World War II Honoree

Abe L. Hesser

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma

Honored By

Robert S. Cox

ENLISTED AND SWORN INTO MILITARY SERVICE IN STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA ON DECEMBER 15, 1942. TRAVELLED TO FORT SILL AT LAWTON, OKLAHOMA AND WAS ASSIGNED TO THE ARMY AIR FORCES. COMPLETED BASIC TRAINING AT MIAMI, FLORIDA; AERIAL GUNNERY SCHOOL AT TYNDALL FIELD AT PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA; AND ATTENDED RADIO SCHOOL IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. ASSIGNED TO A FLIGHT CREW FOR TRAINING ON B-24 ‘LIBERATOR’ HEAVY BOMBERS AND TRAINED AT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, CASPER, WYOMING AND ALAMOGORDO, NEW MEXICO. RECEIVED DEPLOYMENT ORDERS AS A REPLACEMENT CREW AT BIGGS FIELD, FORT BLISS, TEXAS, AND PICKED UP THEIR AIRCRAFT AT TOPEKA, KANSAS. DEPARTED TOPEKA AND FLEW VIA BELEM, BRAZIL; DAKAR, SENEGAL; MARRAKESH, MOROCCO; TUNISIA; AND TO THEIR BASE AT CERIGNOLA AIRFIELD, SOME 20 MILES SOUTH OF NAPLES, ITALY. SERVED AS A RADIO OPERATOR-AERIAL GUNNER OVERSEAS IN THE EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN THEATER WITH THE 746TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (HEAVY), 456TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP, 15TH AIR FORCE AT STORNARA AIRFIELD IN ITALY. HIS SQUADRON SERVED PRIMARILY AS A STRATEGIC BOMBING ORGANIZATION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN ALLIED AIR FORCES, ATTACKING AIRCRAFT FACTORIES, OIL REFINERIES AND STORAGE FACILITIES, MARSHALLING YARDS, MANUFACTURING CENTERS AND AIRFIELDS IN ITALY, AUSTRIA, ROMANIA, AND GERMANY AND FRANCE. PARTICIPATED IN THE AIR OFFENSIVE-EUROPE, ROME-ARNO, NORMANDY, AND NORTHERN FRANCE CAMPAIGNS. FLEW 46 OFFICIAL COMBAT MISSIONS. ON HIS FIRST MISSION, THEY ENCOUNTERED SMALL ARMS GROUND FIRE, ANTIAIRCRAFT ARTILLERY (AAA) FLAK AND ENEMY FIGHTER AIRCRAFT. THE FLAK HIT THE AIRCRAFT LIKE HAIL, WITH AN OCCASIONAL THUMP FROM LARGE SHRAPNEL FRAGMENTS. THEIR FORMATION LOST SEVERAL PLANES DURING THE MISSION. ON HIS FIFTH MISSION AGAINST A MESSERSCHMIDT AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING PLANT AT WEINER NEUSTADT IN AUSTRIA, THEIR AIRCRAFT WAS HIT FIRST BY ENEMY FIGHTER PLANES FOLLOWED BY FLAK SO THICK YOU COULD SEEMINGLY WALK ON IT. AFTER DROPPING THEIR BOMBS, HIS PLANE TOOK A DIRECT HIT IN THE COCKPIT, KILLING THE PILOT AND WOUNDING THE CO-PILOT. THEY ALSO LOST ONE ENGINE TO THE AAA FIRE. HE MOVED TO THE COCKPIT, MOVED THE PILOT AWAY FROM THE CONTROLS, AND REPLACED HIM TO ASSIST THE CO-PILOT CONTROL THE AIRCRAFT. AS THE CO-PILOT WAS DRIFTING IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS, HE TOOK OVER THE CONTROLS AND BROUGHT THE PLANE TO LEVEL FLIGHT. HE DISCOVERED THAT THE AIRCRAFT HAD ALSO BEEN HIT IN THE BOMB BAY AREA AND HAD LOST MOST OF THE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM THAT WAS CRITICAL TO CONTROLLING THE PLANE. HE WAS ABLE TO RETURN THE AIRCRAFT TO THEIR BASE AND MANAGED TO BRING THE PLANE TO A STOP JUST SHORT OF THE END OF THE RUNWAY. HIS GROUP WAS AUTHORIZED THE PRESIDENTIAL (DISTINGUISHED) UNIT CITATION FOR EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM IN ACTION AT WEINER NEUSTADT ON MAY 10, 1944. ANOTHER TOUGH MISSION WAS OVER NORTHERN ITALY DURING A LOW-LEVEL RUN USING INCENDIARY BOMBS AGAINST AN ENEMY GROUND FORMATION. THEIR TOP TURRET GUNNER WAS KILLED BY ENEMY FIGHTER PLANES AND DROPPED DOWN FROM HIS STATION INTO SERGEANT HESSER’S RADIO STATION BELOW. HE THEN MANNED THE TOP TURRET AND ENGAGED ATTACKING FIGHTERS. HIS PLANE LOST AN ENGINE DUE TO THE FIGHTER ATTACKS AND AAA FIRE, AND HAD TO JETTISON THEIR BOMB LOAD TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE. THEIR SHIP LOST ANOTHER ENGINE AND FELL BEHIND THE FORMATION AND WAS LEFT WITH THE OPTIONS OF EITHER DITCHING IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA OR BELLY-LANDING ON A BEACH. THEY OPTED FOR THE BEACH, WHERE THE CREW WAS ABLE TO WALK AWAY FROM THEIR BURNING AIRCRAFT. THEY WERE PICKED UP BY ALLIED FORCES AND RETURNED TO BASE. AFTER 10 MISSIONS, HIS CREW HAD FOUR KILLED AND HAD TWO AIRCRAFT DESTROYED. OTHER PARTICULARLY TOUGH MISSIONS INCLUDED FRANKFURT, GERMANY, THE PLOESTI OIL FIELDS IN ROMANIA, AND DUSSELDORF, MUNICH AND STUTTGART IN GERMANY. ON AUGUST 10, 1944, HE AND HIS CREW FLEW AGAINST PLOESTI FOR THE SEVENTH TIME BUT WERE DIVERTED DUE TO CLOUD COVER TO CIAMPINO, ITALY OUTSIDE ROME. THE FORMATION WAS ATTACKED BY NUMEROUS GERMAN FIGHTERS AND THE FLAK WAS EXTREMELY HEAVY. A NUMBER OF PLANES IN THEIR FORMATION WERE LOST, INCLUDING THE LEAD PLANE. HIS AIRCRAFT TOOK THE LEAD BUT JUST SHORT OF THEIR RELEASE POINT, TOOK A HIT IN THE BOMB BAY THAT SET THE PLANE ON FIRE. GERMAN FIGHTERS MOVED IN FOR THE KILL AND HIS CREW BEGAN BAILING OUT. HE EXITED THE BURNING AIRCRAFT AND WHILE FREE-FALLING, SAW HIS PLANE EXPLODE. HE OPENED HIS PARACHUTE, LANDED AND WAS PICKED UP SHORTLY THEREAFTER BY GERMAN ARMY FORCES AND MADE A PRISONER OF WAR (POW). HE AND TWO OTHER MEMBERS OF HIS CREW WERE TAKEN TO A JAIL IN SOFIA, BULGARIA, THEN LOADED INTO A BOXCAR AND TAKEN BY TRAIN TO BUDAPEST, HUNGARY. THERE, HE WAS PLACED IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT AND INTERROGATED BY A GERMAN ‘SS’ OFFICER. THEN MOVED BY TRAIN TO STALAG LUFT IV, A POW CAMP FOR ALLIED FLYERS IN GROSS TYCHON POMERANIA. HE AND HIS FELLOW POW WERE SUBJECTED TO MENTAL AND PHYSICAL TORTURE ON A DAILY BASIS WHILE CONFINED THERE. MEAGER FOOD ALLOWANCES, DYSENTERY AND OTHER DISEASES, A LACK OF MEDICAL CARE, COLD LIVING CONDITIONS AND LACK OF BUNKS AND BEDDING, AND DAILY HARASSMENT, THREATS AND PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT TOOK THEIR TOLL. WHEN RUSSIAN FORCES BEGAN CLOSING ON THE CAMP, THE POW WERE MARCHED AWAY ON FEBRUARY 6, 1945 ON WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS THE ‘BLACK MARCH.’ IT LASTED SOME 80 DAYS AND COVERED SOME 500 MILES. THE BITTER COLD, HIS MALNOURISHED CONDITION, BODY LICE AND DISEASE, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF HIS EXECUTION BY THE GUARDS MADE THIS THE MOST DIFFICULT TIME OF HIS IMPRISONMENT. HE FELL BEHIND ON TWO OCCASIONS BUT WAS SPARED BY THE GUARDS AND FOUND REFUGE IN A POLISH WOMEN’S CAMP ON ONE NIGHT AND IN A FARMER’S BARN ANOTHER NIGHT BEFORE REJOINING THE MAIN BODY. ON THE MORNING OF APRIL 26, 1945, THEY WERE LIBERATED BY AMERICAN SOLDIERS OF THE 49TH ARMORED INFANTRY BATTALION, 8TH ARMORED DIVISION, NORTHEAST OF LEIPZIG, IN NORTHEASTERN GERMANY. HE WAS EVACUATED TO A HOSPITAL IN REIMS, FRANCE WHERE HE WEIGHED IN AT 108 POUNDS. AFTER TWO WEEKS, HE WAS TRANSPORTED BY A C-47 ‘SKYTRAIN’ TRANSPORT PLANE TO THE PORT AT LE HAVRE, FRANCE WHERE HE BOARDED A 'LIBERTY' SHIP FOR NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA. AFTER ARRIVING IN THE STATES IN JUNE, 1945, HE WAS SENT TO A HOSPITAL IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS FOR TREATMENT, REST AND RECUPERATION. AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, PURPLE HEART, AIR MEDAL WITH 4 BRONZE OAK LEAF CLUSTERS, PRISONER OF WAR MEDAL, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL WITH 4 BRONZE SERVICE STARS, AND WWII VICTORY MEDAL. AUTHORIZED A BRONZE OAK LEAF CLUSTER TO THE PRESIDENTIAL (DISTINGUISHED) UNIT CITATION FOR EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM IN ACTION AGAIN BY HIS GROUP WHILE ATTACKING OIL FACILITIES AT BUDAPEST, HUNGARY ON JULY 2, 1944. HONORABLY DISCHARGED AT CAMP CHAFFEE AT FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS WITH THE RANK OF TECHNICAL SERGEANT AND ISSUED THE HONORABLE SERVICE LAPEL BUTTON. CONTINUED IN U.S. AIR FORCE RESERVE SERVICE AFTER THE WAR UNTIL AGAIN HONORABLY DISCHARGED.