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/...s_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/Cre...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