World War II Honoree

John M. Armstrong

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Ruston, Louisiana

I WAS A B-26 PILOT WITH THE RANK OF CAPTAIN AND FLYING WITH 386TH BOMB GROUP, 552ND SQUADRON, 9TH AIR FORCE. MY OVERSEAS STATIONS IN WWII WERE GREAT DUNMOW, ENGLAND; BEAUMONT SUR OISE, FRANCE AND ST. TROND, BELGIUM. I FLEW 66 COMBAT MISSIONS, FLYING OUT OF THE ABOVE LISTED BASES. I WAS SHOT DOWN ON JULY 11, 1944 AND HAD TO BAIL OUT OF CRIPPLED B-26. FORTUNATELY ALL OF OUR PARACHUTES OPENED AND AFTER BEING RESCUED BY ROYAL AIR FORCE, WAS RETURNED TO FLYING STATUS AND CONTINUED TO FLY COMBAT UNTIL LATE IN WWII. THE CAMPAIGNS THAT I FLEW IN WERE AS FOLLOWS: AIR OFFENSIVE EUROPE, NORMANDY CAMPAIGN, NORTHERN FRANCE CAMPAIGN, RHINELAND CAMPAIGN, ARDENNES CAMPAIGN. I RECEIVED PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION, CATERPILLAR AWARD AND SIX OTHER AIR COMBAT RELATED MEDALS WITH OAK LEAF CLUSTERS AND CAMPAIGN STARS.