-31122
"Six Nights In Telergma"
Aircraft squadron marking, BI-A
390th BG (H) tail marking, Square J
Hiram C. Skogmo, pilot
Ralph V. Hansel, command pilot
Ralph H. Sindeldecker, engineer/top turret
Irving R. Lifson, navigator
Donald L. Warren, command navigator
Johnnie U. Adams, radio operator
Merle M. Cloud, bombardier
Jack P. Fariss, ball turret
Ernest Phillips, waist gunner
Patrick G. Welch, waist gunner
Whitney F. "Billy" Poythress, tail gunner
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Wisconsin.
Family Members
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