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39th Bomb Group (VH)
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"City of Charleston" (WV)
"Little George, Jr." 
 B-29 # 44-69791

Crew 27 - Guam July 1945
Courtesy of Harry D. Hink

Standing L to R:
1st Lt Thomas A. Cronin Navigator
1st Lt James L. Taylor Bombardier 
Capt George H. Walsh Airplane Commander 
1st Lt Harry D. Hink Pilot
Capt Anthony Quesada  Radar Observer
Kneeling L to R:
F/O John Eckert  Flight Engineer
M/Sgt Cecil G. Beverly  Crew Chief - Ground Crew
T/Sgt Arthur Loera  CFC Gunner
Sgt Stanley Westover, Jr. Left Gunner
S/Sgt Frank C. Wien Tail Gunner
S/Sgt Robert Wendels Right Gunner

Anthony "Tony" Quesada submitted the following (for "History of the 39th BG") 

George Walsh, my A/C became a weatherman in 1946. In 1947, he and a colleague and their wives took a C-46 sightseeing to Venezuela to see the Bridal Veil Falls. They crashed in the jungle and all aboard perished.

Updated: 25 March 2002
The following is additional information submitted by Harry D. Hink:

"George Walsh, our aircraft commander, left the crew with a few missions remaining before the war ended. He was reassigned to Group Headquarters. I took over the crew as aircraft commander. The crew had 28 missions at War's end. The last mission was the big formation flight over Tokyo Bay and the Battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945, when the peace was signed.

As a matter of interest, the name "Little George" was the name of George Walsh's son who was born just before we went to Guam.

As I recall, the crews were broken up while we were still on Guam. I was transferred to the 497th Group, 73rd Wing, on Saipan September 21, 1945, and flew one of their aircraft to the States, never to see "Little George" again.

The only crew member I was stationed with in the years following the War was Robert Wendels, our right gunner, while we were both assigned to the Alaskan Command, 1956-1959.


Anyone with additional information about this crew please email: updates@39th.org
Source: "History of the 39th Bomb Group"; Harry D. Hink, Pilot