Beaugh signs WWII B-17 wing panel

World War II veteran George Beaugh became the 104th person to sign a piece of history that will eventually be displayed at Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
On Tuesday, Beaugh, 92, of Morgan City, signed the 384th Bombardment Group (Heavy) Commemorative wing panel. Beaugh served in the 8th Army Air Corps on a B-17 Flying Fortress, part of the 384th Bomb Group that attacked the Nazis during World War II.
The panel has traveled to 28 states to be signed by the veterans who served with the 384th Bomb Group. Keith Ellefson, 71, of Ozark, Alabama, who is a member of the 384th bomb Group Next Generation Association, found out about Beaugh after seeing his name on a 384th Bomb Group Inc. membership roster. The signing project began in October 2010 at a group reunion in Branson, Missouri, Ellefson said. Beaugh was the first member from Louisiana to sign the panel, Ellefson said.
Members of the 384th Bomb Group flew their first combat mission during World War II on June 22, 1943, and flew their last mission April 25, 1945, Ellefson said.
Ellefson traveled with his friend Mike Jerrell, 68, of Dothan, Alabama, to bring the wing panel to Morgan City for Beaugh to sign.
Beaugh, a native of Lewisburg, has lived in Morgan City since 1956 when he moved to open a shoe store. He was a flight engineer manning the top turret gun and the only one of 10 crew members in his bomber unit who was never hospitalized or grounded during combat, he said. “My guardian angels were with me,” Beaugh said with a laugh.
B-17s flew in groups of 28 planes each with the largest bombing runs consisting of four groups, Beaugh said.
Two members of his crew were killed in combat and buried in England, where the crew was based during the war, he said. Beaugh is the only member of the crew still living, he said. Every time the bomber group flew a mission, somebody was not going to come back alive, Beaugh said.
“The triangle P, that was us,” Beaugh said. “Every group had an insignia. The triangle P was the 384th’s.” The heavy notation was due to the bombs used being considered big bombs for the time period, he said.
Ellefson became interested in the 384th Bomb Group after learning that his uncle, Raymond Wisdahl, served with the group, he said. Wisdahl was in the 546th squadron, the same one Beaugh was in, but at a different time, he said.
Wisdahl, who died in 1997, flew 35 combat missions and then got out of the Army Air Corps, Ellefson said. “He never talked about the war,” Ellefson said. “If you didn’t know enough to ask a direct question, you didn’t get an answer at all.”
However, Ellefson began to look further into his uncle’s service after a cousin did a Google search that revealed photos of Wisdahl around the time his plane was shot down in September 1944, he said. One of the photos showed Wisdahl sitting in his plane, Ellefson said.
Ellefson called the webmaster of the site on which he found the photos after he saw Wisdahl was listed as having only flown five missions, he said. The webmaster told Ellefson the people working to enter the data on the website had not yet had the time to be able to enter all the members and missions those members served, he said.
Ellefson then started helping website organizers with research, he said. “We’re still doing data entry,” he said.
The research team has entered 7,123 personnel from the 384th Bomb Group into a database, Ellefson said. Of those, 4,380 were combat crew members and 2,743 were non-combat personnel. A total of 522 combat crew members were killed.
Ellefson either called or sent letters to crew members to attempt to get their signatures on the panel. “I’ve still got 15 names that have never answered,” Ellefson said. Ellefson does not know why those members have not responded, he said.
Ellefson contacted Beaugh in May when he sent a bunch of letters to members of the group, he said. One member Ellefson sent a letter to did not respond to the letter, but about three weeks ago he found the man’s name on Facebook. Ellefson then got an email address through the Facebook page, and the man called Ellefson a short time later, he said.
Beaugh is a member of the 384th Bomb Group Inc. and pays his dues every year, Beaugh said.
Ellefson has helped gather names and information through multiple sources including wartime documents. The research team still has several names of ground crew members who served in the 384th Bomb Group whose names have not been entered into a database, he said. “All the flight crews are accounted for,” Ellefson said.
The ground crews assisted the combat crews by making sure the planes were ready to fly each morning, Ellefson said.
Beaugh flew 31 combat missions all in either Germany or France during World War II. Lt. Charles Gowder piloted the B-17 on which Beaugh served. Beaugh said the safest spot on the plane was the tail gunner position due to it being the furthest from the gas tanks, which were located in the wings. Beaugh left the Army Air Corps in October 1945, achieving the rank of tech sergeant.
In addition to Tuesday’s signing of the wing panel, Beaugh will also soon celebrate another special event. Christmas Eve will mark Beaugh and his wife Norma’s 70th wedding anniversary.