Norwich University - War Whoop Yearbook (Northfield, VT)

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ff -gx xxx xx xxx , ,f .,, .-1zff,- xx g ..- HOWARD F. WELCH Cm, of 1944 Second Lieutenant, 325th Fighter Group Howard was awarded the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters for his work as a fighter pilot in the 319th Fighter Squadron. He took part in bomber escort missions over northern Italy, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and Yugoslavia, strahng missions to southern France, and in the first shuttle mission to Russia. On June 24, 1944, his plane was struck by German anti-aircraft fire when he was providing protection for a flying boat that was searching for a downed pilot and his aircraft at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea. Howard,s airplane crashed and he was killed in the crash. His mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. C. Raymond Welch, make their home in Springfield, Massachusetts. STEPHEN A. WOYNAR Class of 1944 Private, 86th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron Steve was a native son of Vermont from Bellows Falls, Ver- mont, where his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Woynar, now reside. He is also survived by three sisters and one brother, Bernard. Very little is known of Steve's death. He was on a recon- naissance patrol in northern France on August 12, 1944, when he lost his life. It is believed that the entire patrol was wiped out. He is buried in the United States Military Cemetery about 33 miles northeast of Rennes, France. Before his death Steve had taken a part in the Normandy and Northern France Campaigns. CHARLES WARREN DENNIS, JR. Class of 1945 Second Lieutenant, 80th Fighter Group, 10th Air Force Rated a pilot and commissioned a Second Lieutenant at Moore Field, Texas, Charles joined the 80th Fighter Group in the China- Burma-India theater after finishing Fighter Operational Training in this country. Charles had just completed thirty-two missions as a P-47, Thunderbolt, pilot over the jungles of northern Burma when he landed at Shingbwiyang, Burma, on January 4, 1945. He made a good landing, but his tailwheel failed to unlock. A crew chief was proceeding to the airplane that was on the runway when another aircraft came in for an emergency landing. The pilot of the disabled airplane did everything possible to avoid a collision, but he crashed into the airplane, killing Charles instantly. His father, Mr. Charles W. Dennis, and his mother, Mrs. Frank McHugh, make their residence in Needham, Massachusetts. TWENTY-THREE

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GILBERT NVAYNE STANSFIELD, JR. Class of 1944 Second Lieutenant, 48th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division Pete won the highest honor for outstanding leadership, charac- ter, and scholarship in the 60th class of the Armored Oflicer Candi- date School at Fort Knox. As a reward, he had his Second Lieu- tenant's bars pinned on by Brigadier General P. M. Robinett, Com- mandant of the Armored School. On November 24, 1944, Q'Pete, as a tank and platoon com- mander in Company B, was in the lead tank with his turret hatch open as the periscopes had frosted over in the vicinity of Shirmeck, traveling up the St. Quirin Valley Road, when, after going through a road block, he was killed by a sniper's bullet. Pete was buried in the United States Military Cemetery in Epinal, France. His mother, Mrs. Maria G. Osborn, lives in Monson, Massa- chusetts. Lf Sxsxx ffffff j,jNj,,f,,- xxggfjff.. .- SETH SPRAGUE, JR. Class of 1944 Second Lieutenant, 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division Those who knew young Seth well were conscious of a far- away look in his eyes. He rejoiced in all his happy associations, but he seemed at the same time to be seeing the invisible. He was already at home on the other side. And so when the call came to him to make the supreme sacrifice, to break away so early from all that tied him here, he was ready. The unseen was familiar ground to him. 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man give up his life for his friends' ,' Very little is known of the circumstances surrounding Seth's death. He was serving as a platoon leader in Company C when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Seth Sprague, of Hingham, Massachusetts, were first notified that he was missing in action. Later his parents were informed that Seth was killed on January 13, 1945, in the battle for Hatten, France. XVALTER H. WEATHERILL Class of 1944 Sergeant, 106th Infantry Division Walter participated as a member of the 106th Division, which was cited by the President, in the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded in the shoulder, but fought on until he was hit with a hand grenade about the face. A companion carried him to a German medical unit after they were captured. Hedied some- where in Germany in a motorized German prison hospital on Decem- ber 29, 1944. The following September, his wife received word that his body had been recovered and had been laid to rest in Margraten, Holland. Wfalter graduated from Thayer Academy in 1940 before coming to Norwich, whence he departed to enlist in the Army on Sep- tember 1S, 1942. He married Patricia McAllen of Youngstown, Ohio, a year later. His wife and parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Weatherill, of Brockton, Massachusetts, survive him. TWENTY-TWO

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Lf xx fffffff f 11- xxgggfff' .1 SAMUEL SLATER DURFEE Class of 1945 First Lieutenant, 57th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force Sam,' was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters for his achievements in eighty-five missions with the 64th Fighter Squadron in Italy. His unit was cited for outstanding achievements by the President of the United States on four different occasions. Upon his return to the United States, Sam was assigned to Biggs Field, Texas. While he was engaged in target maneuvers in Otero County, New Mexico, a wing came off his plane as he dived toward his target, and he was killed instantly when his airplane crashed to the ground. His wife, Mrs. Teddy Wilson Durfee, of Florida, and his mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. F. Olliver Brown, of Wickford, Rhode Island, survive him. HENRY JOHN FRANK Class of 1945 Staff Sergeant, 334th Bomb Group QMJ, Army Air Force Henry .Frank completed the Gunnery Course at Fort Meyers, Florida, and was rated as an aerial gunner. He remained at that school as a gunnery instructor until he was transferred to Columbia, South Carolina, thence to Greenville, South Carolina, for opera- tional training in B-25, Mitchell, bombers. On May 16, 1944, he was returning with his crew in a B-25 from a training mission when, in their attempt to land, the plane failed to respond to the controls, crashed into the ground, and burst into flames. Sergeant Frank lost his life, as did the entire crew. Mrs. Margaret E. and Mr. William H. Frank, his mother and father, survive him. They make their home in South Norwalk, Connecticut. l JAMES M. LOGAN Class of 1945 Corporal, 513th Parachute Regiment, 17th Airborne Division Jim took an active part in community affairs before coming to Norwich. He was a Scout patrol leader and interested himself in the Norwalk Methodist Church. Jim's unit, the 17th Airborne Division, was flown to Paris from England, where they had completed their training, on Decem- ber 24, 1944. Because of a blinding blizzard, the Division went into action as infantry on January 1, 1945, for the blizzard blocked any plan for parachuting into combat. He was an expert rifleman, but was serving as a machine gunner on January 7, 1945, near Flamierge, Belgium, when he was killed by an enemy tank artillery barrage after assisting a wounded com- panion into his foxhole. Jim,' was buried in the United States Military Cemetery, Grand Failly, ten miles north of Verdun, France. His mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. David O. Logan, who sur- vive him, livc in Norwalk, Connecticut. TWENTY-FOUR