World War II Honoree

Raymond Bigelow

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Burley, Idaho

Honored By

Family and Friends

He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on 24 January 1940 and rose to the rank of STAFF SERGEANT. He trained in Georgia, Washington State and Hamilton Field, California where he was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps Detachment. He entered pilot cadet training, but eventually he was trained as a gunner/armorer on the B-25 and B-24 aircraft. He served in the South Pacific, where his unit migrated from Hawaii, island hopping from Palmyra, Canton, Tarawa, Negros, Biak to the Philippine Islands with the 31st Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group, 13th Air Force, where he flew numerous combat missions. He was awarded the American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Battle Stars, WWII Victory Medal and Good Conduct Medal. When the war ended he returned stateside and was discharged at Fort MacArthur, California on 29 December 1945.