AIR FORCE
1941 - 1945

1st Lt. George A. Hannon.  Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1916, he enlisted in the Army AIr Corps in June 1941 and graduated from the  US Army Air Force Navigator School at Mather Air Force Base, Sacramento, CA in June 1943. After graduation he was sent to the 381st Bomb Group, 533rd squadron of the 8th Air Force, stationed at Ridgewell AIrbase, Essex England as a Navigator on a B-17 bomber.  He flew 16 bombing missions for the 381st before being shot down by German fighters and had to parachute out of a burning plane into Germany. He was eventually captured by German soldiers and sent to Stalag Luft 1 Prisoner of War Camp in Barth, Germany where he spent 16 months as a German POW.  He was rescued in an emergency airlift by the 8th AIr Force May 14, 1945 under the noses of the occupying Russian troops in north eastern Germany.  He  returned to the US in June 1945, two years after he left.

Honored by: His daughters: Mary Beaty, Margaret Hannon, Barbara Hannon