SGT. FAULKNER GETS AIR MEDAL AND 2 CLUSTERS
Staff Sgt. Robert C. Faulkner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Faulkner of this city, has been awarded the air medal plus two oak leaf clusters for having completed more than 30 missions as a turret gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress with the 15th army air force in Italy, according to a dispatch from the air force headquarters in that theater.
Sergeant Faulkner flew his first mission on April 15, when the Forts attacked the railroad yards at Ploesti, Romania, and one of his latest flights was the first shuttle mission bombing trip to Russia and back.
The dispatch from air force headquarters says in part:
“A task force of flying and ground personnel from the 15th air force recently returned from a ten day stay at an American base in Russia. The historic visit of the American airmen marks the first shuttle mission to the soviet.
“Leaving their Italian bases on June 2, the B-17 Flying Fortresses attacked a railroad yard and junction at Debresczen, Hungary, and then continued on to an undisclosed American base in Russia. Operating from the Soviet Union, the American Fortresses and their Mustang fighter escort attacked an airdrome near Galatz, Romania. On June 11, they attacked the airfield at Focsani, near Budapest, on their return to Italy.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - July 20, 1944
S. SGT. FAULKNER INJURED ON 50TH BOMBING FLIGHT
Staff Sgt. Robert Faulkner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Faulkner of this city, has completed his 50 bombing missions as a gunner in the Italian theater of war, but was wounded slightly Sept. 13, on his final mission, he has written his parents.
Sergeant Faulkner suffered minor injuries to an ankle and leg for which he was awarded the purple heart. He wrote that he was getting along nicely, and hoped he would be able to return to the states soon.
One of the 50 missions on which Sergeant Faulkner flew was the first shuttle flight to soviet Russia. His 50th flight was made over Germany.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - Sept. 27, 1944
NOTES:
Robert Charles Faulkner was born Apr. 24, 1924 to Lee Walker and Hazel Lee King Faulkner. He died Jan. 29, 1969 and is buried in Magnolia Memorial Park, Garden Grove, CA.
Sources: Daily Freeman Journal and ancestry.com
