World War II Honoree

Robert Auston Hicks

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Houston, Texas

Honored By

Carolee Hicks

Relationship

Wife

ENTERED SERVICE ON NOVEMBER 3, 1943 AND SENT TO BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI. QUALIFIED FOR PILOT TRAINING AND TRANSFERRED TO LIBERAL AIR FORCE BASE IN LIBERAL, KANSAS; FOR B-24 PILOT TRAINING. LEFT FOR ENGLAND IN JUNE 1944 AND FLEW 30 MISSIONS OVER GERMAN TERRITORY. CAMPAIGN OF SOUTHERN FRANCE, NORTHERN FRANCE, RHINELAND, CENTRAL EUROPE AND THE AIR OFFENSIVE OF EUROPE. ON NOVEMBER 26, 1944, WHILE SERVING IN THE 389TH BOMB GROUP, HIS B-24 BOMBER 'PUGNACIOUS PRINCESS PAT' RECEIVED A DIRECT HIT FROM HEAVY GERMAN ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE, KILLING EVERYONE BUT HIM AND 3 OTHER CREW MEMBERS WHO PARACHUTED TO SAFETY. CAPTURED BY GERMAN SOLDIERS AND SPENT THE NEXT 7 MONTHS IN A GERMAN PRISON CAMP, WITH BROKEN LEG AND OTHER WOUNDS, UNTIL LIBERATED. DECORATED WITH THE AIR MEDAL WITH 3 OAK LEAF CLUSTERS, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL WITH 5 BRONZE BATTLE STARS, THE AMERICAN THEATER CAMPAIGN MEDAL, THE PURPLE HEART AND THE WWII VICTORY MEDAL. LIBERATED BY AMERICAN AND BRITISH TROOPS AND ARRIVED BACK IN THE U.S. ON JULY 31, 1945. SPENT SEVERAL MONTHS IN THE HOSPITAL, BEFORE HIS SEPARATION.