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Staff Sergeant (Sep.) Harry Grimm boarded a train in July 1943 for U.S. Army basic training and to eventually become an aerial gunner in the Army Air Corps. After months of training, he reported to the 351st Bomb Group and, within a week, was flying his first combat mission as a tail-gunner aboard a B-17. During the next nine months, Grimm flew a total of 35 missions, mainly targeting oil refineries and production facilities in Germany. He remembered “flying through flak so thick that you could hardly see the sun,” in an area known as Flak Alley. He also remembers the German fighter that flew vertically up through the middle of his formation. Grimm shot the Luftwaffe aircraft in the belly as it passed, before another gunner scored hits on the cockpit. On his final mission, Grimm’s aircraft developed engine trouble and was spewing oil; the crew barely made it back. Through all of it, Grimm said that he never thought of dying or retirement…only of doing his job on that mission. During his 27 months in the military, Grimm earned three Bronze Battle Stars and the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters.
120114-F-BJ707-002.JPG Photo By: AFPAA

Apr 21, 2016
Western Pennsylvania - Photo by Senior Master Sgt. Gary Rihn


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