Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator 41-23788.



He survived but was hospitalized following crash-landing in Mediterranean following mission over Sicily on July 2, 1943 (6 of 11 fellow crewmembers perished). Rescued at sea by a British Royal Navy mine layer named 'The Angel of Death' which happened to have the entire British General Staff onboard due to the impending Sicilian Invasion. A month later, on August 1, 1943, he volunteered from hospital bed and flew on the Ploesti Mission, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.



- Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Purple Heart, Distinguished Unit Badge, Oak Leaf Cluster, Good Conduct Medal, Goldfish Parch (from British Royal Navy)