World War II Honoree

Kenneth O. Eslick

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Jocko, Montana

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

RANK: STAFF SERGEANT. HE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE UNITED STATES ARMY AIR CORPS AUGUST 8, 1942 AT BUTTE, MONTANA. SERVED AS A B-17F ‘FLYING FORTRESS’ BOMBER LEFT WAIST GUNNER, WHO EXPERIENCED COMBAT IN THE EUROPEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN THEATERS OF OPERATION. HIS COMBAT UNIT WAS THE 341ST BOMBER SQUADRON, 97TH BOMBER GROUP, UNITED STATES 15TH ARMY AIR FORCE, STATIONED AT DEPIENNE AIRFIELD, TUNISIA NORTH AFRICA. ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1943 HE BECAME A PRISONER OF WAR DURING A BOMBING RAID ON THE ISTRES-LE-TUBE GERMAN AIRDROME, LOCATED NEAR MARSEILLES, FRANCE. WHILE THE PILOT WAS MAKING A SECOND PASS OVER THE TARGET, THE ‘FLYING FORTRESS’ WAS HIT BY ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE AND CRASHED INTO LAKE LAVALDUC. HE WAS IMMEDIATELY CAPTURED AFTER BAILING OUT, BECOMING A PRISONER OF WAR AND HELD IN CAPTIVITY AT STALAG 17B LOCATED NEAR KREMS, AUSTRIA. AFTER THE CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES IN EUROPE, HE WAS REPATRIATED AND RETURNED TO MILITARY CONTROL, JULY 26, 1945. A MEMORIAL, COMMEMORATING THE MEMORY OF THE CREW AND THE B-17 ‘HOMESICK ANGEL’ HAS BEEN ERECTED IN ISTRES-LE-TUBE, FRANCE.