World War II Honoree

Ethan Lambert Woodbury

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Granger, Utah

Honored By

Scott E. Woodbury

Relationship

Son

He served as a Flight Engineer on a B-24 aircraft in Italy during WWII, assigned to the 460th Bomb Group, 762nd Squadron. He achieved the rank of Technical Sergeant and is the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, European Theater Ribbon with 6 stars, and a Good Conduct medal. He was nominated for the Soldiers Medal and Silver Star and is credited with saving the lives of 10 crew members when they took flack while bombing oil fields over Vienna. He shredded his flight jacket in small strips and used these to patch holes in the gas tanks. He feathered the engines which enabled the plane to land safely on the Island of Vis, about 20 miles off the coast of Yugoslavia. When the plane touched down all 4 engines quit. They were totally out of fuel. They counted 265 flack/bullet holes in their plane when it landed. On another rough mission he almost lost all of his fingers from frostbite after manually tripping 10 frozen bombs with a 10” screwdriver. He flew with 4 or 5 different 3 and 4 star Generals. He was a trusted and skilled soldier.