Thomas F Rice Jr
MilitaryAssociated person record.
First Lieutenant Thomas R. Rice, Jr., veteran navigator-bombardier of 30 missions over Europe and member of the Caterpillar Club, was born in Hartford, Connecticut on March 1, 1921.
Forced to "hit the silk" when flak gouged three of the four engines from their mountings, Lieutenant Rice parachuted to safety in France just over the border from Germany. The Liberator was hit on a return trip from a German mission shortly after it had crossed the Rhine which was then held by Nazi forces.
Rice enlisted in the Army Air Corps in July 1942 after attending Trinity College for two years. He was a commissioned a second lieutenant in Texas in March, 1943 and went overseas in April 1944. A member of a lead crew in a B-24 group with the 8th Air Force, he was promoted to his present rank while based in France.
Lieutenant Rice, a graduate of Bulkeley High School, wears the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Presidential Citation. He participated in bombing attacks over Normandy on D-Day and later flew against the enemy during the "Belgian Bulge" days.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Missions
- Date: 15 March 1945
- Date: 16 January 1945
- Date: 29 December 1944
- Date: 24 December 1944
- Date: 25 September 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: North Pick
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Pathway
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Hartford, CT, USA | 1 March 1921 |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / http://8thairforce.com/44thbg/search/perlastname.asp