Charles Bronsen... B29 TailGunner?

[John Fitzpatrick]

The news media are reporting that the recently deceased actor Charles
Bronsen was a B29 tailgunner during WW2. I can't ever recall reading
anything about him on various sites dealing with celebrities who served
during WW2. Anybody know if this is true or just Hollywood hype?

John

[John A. Weeks III]

In article >, John
Fitzpatrick > wrote:

> The news media are reporting that the recently deceased actor Charles
> Bronsen was a B29 tailgunner during WW2. I can't ever recall reading
> anything about him on various sites dealing with celebrities who served
> during WW2. Anybody know if this is true or just Hollywood hype?

I heard a report on ABC news that said that he served in the motor
pool in the US during the war.

-john-

--
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John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
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[Yeff]

On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 15:06:47 -0500, John A. Weeks III wrote:

> I heard a report on ABC news that said that he served in the motor
> pool in the US during the war.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000314/bio

Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:

He once said, "I guess I look like a rock quarry that someone has
dynamited," but despite his craggy, unconventional features and
taciturn manner, Charles Bronson became an international star
relatively late in his career, depicting men of action who were not
afraid to use violence to get a job done. Bronson was one of fifteen
children born to Lithuanian immigrant parents, and though he was
the only member of the family to complete high school, he joined his
brothers working in the coal mines to support the family. He served
during World War 2 as a tailgunner, then used his G.I. Bill rights
to study art in Philadelphia and, intrigued by acting, enrolled at
California's Pasadena Playhouse.

-Jeff B.
yeff at erols dot com

[Marc Reeve]

John A. Weeks III > wrote:

> In article >, John
> Fitzpatrick > wrote:
>
> > The news media are reporting that the recently deceased actor Charles
> > Bronsen was a B29 tailgunner during WW2. I can't ever recall reading
> > anything about him on various sites dealing with celebrities who served
> > during WW2. Anybody know if this is true or just Hollywood hype?
>
> I heard a report on ABC news that said that he served in the motor
> pool in the US during the war.
>

This site:
http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/military/actors_in_wwii.html
says he was a nose gunner (not a tail gunner) with 39th BG on Guam.

The 39th BG page at 39th.org says he flew 5 missions as a nose gunner on
a weather observation plane known as "Old Overcast". (Nose gunner on a
B-29? I presume they mean the guy sitting in the nose who controlled the
upper-forward turret.) A/C Capt. Kenneth Trow.

They do mention that he had claimed in publicity materials to have flown
25 combat missions, but they respectfully decline to call "Bull****!",
saying only "it is unknown if the 5 missions with the Weather
Observation Crew are part of the 25 or where he obtained the other 20
missions if these 5 are indeed included in the total."

http://39th.org/39th/aerial/61st/Crew_woc/buchinski.html
http://39th.org/39th/aerial/61st/crew-woc.html

-Marc
--
Marc Reeve
actual email address after removal of 4s & spaces is
c4m4r4a4m4a4n a4t c4r4u4z4i4o d4o4t c4o4m

[Tom Cervo]

Or maybe something like this:
Trained as a gunner, maybe a specialty in the tail. Flew five missions in a
weather ship, and more missions on other ships in other units on other tasks,
or flew some after the war ended.
Anyway, he had to volunteer to fly, so he had some guts.