Price Brothers in World War II & Korean Conflict

Walter Thomas Price

Full Record PDF (5 pages)

Branch: US Army Airforce, 20 Oct 1942 (20 yo) - 14 Feb 1946 (3 yr 3 mo 24 days). 300th Army Air Force Base Unit (Headquartered in Tampa FL); [probably] 330th (Combat Crew Training Station-Heavy [Bomber], III Bomber Command) Dyersburg Army Air Field, Tenn.

Highest grade: Sergeant

Role: "Radio Operator-Mechanic-Gunner. Served with an Air Corps Unit stationed at various bases in the United States. Operated airborne transmitting and receiving equipment [on B-17 Flying Fortress]. Sent and received messages in International Morse Code. Maintained calibration charts, and revised transmitter tuning data as necessary. Made necessary flight repairs to radio equipment. In aerial combat manned 50 cal. machine gun." [1]

Training & assignments [1]:

• Air Corp Basic Training (2 mo)
  • Story: According to WTP, he got sick and was assigned a desk job during most of Basic. At the end of the 2 months his commander realized he'd never been on the shooting range, so sent him out on the last day to do some shooting so they could complete his paperwork.
• Training in radio operation and maintenance, Army Air Force Training School, Truax Field, Madison WI (14 wks).
  • Story: According to WTP, he got sick here too, with pneumonia. He was so homesick that he got up from his hospital bed and went to the train station to go AWOL to St. Louis. But standing on the cold tracks, he realized his mother would kill him, so he returned.
• Aerial Gunnery School, Laredo Air Field, Laredo TX (7 wks)
  • Story: Maybe it was here that his plane caught on fire. The crew were all donning their parachutes, but WTP refused. No way was he going to jump out of a plane. His courage lay elsewhere. Long story short, they landed safely without bailing out.
• Radio operator-mechanics training, Army Airforce Training School, Sioux Falls, SD (28 wks)
  • Story: WTP was not a warrior. He loved radio school because it was full of interesting musicians. The musicians were recruited to radio school because they were good at memorizing long strings of Morse code.
• Radio operator-mechanics training, AC Gunnery School, Yuma AZ (6 wks)
• College academic courses, CTD, Xavier University, Cincinnati OH (4 mo)
• Radio operator-mechanic-gunner (14 mo)
  • Story: It may have been during this period that WTP's flight crew helped in the search operation for Flight 19, lost in "the Bermuda Triangle" on Dec. 5, 1945. He was always skeptical of the paranormal theories about this area.

John Michael Price

Branch: Merchant Marines

Training & assignments: Merchant Marine Academy, Great Neck, LI, 2 yrs. Unknown amount of time in England. Was transferred over to Naval Reserves January 1943. [2]

William James Price

Branch: Army.

Training & assignments: Artillery using big guns from ships. Deployed to Germany at the end of the war and his unit was assigned to work as Infantry by General Patton. 549th Battalion record: Activated Jan 20, 1943; overseas Sept 28, 1944; committed Dec 10, 1944; VE Day May 9,1945. Battle participations: Ardennes, Rhineland, Central Europe. Image at the top is a rendering of Bill's time in action by his brother J. Patrick Price.

Stories: Drew short straw to get water. Took helmets. Three German soldiers came out of the bushes and surrendered to him. (This needs a more dramatic telling!) [2]

Joseph Patrick Price

Branch: Navy. Stationed in san Diego and Japan. Converted to Seabees [Construction Battalions of the US Navy). [2]

Training & Assignments: Aircraft and building design.

NOTES/sources

[1] from discharge papers

[2] from J. Pat Price

1.5.10 (rev. 15 Apr 2024)

 

FOLLOW me on my Facebook page, share this post to your friends, and....