TOP
usaflag.gif
39th Bomb Group (VH)
usaflag.gif

[Search Tip: Use " " for better search results ex. "John Q. Doe"; "City of ..."]
"The Bald Eagle"
3 4 5

"The Bald Eagle" in flight

Click image to enlarge and see the 39th BG B-29s in formation - P-12 is in the lower right of image.



Standing L to R:
F/O Richard W. Strachan Bombardier
1st Lt  Richard D. Tague Navigator
Capt Norman W. Fuerth Airplane Commander
1st Lt Edward A. Polite Pilot
1st Lt  Lamar C. Noble Radar Observer
Kneeling L to R:
S/Sgt Robert Brown  CFC Gunner
S/Sgt Jesse Grubb  Left Gunner
S/Sgt Leonard S. Trester Radio Operator
T/Sgt Otto Seier  Flight Engineer
Sgt Floyd A. Dawson Tail Gunner
S/Sgt Leonard L. Celmer Right Gunner

usaflag.gif
 Crew 12 
Honor Roll 
usaflag.gif
1st Lt Lamar C. Noble
Radar Observer
March 1961
S/Sgt Leonard Trester
Radio Operator
March 1967
F/O Richard W. Strachan
Bombardier
December 1982
1st Lt Richard D. Tague
Navigator
July 1983
Capt Norman W. Fuerth
Airplane Commander
10 July 1992
Sgt Floyd Dawson
Tail Gunner
9 September 2002
1st Lt Edward A. Polite
Pilot
01 October 1989
T/Sgt Otto Seier
Flight Engineer
6 April 2003
S/Sgt Leonard L. Celmer
Right Gunner
19 February 2006

Update:

09 Jan 2019: Added Floyd Dawson Profile Page to Crew 12 Section, his name to the Crew Honor Roll and Final Flight Section. Thank you to his son Craig notifying us of his passing.

30 Sept 2006: Added photo of P-12 in flight to page.

27 April 2006: Added Leonard Celmer to Honor Roll

12 June 2002 - Added Crew Honor Roll based on information found on the Social Security Death Index Database.

In a phone conversation with Leonard Celmer he mentioned that the crew nicknamed their B-29 "Bald Eagle" in honor of their Airplane Commander who at his young age of 26 in 1945 was already bald. They hoped he it took it in stride and it appears he did.

Otto Seier of Grand Island, NC is the only member of the crew Leonard Celmer had been in contact with since their WWII days. During his last conversation with Seier, Otto mentioned not feeling up to par and at Celmer's next attempt to contact him he was unable to.

Celmer recalls the serial number of their B-29 "The Bald Eagle" as ending in "24707"

Status of Robert Brown, Casey, IL and Jesse Grubb, Chatham, Virginia are unknown.


60th Squadron Crew Index
Sources: "History of the 39th Bomb Group"; Leonard Celmer, RG