Framingham’s 50 Mission B-17 Aviators: Bravery, Endurance, Sacrifice

100 Mission B-17 “Hell’s Kitchen” Crew (Image:USAAF)

 Image:UMASS

                

        Silver Star  DFC Bronze Star Air Medal

World War II was the defining moment of the 20th Century. Global in scope and cataclysmic in its impact.The war brought us the “Greatest Generation.”In the air,Framingham fought “above its weight class.”Framingham News articles from 1943 claim the town had 500 men in the US Army Air Force (USAAF) of which 100 were commissioned pilots.A number of these men were crew members in reliable,heavily armed Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses.Regardless of the theater in which they flew and/or how their missions were “counted,”bomber crewmen were members of an elite fraternity.Particularly revered were American aviators who completed 50 missions over hostile territory and lived to talk about it.Their courage was unassailable;their dedication to service irrefutable.

B-17 In-flight (Image:USAF)

Edward Francis “Skip”Stoddard lived at 63 Cochituate Road.He graduated from Framingham High School in 1935.In 1939 he was awarded a Bachelor of Science (BS) from the Massachusetts State College (which would later become UMass Amherst).He joined the USAAF within two weeks of graduation,receiving his pilot's wings in March of 1940.His command (the 301st Bomb Group) deployed to England in 1942.He subsequently flew for both the 8th and 15th Air Forces.He primarily supported Allied bombing efforts in North Africa, Sicily, Italy,and southern Europe.In October of 1942,he was given command of the 301st’s 32nd Bomb Squadron.“Skip” departed the 32nd upon completion of his 50th mission in July 1943.He was then selected to fly the 100 mission B-17 aircraft “Hell’s Kitchen” back to the U.S for a war bonds tour and some well-earned leave.He would later return to the 301st to serve as Operations Officer and Deputy Group Commander.His personal awards include the Silver Star Medal (“For Gallantry in Action”),the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC),and the Air Medal w/nine Oak Leaf Clusters (signifies 10 total awards).Stoddard remained in the new U.S. Air Force until his retirement as a full Colonel in 1961.This included service as a staff officer in the Korean War,for which he received a Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Service.He died in 1971 at 55 years of age.

Image:US Army

Suggested Videos

https://youtu.be/ak5gIz76ZPw  (Inside the B-17; Imperial War Museum)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYgXtQL0H6M (Flying Fortresses Bomb France, British Pathe)