Reese's 457th Bomb Group Page
 

This page is made up of pictures of our crew. Almost all these pictures were taken in 1944 and 1945 and most were at the air base at Glatton .

Just click on the thumbnail picture to display a larger version.
 
 
The crew of "That's My Baby" at Gulfport, Miss. in September of 1944. From left to right standing is James McCloskey - ball turret gunner, Albert Knox - waist gunner, Charles Kenney - radioman, Clair Hetrick - waist gunner, Percy Mack - tail gunner, Edward Peters - engineer. Kneeling from left to right is Joel Lester - Bombardier, Don Scheuch - Navigator, Jim Stoner - copilot and A. Willard Reese - pilot. .      
This is another picture of the same crew as the above picture. This was taken in Gulfport shortly before we left for overseas.      
This is the officers of our crew. This was also taken in Gulfport in the summer of 1944 before we left for England.      
This is pretty much the same crew as above except that it's taken overseas at Glatton just before a mission in the winter of 1944/45. Paul "Rocky" Brook (kneeling second from left) has replaced Don Scheuch on our crew.     
Four guys from hut No 29 where we lived. Joel Lester, a Navigator friend (name lost), Me and Jim Stoner.       Editor's Note (8/12/99) - Since posting this picture, and thanks to a recovered memory and internet search, I have made contact with that missing "Friend" whose name is Walter Sale, navigator, who now lives in Illinois. He flew with the Harold D. Gay crew. His crew was shot down on a mission to Magdeburg on Sept 22, 1944. Walter flew with another crew on that date. (His crew all perished.)
Three hotshot preparing to go on leave. Joel Lester, Me and Jim Stoner. The sign on the door behind us says:
"Keep Em Pouring"
"Sgt. Quarters"
 
These are the surviving members of our crew. We got to together for the first time in over 50 years at the 457th reunion in Savannah. GA in Oct. 1997. From left to right - Clair Hetrick - waist gunner, Joel Lester - bombardier, Me (Willard Reese) - Pilot, Percy Mack - tail gunner, and James McCloskey - ball turret.      
This is me in 1944. A little fuzzy but that about describes me.      
The same three guys again. 
This is a photo of the four officers of the crew - Jim Stoner, Copilot, - Me (Willard Reese), Pilot, - Don Scheuch, Navigator (shot down on his second mission), - Joel Lester, Bombardier. Picture was taken in a club in Savannah just before we left the USA for England. 
This picture was taken just before a mission in which we flew group lead. Standing - Me (Willard Reese), Paul (Rocky) Brooks, Capt. Franklin Rollins (Squadron Leader), Joel Lester. Knelling - Percy Mack, Charles Kenney, Edward Peters, and Clair Hetrick.      
This is a picture taken in the locker room showing us preparing for a mission. Standing in the background is Me (Willard Reese), (note the shoulder holster), kneeling in the middle is our copilot, Jim Stoner. The person in the foreground is unknown. 
This is me, "Hap" Reese, in Primary flight training in 1943 at Dorr Field in Arcadia, Fl. The plane is probably the favorite of all cadet trainees -- the Stearman PT-17.      
This is the 751st Squadron emblem and was frequently worn as a patch on the front of the leather bomber jacket or was painted on the back of the jacket. The emblem shows a leaping white mountain goat, racing a bomb through crosshairs, and impacting the target with his horns.      
This is the emblem of the 751st Squadron that was reconstructed and recolored. It is the way the Squadron emblem originally appeared. This artwork was done by an email friend Don Henderson who has reconstructed several pieces of art for this web site. The lettering around the perimeter has been added by Don at my request.      
    
 
 

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