Harold Howard Pinder, Lt., 67th Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, USAAF & John Joseph Pinder, T/5, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Medal of Honor, D-Day, US Army

Biography of Harold Howard Pinder

Lt., 67th Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, USAAF

Biography of John Joseph Pinder

T/5, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Medal of Honor, D-Day, US Army

I am the daughter of Lt. Harold Howard Pinder, the pilot of the B24 Liberator called the "Sky Queen". My father has since passed away and like so many of his generation would not discuss the war. My father's plane was shot down January 29th and crashed in a small village called Wilbrin on a mission to Frankfurt Germany. He and T/Sgt. Abe Sofferman survived the crash. Sofferman was later shot by the Germans and my father was declared MIA. My father’s older brother, MH, T/5 John Joseph Pinder, interviewed men at Lt. Harold Pinder's base to get an account of what transpired on January 29, 1944 and wrote several letters "back home" to their father. John Joseph Pinder was killed on June 6, 1944 in the invasion of Normandy holding on to hope his beloved brother was still alive. John Joseph Pinder was posthumously awarded The Medal of Honor on January 4, 1945.

I am particularly interested in a previous mission during the month of January 1944. I believe my father, Lt. Harold Pinder, piloted another B24 with shark jaws on the front of the plane. This plane was heavily damaged during the mission but I am told it was safely piloted back to base. I have a letter which vaguely refers to the mission and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

----- Jean Pinder-Kolarik

Email: jpk AT zbzoom.net

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