World War II Honoree

Bertram 'Bert' Cole

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Altus, Oklahoma

Honored By

Mary Cole Patterson, Brian, Chris, Rex, David & Kevin Cole

Relationship

Daughter and Sons

ATTENDED ALTUS JUNIOR COLLEGE IN ALTUS OKLAHOMA, AND OKLAHOMA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL (A&M) COLLEGE IN STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA BEFORE ENTERING MILITARY SERVICE. ENTERED MILITARY SERVICE IN THE U.S. ARMY IN 1942, DURING THE WAR. TRAINED INITIALLY IN THE AMERICAN THEATER FOR ENTRY-LEVEL ‘BASIC TRAINING’ AND THEN FOR ADVANCED MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY (MOS) QUALIFICATION. AFTER RIGOROUS ACADEMIC AND PHYSICAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTING, HE VOLUNTEERED FOR AND WAS SELECTED FOR AIRCREW TRAINING IN THE ARMY AIR FORES (AAF) AVIATION CADET PROGRAM, AS A PILOT. HE COMPLETED A BASIC MILITARY COURSE FOR NON-FLYING TRAINING PRIOR TO ENTERING THE PROGRAM. UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PREFLIGHT, NON-FLYING SCHOOL, PRIMARY FLYING SCHOOL, INVOLVING GROUND SCHOOL AND FLYING TRAINING, BASIC FLYING SCHOOL, INVOLVING BOTH GROUND SCHOOL AND FLYING TRAINING, HE WAS SELECTED FOR FURTHER MULTI-ENGINE TRAINING. AFTER COMPLETION OF ADVANCED FLYING TRAINING, INVOLVING GROUND SCHOOL AND MULTI--ENGINE AIRCRAFT FLYING, HE WAS EARMARKED FOR FOLLOW-ON HEAVY BOMBER, 4-ENGINE AIRCRAFT TRAINING, AWARDED HIS SILVER PILOT WINGS, AND COMMISSIONED A SECOND LIEUTENANT. NEXT, ASSIGNED FOR TRANSITION FLYING TRAINING IN THE B-24 ‘LIBERATOR’ AIRCRAFT HE WOULD FLY IN COMBAT. HIS SQUADRON DID PRE-DEPLOYMENT TRAINING IN THE AMERICAN THEATER AT ALAMOGORDO ARMY AIRFIELD, NEW MEXICO (JULY 1, 1943), KEARNS FIELD, UTAH (AUGUST 31, 1943), DAVIS-MONTHAN FIELD, ARIZONA (SEPTEMBER 20, 1943), AND WESTOVER FIELD, MASSACHUSETTS (NOVEMBER 1, 1943-JANUARY 2, 1944). THEN, SERVED OVERSEAS IN THE EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN THEATER, INCLUDING IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTOUSA), WITH THE 756TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (HEAVY), 459TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (HEAVY), 15TH AIR FORCE, BASED AT TORRE GIULIA AIRFIELD (AKA CERIGNOLA SATELLITE #1) IN FEBRUARY, 1944. THE 15TH AIR FORCE WAS ACTIVATED AS THE STRATEGIC ELEMENT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN ALLIED AIR FORCES TO COOPERATE WITH BRITISH-BASED AIR UNITS. THE 15TH AIR FORCE’S AREA OF OPERATIONS INCLUDED GERMANY, AUSTRIA, THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF FRANCE, THE BALKINS, AND NORTHERN ITALY. HIS SQUADRON WAS ENGAGED PRIMARILY IN STRATEGIC BOMBARDMENT, BEGINNING IN MARCH, 1944, ATTACKING SUCH TARGETS AS OIL REFINERIES, MUNITIONS AND AIRCRAFT FACTORIES, INDUSTRIAL AREAS, AIRFIELDS, AND COMMUNICATIONS CENTERS IN ITALY, FRANCE, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, ROMANIA, BULGARIA, AND YUGOSLAVIA. HIS SQUADRON RECEIVED A DISTINGUISHED (PRESIDENTIAL) UNIT CITATION (DUC) FOR LEADING SEVERAL HEAVY BOMBARDMENT GROUPS, EACH WITH SOME 72 AIRCRAFT, THROUGH ENEMY INTERCEPTORS AND INTENSE FLAK TO RAID AN AIRFIELD AND AIRCRAFT ASSEMBLY PLANT AT BAD VOSLAU, AUSTRIA ON APRIL 23, 1944. AT VARIOUS TIMES, THE SQUADRON ALSO FLEW SOME SUPPORT AND INTERDICTORY MISSIONS. HIS UNIT BOMBED THE MESSERSCHMITT AIRCRAFT PLANT AT WIERNER NEUSTADT, AUSTRIA, FLEW AGAINST ENEMY COASTAL FORTIFICATIONS AND AGAINST AIRFIELDS, AND RAILWAY LINES, IN THEIR AREA OF OPERATIONS. IN EARLY 1944, THE SQUADRON ENGAGED IN A CAMPAIGN AGAINST MARSHALLING YARDS, STORAGE FACILITIES, AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL TARGETS. HE PARTICIPATED IN OPERATIONS THAT PREPARED FOR THE INVASION OF THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE, SUPPORTED THE D-DAY LANDINGS IN NORMANDY, FRANCE IN JUNE, 1944, AND THE SUBSEQUENT ALLIED DRIVE ACROSS FRANCE AND ITALY. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE AIR OFFENSIVE-EUROPE, ROME-ARNO, NORMANDY, NORTHERN FRANCE, CENTRAL EUROPE, AND AIR COMBAT-EUROPE, CAMPAIGNS. ON JULY 28, 1944, HIS SQUADRON ATTACKED PLOESTI, ROMANIA WITH THE INTENT OF DESTROYING OIL WELLS, REFINERIES, AND STORAGE FACILITIES. PLOESTI WAS THE SITE OF OIL FIELD COMPLEXES THAT COVERED SOME 19 SQUARE MILES AND SUPPLIED ONE THIRD TO ONE-HALF OF FUEL OIL USED BY THE GERMANS. IN ADVANCE PREPARATION FOR ALLIED ATTACKS ON THIS VITAL TARGET, THE GERMANS HAD REINFORCED WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF TROOPS, BUILT DECOY SITES, CAMOUFLAGED MASSIVELY, UPDATED RADAR CAPABILITIES, INCREASED ANTIAIRCRAFT ARTILLERY WEAPONS, EMPLOYED BARRAGE BALLOONS, STRUNG CABLES, CONCEALED OIL FACILITIES AND MILITARY FIGHTING POSITIONS, AND ADDED GERMAN FIGHTER AIRCRAFT SQUADRONS FOR DEFENSE. ALL THESE PREPARATIONS TURNED PLOESTI INTO ONE OF THE STRONGEST DEFENDED TARGETS IN THEATER. HE TOOK OFF FROM BANGHAZI, LIBYA, AS PART OF A LARGE FORMATION OF SOME 177 B-24 AIRCRAFT. HE CROSSED THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, ALBANIA, YUGOSLAVIA, AND PASSED THE ALPS AND ENTERED ROMANIA AT A LOW ALTITUDE TO AVOID RADAR DETECTION AND INCREASE THE LETHALITY OF THEIR BOMB RUN. THE 1,900 MILE OPERATION WAS CODE-NAMED ‘OPERATION TIDAL WAVE.’ HIS 20 MINUTE DAYLIGHT LOW-LEVEL INDEPENDENT BOMBING RUN WAS PART OF A DISJOINTED GROUP ATTACK, AMID FIRE, SMOKE, AND FLAK AND LATER BY GERMAN FIGHTER PLANES. HE DELIVERED HIS BOMBS AND HEADED BACK FOR LIBYA. HIS PLANE TOOK HEAVY FLAK DAMAGE DURING THEIR TIME OVER THE TARGET AREA. HE LOST 2 ENGINES, HAD LITTLE POWER AS HE APPROACHED EASTERN YUGOSLAVIA AND COULD NOT GAIN ENOUGH ALTITUDE TO CROSS THE MOUNTAINS. HE ORDERED HIS 10-MAN CREW TO BAIL OUT. HE WAS THE LAST TO EXIT THE STRICKEN AIRCRAFT. AFTER JUMPING FROM HIS DAMAGED B-24 ‘LIBERATOR’ AIRCRAFT, HE WAS SEPARATED FROM HIS CREW. HE WAS HELPED BY THE LOCAL POPULATION AND PARTISANS AND HID, INCLUDING IN CAVES, TO AVOID GERMAN PATROLS AND TROOP FORMATIONS. HE WAS LISTED INITIALLY AS ‘MISSING IN ACTION’ (MIA) BY THE WAR DEPARTMENT. HE LOST WEIGHT FROM ABOUT 240 POUNDS TO ABOUT 145 POUNDS DURING HIS MONTHS OF AVOIDING CAPTURE. HE WAS WEATHERED BY THE SUN, GREW A SHAGGY BEARD, WORE RAGGEDY CLOTHING, AND LEARNED TO SPEAK ENOUGH SERBIAN TO FOOL GERMANS, WHO THOUGHT HE WAS A SERB. THE REST OF HIS CREW SURVIVED AND WERE REPATRIATED. ONLY 88 B-24 BOMBERS RETURNED FROM THE MISSION TO LIBYA, AND OVER 400 CREWMEMBERS WERE KILLED OR CAPTURED. SEVERAL MONTHS LATER, AFTER HIS TIME WITH RESISTANCE FIGHTERS, HE WAS RESCUED DURING ‘OPERATION HALYARD’ THAT WAS A LARGE EXTRACTION MISSION BETWEEN AUGUST AND DECEMBER OF 1944. THE SERBIAN POPULATION BUILT A ROUGH AIRSTRIP AND ARMY AIR FORCES CREWS FLEW RISKY MISSIONS IN C-47 ‘SKYTRAIN’ TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT TO PICK UP SOME 5OO AIRMEN, SOME OF WHOM TOOK PART IN HIS PLOESKI RAID. HE WAS TAKEN TO A BASE IN AFRICA AND THEN SAILED ON A TROOP SHIP BACK TO THE UNITED STATES. THE WAR HAD A HEAVY EFFECT ON HIM PHYSICALY, MENTALLY, AND SPIRITUALLY. HE WAS AWARDED THE AIR MEDAL, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL WITH 1 SILVER AND 1 BRONZE SERVICE STARS (6 CAMPAIGNS), AND WWII VICTORY MEDAL. ALSO AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED UNIT CITATION (DUC) FOR EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM BY HIS UNIT IN COMBAT AT BAD VOSLAU, AUSTRIA ON APRIL 23, 1944. HONORABLY DISCHARGED WITH THE RANK OF FIRST LIEUTENANT AND ISSUED THE HONORABLE SERVICE LAPEL BUTTON.