World War II Honoree

John Paul Noack

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Port Arthur, Texas

Honored By

Pearl Thomas

Served with the 306th Bomb Group as B-17 pilot who flew 15 missions beginning in August 1943. He flew eight as a co-pilot and seven as a pilot. Flew on the October 14, 1943 'Black Thursday' Second Schweinfurt Mission and on his last mission, December 11, 1943, his plane was shot down. He and his crew were picked up by a German patrol boat in the North Sea and he then spent the remainder of the war as a Prisoner of War until his release in 1945. He was awarded an Air Medal, a Purple Heart, and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with a bronze star.