Letter from Lewis Herron to Paul West; 31 Oct 1993:
My name is Lewis E. Herron and I was the tail gunner on the crew of HEAVEN SENT of the 350th Bomb Squadron, of the 100th Bomb Group 8th Air Force. I am going to try and give a brief history of our tour of duty, as I remember it after 50 years… Our crew members were: Thomas Anderson, Pilot; Bill Fratus, Co-Pilot; Fred Schmidt, Bombardier and Gerald Klecker was Navigator. Mike Garemko was our Engineer and Glenn Smiley was Radio Operator. Our Gunners were Angelo Cioffi, Waist Gunner and I (Lew Herron) was Tail Gunner. Gerald Easy was the Ball Turret Gunner.

We flew our first combat mission on August 24, 1944 to Rhuland, Germany. In early September we flew missions on the 8th, 9th and 10th. We were in luck and did not fly on September 11th because our Bombardier was ill. September 11th was the day that the 350th Squadron was wiped out and the 100th lost 13 air planes. It was a lonely feeling being the only crew in the quarters that night, as the other four crews who lived there were shot down that day. At 2 o'clock the next morning the orderly opened our door and when I asked him who he was looking for he said, "The Anderson Crew". We flew that day and the three missions after that, which included the shuttle to Russia and Italy.

On September 17, 1944, our Squadron Commander, Major Robert Rosenthal pinned the Air Medal on the members of our crew. (picture enclosed). This was the day before we flew the first leg of the shuttle mission to drop supplies to the Polish underground in Warsaw, Poland. As I remember, in addition to our regular crew we carried a Ground Mechanic, who was flying his first mission. We went in over Warsaw at 10,000 feet and received extremely heavy anti-aircraft fire. As we were leaving the drop area, the German Fighters came at us but the U. S. P-51 Fighters prevented them from getting close enough to do any damage. After leaving Warsaw we flew on to Mirogrod, Russia. The flying time was 11 hours and 20 minutes.

After we landed in Russia our Flight Engineer, Michael Garemko, who could speak some Russian, started talking to one of the local soldiers (Picture enclosed, Mike is in the center and Bill Fratus, Co-Pilot is in the foreground). We had a pleasant surprise that night when we entered the Chow Hall. There sat the Flight Surgeon with our 2 ounces of bourbon, just like it was at Thorpe Abbots after a regular mission. The Commanding Officer had been very thoughtful to bring him and several cases of bourbon along on the trip .

Our next leg of the shuttle was to Budapest, Hungary where we bombed a railroad bridge over the Danube river. From there we flew to Italy where we landed at an American Air Base near Foggia. The enlisted men along with our Co-Pilot, Bill Fratus took a sight seeing trip to Foggia the next day. The flight back to England was rather uneventful. The only thing I remember was flying over Rome and seeing the Coliseum.

Our crew flew three missions to Merseberg, Germany, which was the most heavily defended target in Europe. Intelligence reported that there were 1,000 88mm guns around the synthetic oil plant, which was our target. On November 2, 1944 the Third Division lost 40 planes over Merseburg and when we went back on November 30,1944, the division lost 56 planes. As I recall this was all due to anti-aircraft fire and not from enemy fighters. Our crew also flew on Christmas Eve 1944, which was the first day the weather broke during the Battle of the of the Bulge. Reports said that this was the largest raid on Germany with 2,000 bombers in the air. Our group led the Third Division and I remember that afternoon on our return to England, there were still groups crossing the English Channel on their way to Germany. We did not fly the mission to Hamburg on December 30, when the Hundredth lost 10 aircraft.

Our last mission was January 10, 1945, and we were the first crew in the 350th Squadron to complete a tour of missions between August 1944 and January 1945. The Enlisted Men's Mess Hall had a special table called the "Lucky Bastards' Table", complete with a checkered table cloth, China and silverware. That is where the Mess Sergeant served our specially prepared meal for our entire crew the next night. Paul this completes my remembrances of our crew.

Lewis E. Herron