World War II Honoree

Charles R. Hickey

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Dover, Arkansas

Honored By

Chas R. Hickey

Fought as a tail gunner of a B-24 Bomber. Shot down over Canton, China, five men, one half of our crew was lost as the B-24 fell into the ocean. Six parachuted out, one was drowned under his parachute. The rest went down with the plane. The four survivors spent 25 hours in our small parachute rubber raft. Went through a hard tropical storm that night. Picked up by a Navy pb4y2. A signaling mirror was used to attract a Navy B-24. I was the one wielding the mirror to contact the Navy B-24 and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal and Purple Heart.