Joe Gonzalez - Mickey Strand - Veterans Series

Richard H. Wehmeyer
US Army Air Corps
First Lieutenant
World War II

 Richard H. Wehmeyer was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, on February 3, 1923. After graduating from Beaumont High School in January of 1941, he attended Columbia University in New York. Richard hoped to join the Army Air Corp (AAC) and enter the pilot training pipeline. He finished two years of credits at Columbia by attending classes full time, including summer and breaks, accelerating his completion the minimum requirements to qualify for the Flying/Aviation Cadet Pilot Training Program.
 In March 1943, he reported to Grand Central Station in New York City for induction to begin pilot training. He passed his medical screening and boarded a Pullman car bound for Kessler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi, to attend Army Boot Camp. Now a Cadet, he was paid $50 base pay & $25 flight pay, the same as a Private. Cadet Wehmeyer reported to Elon College in North Carolina for 30 training days. He continued to Nashville for the Pilot Program, followed by Montgomery, Alabama, for classroom training, followed by Basic Flight at Clarksdale, Mississippi, flying two-seat training single-engine PT-23 Fairchilds, with his first flight on Sep 4, 1943.
 Richard reported to Basic Flying School at Greenville Army Airfield, Mississippi. His first flight was on November 9th, 1943, training in the BTa-13 Valiant. He flew many missions, planning and filing flight plans for the first time. In the 90-day course, they learned acrobatics, instruments, and how to fly with other aircraft in groups. Richard was then selected for multi-engine flight training at George Field, Illinois, flying the Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita. On April 15th, Richard graduated and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He married his wife, Dorthy, on April 19th, whom he had met at Columbia University.
 They reported to Maxwell Field, Alabama, where he learned to fly the B-24 Liberator for a few months. After that, he reported to crew assignment and trained with his flight crew. In November, Richard and his crew sailed to England for 12 days, reporting to England for combat operations, but they were reassigned to a B-17 Flying Fortress squadron with the 92d Bomb Group.
 Being reassigned to a new aircraft type, Richard flew his first combat mission as a co-pilot on Jan 8th over France, assigned to hit a road junction. Richard still reads from his flight mission logs, cataloging his 30 combat missions, including targets in Berlin. He was assigned to the pilot seat and reunited with his crew for his 9th mission, targeting the rail yards at Fulda. On the sixth mission, the enemy fire took out two engines, forcing them to land the wounded B-17 north of Paris.
 Richard and his crew flew 30 combat missions, their last on April 25th, as the lead low element of the squadron. They made four runs through intense enemy fire and targeted an armament plant in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. The plane was heavily damaged with holes all through it and the loss of the #3 engine, as well as wounding the radio operator. This was the last combat mission for the 92nd Bomb Group. Richards’s 30 combat missions totaled over 640 flying hours.
 Richard finished his time in Europe after VE day, flying for the green project. This project included installing benches in B-17s to transport soldiers to Casablanca to board ships bringing them home.