Norwich University - War Whoop Yearbook (Northfield, VT)

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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

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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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ff -3XgxXSXxx ,-if fff- J, .-f1xf.,- xxgg .- , .9.9- RALPH SHEPARD MADISON C1,,,, gf 1945 Corporal, 2nd Marine Division Ralph was ordered to the Hawaiian Islands after completing his training as a radio operator and repairman. He trained in the Islands for his duties as the radio operator of an amphibious tank with the 2nd Marine Division. He was engaged in the battle for Saipan on July 3, 1944, when the tank in which he was a crew member struck a mine. He and one other crewman of the seven-man crew were killed instantly. Mrs. Jean Madison and her two-year-old son, Lyn Francis, make their home in Northfield, Vermont. Ralph's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Francis Madison, reside in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. survive him. Daiuo LOUIS SASSOROSSI clam of 1945 Private First Class, 314th Infantry Dario was selected to participate in the Army Specialized Train- ing Program after his entry into the Army in April, 1943. He attended Colorado College, after which he was assigned to Fort Leonard Wood for infantry training. He was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge for his performance of duty with Company L. On January 16, 1945, his company was advancing in the vicinity of Rohrwiller, France, when they were subjected to an artillery barrage. Dario was hit by shrapnel, and was killed instantly. He was laid to rest in the United States Military Cemetery at Epinal, France. I ' I His mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Sassorossi, reside in Barre, Vermont, where Dario was born on October 1, 1923. TWENTY-FIVE A. ROBERT OGSTON Class of 1945 Private, 350th Infantry, 88th Division In the battle of Salerno, on july 10, 1944, Bob's unit, Com- pany K, was advancing against the enemy, who were entrenched in a mountainous region.. Bob was hit in the head by shrapnel and thus made the supreme sacrifice. Before departing for overseas, Bob was married on May 10, 1943, to Betty Jean Pharris of Tulsa, Oklahoma. His wife and daughter, who was born five days before her father waas killed, Prior to his death, Bob had taken part in the battle for Anzio, and had been awarded the Combat Infantry Badge.