The best summary of what the 483rd Bomb Group (H) Association is all about is contained in the introduction to the book "Heroes of the 483rd."

History is the written word. It is a narrative of events. Therefore, this book contains an uneven history of each of the air crews that participated in combat with the 483rd Bombardment Group (H) during 1944 and 1945 over Europe. Those crews, such as the Devereaux Bush crew, which were wiped out almost instantaneously, left no written record of their experiences on previous missions and certainly not on their final mission. There are a few photographs of some of those planes in their final throes. There are some basic records about the crew. But there is little more. The crew histories of such heroes are sparse.

The survivors were able to write about their experiences, and many did. Those narratives form the backbone of this book. If you want to imagine what happened to a crew that did not return, read the narratives of crews that faced somewhat similar circumstances and who, by the Grace of God, survived. No matter if the combat crew member was with the original group in training, part of a replacement crew, or an individual replacement, after the war was over he usually retained a proud identification with the 483rd. The letters, diaries, logs and narratives of those crew members add flesh to the bare skeleton of the official records. Some perhaps felt their combat duty was relatively insignificant and did not write about their experiences. This is a sad loss to history.

Now more than half-century after the 483rd dropped its last bomb, the survivors look with pride at their achievements. They have a right to. The children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of all who served with the 483rd during its 13 months of combat also have reason to be proud. All American should be proud of those men who, like Americans of every generation, offered their lives and limbs for their country.

The crew histories in this book are listed by the name of pilot, in near-alphabetical order. There were a few men who flew regular missions with a variety of crews and were never assigned to a crew. Brief articles about those men are inserted between crew histories also in near-alphabetical order.

Crew photos were used when they are available and were identified. Some, because of their age, were not usable. A history of this group would not be complete without a resume of how the group was formed, how the group got to Sterparone, and briefly what happened while there. Some of that material is included in Clyde Barnes' group crew history beginning on page 273.

A fine summary, though was presented by James V. Reardon, who was the keynote speaker at a 483rd Bomb Group (H) Association reunion in 1993. Reardon was squadron commander of the 815th in 1944, and flew 51 combat missions including to Ploesti three times and to Weiner Neustadt three times. He received a Silver Star, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, five Air Medals and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm during his service with the 483rd. He retired from the Air Force in 1967 as Chief of Staff, 15th Air Force. He was president of the 483rd Association in 1981 and 1982. Major excerpts from this speech follow.

"Despite the fierce competition among squadrons the 483rd effort at MacDill to become a fighting force really brought all of us closer together. The challenge to become combat-ready was felt individually. The high morale, unit cohesion and "can do" attitude produced professional behavior that lasted throughout the life of the 483rd. The character of this group was formed during those days at MacDill.

"Like a bunch of kids let out from school for vacation, we busted loose from MacDill on March 4, 1944, after passing our Army Air Corps operational readiness inspection.

"The ground echelon went by train to Camp Patrick, Virginia, for overseas processing, and embarked from Newport News on three Liberty ships on March 13. They arrived at Sterparone on April 9, after an exciting trip including submarine and enemy air threats (Editor's note: Details of their interesting journey are documented with the ground support activities in this book.)

"After physical exams and personnel affairs processing, the air echelon left Hunter Field, GA, in brand new B-17G's for an adventure-filled trip to Sterparone, Italy, with stops in Miami, Trinidad, Belem and Natal in Brazil. In Natal the B-17's were fitted with extra fuel tanks for the nine-and a half-hour flight across the South Atlantic to Dakar, Africa. Then we stopped in Marrakech and either Tunis or Bizerte in North Africa.

"On arrival in Italy, in the Foggia area in late March, we were temporarily housed with either the 2nd or 99th Bomb Groups until our runway at Sterparone was ready. The total flight time from MacDill to Sterparone, Italy, via south America and Africa avaraged 49 hours with six stops along the way. While attached to the 2nd and 99th for rations and support, we flew six combat mission from their bases.

"Meanwhile - on April 9, 1944 - at Sterparone, our ground support arrived in the middle of an open wheat field with nothing on it but a partially-completed 6,000 foot runway. Believe it or not, in the following 13 days our troops got our base at Sterparon ready for combat operations. (Editor's note: The details of this remarkable performance are found in the ground support section of this book.)

"The flight echelon flew in to Sterparone on April 22, and the very next day we mounted a 32-aircraft combat mission to Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Gen. Nathan Twining, commander of the 15th Air Force, was surprised and elated, and said so. From that day on , Gen. Twining had high regard for, and confidence in the, 483rd. Based on his judgment, he selected us, the newest group, over more experienced groups to make the first shuttle run into Russia.

"Living at Sterparone in those early days was no fun for any of us; conditions were pretty grim. Tent living, open latrines, standing in line with mess kits for field rations prepared at field kitchens, one canteen of water per day, no showers, constant attacks of mosquitoes, flies, ants, working day and night in all kinds of weather. As the months went by living conditions improved as better support facilities came on line -- like mess halls, indoor cold water showers, better lighting, etc.

"Our target system ranged across Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia. We also landed in Russia and flew missions out of there.

"We flew a total of 215 combat missions during those 14 months of combat duty. Our targets were the most heavily defended in Europe with severe flak and fighter attacks -- among them Ploesti, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Wiener Neustadt, Budapest, Bucharest, and Ruhland -- to name only a few. We were over Ploesti, Romania nine times; Blechhammer, Germany 11 times; Budapest, Hungary eight times; Moosbierbaum, Austria seven times; and Vienna 22 times. Wherever there existed major oil refineries, aircraft and parts factories, tank works, rail road terminals and marshaling yards, supply dumps, bridges and communications networks, that's where we showed up.

"We participated in the invasion of France, and took part in the first shuttle mission into Mirgorod, Russia, where we bombed a target on the way in, and on the way out. We flew one mission while there, under what amounted to operational control of the Russians.

"We are all aware of tragic missions like Memmingen, where we lost 14 of 26 aircraft due to an ambush by over 200 German fighter aircraft without any of our own fighter support. Suffice to say we shot down 53 German fighters that day and claimed another 25 probables. We lost six of 28 B-17's over Ruhland on one mission due to an attack by large force of ME 262 jets. In all, 12 were lost over Vienna during those 22 missions there.

"Of the original 646 crew members sent to Italy in March 1944, 38.8 percent were either killed in action or missing in action. By way of recap, a total of 760 crew members were shot down. Of the 760, 214 were killed in action, 315 became POW's, and 231 evaded capture and returned to duty.

"We lost 66 B-17's in actual combat, two others ditched while on combat missions, and another 13 got back to base but were too damaged for further use, for a total of 81. At any given time we had about 70 aircraft in the group, the majority of them in need of maintenance and /or combat damage repair. We normally flew 28 aircraft on each combat mission-- and after damage on a mission over the rough targets we were always hard-pressed to produce 28 in flyable condition.

"A special word here about our ground support, which was recognized as the finest in the 15th Air F`orce. Our aircraft in commission rate was the highest. Flight crews had the greatest trust and confidence in the around-the-clock performance of our maintenance, armament, ordinance, communications, supply and munitions echelons, which directly affected our flight safety and effectiveness. As a result, a strong camaraderie developed between fight crews and support personnel, which prevails today in many close friendships.

"This did not escape the notice of General Ira Eaker, commander of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces. In the early fall of 1944 he released a special commendation to Gen. Twining, commander, 15th Air Force. Gen. Eaker said he 'noticed with great satisfaction the high rate of aircraft in commission during a recent high-volume effort against the enemy during successive days. This showed superior organization, particularly strong on the administrative and maintenance sides.' He asked Gen. Twining that his commendation 'be expressed particularly to the hard-working engineering staff and maintenance crews so that they would know how much he valued and applauded their effort.'

"The 483rd received plenty of battle awards. There were two outstanding unit citations -- one for performance on the Memmingen mission of July 18, 1944, and the other for the mission against the tank works in Berlin on March 24, 1945. Then battle stars were awarded for our participation in 10 ground/air campaigns during our stay in Italy. Our flight crews earned their share of Distinguished Service Crosses, Silver Stars, Distinguished Flying Crosses and Air Medals. One of our crews was the most-decorated in Air Force history: For a single mission all 10 received Silver Stars and four who were wounded also received the Purple Heart. (Editor's note: See the Goesling crew history.)

"More than a few combat records were broken: Most enemy aircraft destroyed by one crew on one mission: 13; most ME 262 jets destroyed by one group in entire war: seven; most German ME-262 jets destroyed by one crew on one mission; three; by one gunner on one mission: two. We even claim the record for the most holes in a B-17 after one mission: 30,748. I am surprised the 53 aircraft shot down at Memmingen is not a record-breaker. So much for our combat performance."