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Whelp, thought I would post WHY i fly...

My uncle, Hank, Eastern Airline Captain (Check Pilot) and WWII hero (mine anyway). Two Silver Stars, Distinguished Flying Cross (two Oak Clusters) and Air Medal (three Oak Clusters) and I have all his Pilot Wings from WWII and Eastern Air Lines... treasures all...

I hope you enjoy...

Slow


From: www.100thbg.com (search for "Rosine").


2nd Lt. Henry Rosine Close


See Picture A

Lt. Henry Rosine Crew
Lt. Henry Rosine - 2nd from left, kneeling
Sgt. William Dear - 2nd from left, standing
Sgt. Corbin Bland - 4th from left, standing
Sgt. Carl "Mike" Coleman - 5th from left, standing
100th BG Photo Archives
Photo ID by Mike Martinez, grandson of Carl M. Coleman (5/19/2005)


See Picture B
Lt. Henry Rosine Crew (left to right)
Standing: Richard Leaman (CP), Henry Rosine (P), Edward Kenna (BOM), David Ribnick (NAV)
Kneeling: Richard Haines (ROG), William Dear (TTE), Ben Mailloux (WG), Corbin Bland (WG),
Carl M. "Mike" Coleman (TG), Ramon Rodriguez (BTG)
Photo taken 25 Mar 1944 - Hunter Field, Georgia - Courtesy of Shannon Lopez
Photo ID by Mike Martinez, grandson of Carl M. Coleman (5/19/2005)



2ND LT HENRY ROSINE P CPT 24 JUL 44 ST. LO, GROUND SUPPORT
F/O RICHARD P. LEAMAN CP CPT 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG, OIL REF & HILDESHEIM
2ND LT DAVID S. RIBNICK NAV WIA 29 APR 44 BERLIN, CITY
2ND LT EDWARD F. KENNA BOM CPT 25 JUL 44 ST. LO
S/SGT WILLIAM F. DEAR TTE CPT 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG, OIL REF & HILDESHEIM
S/SGT RICHARD V. HAINES ROG CPT 28 JUL 44 MERSEBURG, OIL REF & HILDESHEIM
SGT RAMON C. RODRIGUEZ BTG CPT 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG, OIL REF & HILDESHEIM
SGT CORBIN K. BLAND WG RFS AFTER SEVERAL MISSIONS DUE TO WOUNDS
SGT BENOIT G. MAILLOUX WG CPT 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG, OIL REF & HILDESHEIM
SGT CARL M. COLEMAN TG CPT 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG, OIL REF & HILDESHEIM

350TH SQDN. . CREW, AS ABOVE, JOINED THE 100TH ON 12 APR 1944. .

2ND LT HENRY ROSINE TAPS: 15 JUN 1976
2ND LT DAVID S. RIBNICK TAPS: 1987
2ND LT EDWARD F. KENNA TAPS: 19 APR 1979
SGT RAMON C. RODRIGUEZ TAPS: 1981
SGT BENOIT G. MAILLOUX TAPS: 1986
SGT CARL M. COLEMAN TAPS: 18 SEP 1980

Crew flew most of its missions on "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E. This aircraft was named by the Rosine Crew. The Rosine Crew flew Boss Lady for the first time on May 23, 1944, Troyes, and then again on May 24, 1944 Target: BERLIN one FW 190 credited to BTG Sgt Rodriguez. This mission started a string of 14 missions for the Rosine Crew in Boss Lady. On May 28, 1944 over Magdeburg the Bombardier was credited with a FW 190. The plane suffered hits from 20mm shells and the aircraft had to be nursed home by Lt Rosine. More Battle Damage was incurred on June 18, 1944 over Brunsbuttelkoog. They would fly two more missions in this aircraft June 19, 1944 to Corme Ecluse and June 20, 1944 to Fallersleben. Lt Rosine Crew also flew these other aircraft, "Cahepit", 42-31074 LN-Q for two mission on April 27, 1944 to Flottmanville and LeCulot, "Fletcher's Castoria II" 42-31220 LN-P, "Got to Do It" 42-102934 LN-W, for a mission July 11, 1944 to Munich-Damaged by flak over Munich, Lt Rosine returned with one engine out and force landed into a field near Little Bently after running out of gas. Crew was ok, plane was salvaged. "Party Tonight" 42-97924 LN-H July 21, 1944, Target Regensburg/Ludwigsburg. "Powerhouse" 42-31534 LN-N May 8, 1944 to BERLIN and May 9, 1944 to Couvron Air Field in France.

MISSIONS OF LT HENRY ROSINE:

NBR DATE TARGET AIRCRAFT
01 20/4/44 FLOTTEMANVILLE --
02 26/4/44 BRUNSWICK --
03 27/4/44 FLOTTEMANVILLE (NO BALL) "Cahepit", 42-31074 LN-Q
04 27/4/44 LeCULOT "Cahepit", 42-31074 LN-Q
05 29/4/44 BERLIN --
06 7/5/44 BERLIN --
07 8/5/44 BERLIN "Powerhouse" 42-31534 LN-N
08 9/5/44 ATHIES "Powerhouse" 42-31534 LN-N
09 12/5/44 BRUX, CZECH. --
10 13/5/44 OSNABRUCK --
11 23/5/44 TROYES "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
12 24/5/44 BERLIN "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
13 25/5/44 BRUSSELS "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
14 27/5/44 STRASSBOURG "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
15 28/5/44 MAGDEBURG "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
16 30/5/44 TROYES "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
17 31/5/44 OSNABRUCK "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
18 2/6/44 PARIS "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
19 4/6/44 BOULOGNE "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
20 5/6/44 BOULOGNE "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
21 6/6/44 COAST OF FRANCE D-DAY "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
22 7/6/44 NANTES "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
23 15/6/44 WILSTER "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
24 18/6/44 BRUNSBUTTELKOOG "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
25 19/6/44 CORME ECLUSE "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
26 20/6/44 FALLERSLEBEN "Boss Lady" 42-102611 LN-E
27 25/6/44 MAQUIS SUPPLY DROP --
28 6/7/44 FLEURY (NO BALL) --
29 11/7/44 MUNICH "Got to Do It" 42-102934 LN-W
30 14/7/44 MAQUIS SUPPLY DROP --
31 18/7/44 KIEL --
32 19/7/44 SCHWEINFURT --
33 20/7/44 MERSEBURG --
34 21/7/44 REGENSBURG & LUDWIGSBURG "Party Tonight" 42-97924
LN-H
35 24/7/44 ST LO --

Rest of Crew completed their missions on July 28, 1944 Merseburg



Article from "The Palladium":

BATTERED FORT IS SAVED BY HENRY ROSINE

Three Motors Damaged, He Flies It Home From Berlin

AN EIGHTH AAF BOMBER STATION, England, May 15 (Special) – With three engines damaged and three men wounded, a 20-year-old pilot, 1st Lt. Henry Rosine, of St. Joseph, Mich., brought his battered bomber all the way back from Berlin to a safe landing at his Eighth AAF bomber base in Britain.

The bombs had already fallen on the key transportation points in the heart of the Nazi capital, and the big B-17 was on the way back when angry bursts of flak filled the sky around the formation.

30 Holes In Ship

"That flak punched about 30 holes in our ship," said Pilot Rosine. "It smashed number four engine, so I had to feather the prop. Another piece knocked a hole in the number three engine while more of the same stuff hit the number two engine right alongside my cockpit, cutting an oil line. That engine smoked all the way home, and I had to treat it very gently."

Flak punctured the nose of the Fortress and injured the bombardier in his right arm and the navigator in both arms. The navigator’s wounds were painful, although not serious, and the bombardier gave him a shot of morphine.

Although his wounds pained him a lot, the navigator, a 24-year-old youth from Aberdeen, S. D., remained cheerful. "He didn’t complain once," said the co-pilot, F/O Richard P. Leaman, 21, of Lancaster, Pa., who helped give first aid to the two men in the smashed nose.

The radio operator was wounded by another burst which sent flying fragments slashing through the radio compartment. He was able to take care of himself. "Just fixed his own wounds," said co-pilot Leaman.

To add to the troubles, another burst of flak hit the hydraulic system near the pilot’s compartment and started a smoking, choking fire.

"And that’s where the engineer saved the day," related pilot Rosine, who added that the 30-year-old engineer and top turret gunner, T/Sgt. William F. Dear, of Enterprise, Minn., put out the fire, repairing shorted electrical circuits, and cleaned up the mess of hydraulic fluid sloshing around under the pilots’ feet.

"About that time, too, Dear had to transfer fuel from the auxiliary tanks to the main ones," said the pilot. "He had to knock off several times and climb back into the turret to look for enemy fighters. We would have been an easy mark for them in our crippled condition and with three men wounded, Dear was right on the ball every minute. He did a swell job."

Already out of formation, pilot Rosine dropped his battered bomber down to about 7,000 feet and cloud-hopped back across Germany to escape Nazi fighters.

Lands Battered Bomber

"We had no brakes," the pilot added, "and we used up a little more than three-fourths of the runway coming in, but we made it. I still don’t know how those damaged engines stood up. But the did, and that’s what counts."

Two of the wounded men were rushed off to the base hospital and medical officers said their wounds were not serious. The third man returned to his barracks after first aid dressings were applied to his wounds.

The other uninjured members of the crew included: S/Sgt. Ramon C. Rodriguez, 19, of 930 South 8th Ave., Tucson, Ariz., ball turret gunner; S/Sgt. Benoit G. Mailloux, 21, of Dracut, Mass., right waist gunner; S/Sgt. Carl M. Coleman, 28, of Sausalito, Calif., the tail gunner, and S/Sgt Corbin Bland, 25, of Ada, Okla., the left waist whose oxygen system was shot out by the flak and who hovered on the brink of unconsciousness for a while, keeping himself from blacking-out almost by sheer will power, until he could get a new supply of oxygen.

Lt. Rosine gained his first flying experience at home, walking daily from his home in Scottdale, Mich., to the Benton Harbor, Mich., airport – a distance of about 10 miles – to take instruction.


-end-

Thats really cool. I've never met anybody who was any sort of aircrew from WWII in person. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Slow !

Very interresting read!


fled

I called and talked to his TTG/SGT Bill Dear and I asked how well he knew my uncle... he started crying (so did I) and said enlisted men only saw officers in the air... but he said he was the best pilot and that he would fly with him aywhere... (lumpie throat again LOL)... these men trusted each other with their lives - their own 'band of brothers" I suppose...

***PROUD***!

slow

Great story Slow, thanks for sharing...

some old pics - wings medals and a sortie card he kept... wonder what memories came to mind whenever he ran across it later in life...

I thought this should go with this post.. its a story about my Late Uncle hank's, late wife Rachel... hope you enjoy!

Rachel Rosine

Good reading Slow.
I know she's yer Aunt... but I still saw 'er first!
(And all the Hooter's girls!)

- Shades

Good reading Slow.
I know she's yer Aunt... but I still saw 'er first!
(And all the Hooter's girls!)

She would be honored Shades... she was a sweetheart with a deep raspy North Carolina accent... A real beautiful, glamorous lady.

My uncle originally flew Miami to Boston and they lived in Miami Beach back in the early 60's when it was something special. My uncle had a house once in Coral Gables but the neighbors looked down on him because he liked to do his own gardening... a no-no so they moved to Miami Beach...

I remember once how mad he got at 12 O' Click High (the TV show) for not portraying correctly what it was like to get shot up by a FW 190... the Book and Movie 12 O' Clock High was based on the Bloody Hundredth out of Thorpe Abbots.

Slow