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39th Bomb Group (VH)
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Bombardier's Badge
Flight Engineer's
Badge

airmedal.gif [The Air Medal]
with
br_oak2.jpg [Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster]

Unit Citation
and Awards


arpuc.jpg [The Presidental Unit Citation]

with
Oak Leaf Cluster

Service Awards

amcamp.gif [The American Campaign Medal]
apcm.jpg [The Asiatic-Pacfic Campaign Medal]


with
star1.gif [Bronze Star]


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1st Lt Elmo F. Huston
Flight Engineer
Elmo was born 27 Sept '17, the son of Prince Garfield and MAry Huston. Reared on a farm near Salem, Indiana. He moved to the city of Salem in 1928. He graduated from Salem High School in 1936.

At the age of 19, he enlisted in the Indiana National Guards and served with Co. C, 152nd Infantry until he entered Purdue University where he graduated in June 1940 with a BSEE degree. He worked for 11 months in mechanical engineering until the draft board had other ideas.

On 2 June 1941, Huston enlisted in the Army and started training at Chanute Field, IL. as a cadet in the aircraft maintenance and engineering course. Upon completion, he was assigned to the Las Vegas Army Gunnery School. He was en route on 7 Dec '41. He was commisioned soon after arrival and served as an aircraft maintenance officer until Aug. '44. After volunteering for several assignments to see some action, he was sent to Salina, Kansas and the 39th Bomb. Group.

The crew flew 15 combat missions including the "Show of Power" on 2 Sept '45. They were very lucky because only one of the 15 of flak holes encountered caused severe damage. That one caused an engine failure and they landed on Iwo Jima for repair.

Elmo Ferrell Huston
Elmo F. Huston - 2001

On the day Elmo was discharged as a Captain, 1 March '46, he started working for the Ohio Brass C., Mansfield, Ohio as a development engineer on mining and electrical equipment. He was trasfered first to Barberton, Ohio and then to San Francisco where he was district sales manager until he retired in 1984. Huston started working again in 1991 and retired again in 2001 after being a sales repersentative for a company involved with eletric transit.

Elmo and Cena Bailey were married in 1968 and lived in San Francisco and Oakland until Cena died in 1994.

In 1980, Cena organized the first reunion of Crew7. They met on a house boat on Lake Mead, Nevada for the first time in 35 years to celebrate VJ Day.

On September 11, 2000, (55 yrs after VJ Day) Elmo and fellow crew members, Chester Juvenal, Ralph A. Hardin and Dan Jesser, Richard Little, Howard Reed and Ed Reilly represented their crew in a ceremony hosted by Laredo TX, honoring Crew 7's accomplishments during their combat missions in their B-29 named "City of Laredo".


Click on the link below to view the Proclamation given to Crew 7 by the City Council of Laredo, TX
Click on the link below to view the Resolution given to
1st Lt Elmo F. Huston by other members of Crew 7 at their
55th Annversary Reunion

Webmaster's Note: Elmo was one of the first 39ers (outside of the Association) I was in contact with (9 Dec. 2000). For over 8 yrs Elmo has been instrumental in providing copies of various military orders, crew and personal photos from his collection pertaining to his service with the 39th Bomb Group for use on this web site, as well as loaning me several books to aid in the material for the site.

Without his willingness to share this material and his personal accounts as well as gather similar information from the other members of the crew, P-7's section would be one of the most complete section of the web site.

Elmo Huston took his final flight on 1 March 2009 (91 yrs of age) at his home in Oakland, CA. - He will be deeply missed.



Source: Elmo F. Huston