World War II Honoree

Robert Winston Bennett

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Georgetown, Kentucky

Honored By

A Grateful American

ENLISTED IN THE U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS. HE ATTENDED TRAINING SCHOOLS AT KELLY FIELD AND BIG SPRINGS, TEXAS. HE WAS GRADUATED AS A SECOND LIEUTENANT AND WAS THEN TRANSFERRED TO GOWEN FIELD IN BOISE. THEN TRANSFERRED TO WENDOVER AND KEARNY FOR TRAINING AS A BOMBARDIER. THEN HE WAS ASSIGNED TO A B-17 AIRCRAFT CREW FOR OVERSEAS DUTY. STARTING IN JUNE 1944, HE FLEW 34 COMBAT MISSIONS WITH THE 358TH SQUADRON, 303RD BOMB GROUP, 3RD AIR DIVISION, 8TH AIR FORCE STATIONED AT MOLESWORTH, ENGLAND. HE PARTICIPATED IN FOUR MAJOR BATTLES, AMONG WHICH WAS THE NORMANDY BREAKTHROUGH, WHERE 5,000 PLANES WERE IN THE AIR AT THE SAME TIME. HE ALSO PARTICIPATED IN THE ST. LO RELIEF OF ENTRAPPED TROOPS. HE RECEIVED, AMONG OTHER CITATIONS, THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS AND THE AIR MEDAL WITH OAK LEAF CLUSTERS. HIS UNIT RECEIVED A PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION. WHEN HE RETURNED TO THE U.S. IN NOVEMBER 1944, ALSO SERVED AS A SQUADRON OFFICER AT AIRFIELDS IN TEXAS UNTIL HE WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED FROM DUTY IN DECEMBER 1945.