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Contact Info
Home Town Jackson, Michigan
Last Address St. Joseph or Berrien, Michigan
Date of Passing Oct 14, 2009
Location of Interment Hillcrest Memorial Park - Jackson, Michigan
On Aug 24, 1944, B-24 "Wham! Bam! Thank You Ma'am" of the 854th Bomb Sq., 491st Bomb Gp. was shot down over Germany on their 1st combat mission. All 9 crew members parachuted safely to the ground even though 1 had been wounded in the stomach and another injured his ankle upon landing. They were soon captured, beaten somewhat, interrogated, and locked up in Greven near where they had landed. The wounded man was sent to a hospital and the other 8 were put on a train to take them to the Dulag interrogation center. They had to stop in Rüsselsheim because the tracks ahead had been damaged by allied bombing. On the morning of Aug 26, while being marched through Rüsselsheim to catch a train on the other side of town, they were viciously attacked and brutally beaten by a mob of townfolk who were furious that their city had been severely bombed by the RAF during the night. One local Nazi leader even shot some of them. They were assumed to be dead and were put in a cart and taken to the cemetery for burial. One German was giving them the coup de grace with a 2-by-4 when he was interrupted by an air raid alarm, which allowed 2 of the crew to survive and escape. However, they were recaptured several days later and sent to a POW camp and survived the war.
After the war, 13 Germans were tried for these murders. All but 1 were found guilty and 9 were sentenced to hang, 3 to prison terms. However, the 2 sisters who were the main instigators of the attack had their death sentences commuted and served 8 years in prison. One condemned man was released on a technicality. The lead prosecutor in the case was Leon Jaworski, who later gained fame as the special prosecutor in the Watergate case.
Forrest Brininstool was the wounded man sent to the hospital. He survived the war.
He was the flight engineer on his crew.
Model Consolidated B-24J Liberator Length 67.16 ft | 20.47 m Width 110.01 ft | 33.53 m Height 18.01 ft | 5.49 m Engine(s) 4 x Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 radial piston engines generating 1,200hp. Empty Weight 36,500 lbs | 16,556 kg MTOW 65,001 lbs | 29,484 kg Max Speed 290 mph | 467 km/h | 252 kts Max Range 2,001 miles | 3,220 km Ceiling 28,002 ft | 8,535 m | 5.3 miles Climb Rate 800 ft/min (243.84 m/min) Hardpoints 0 Armament 2 x 12.7mm machine guns in nose assembly. 2 x 12.7mm machine guns in tail assembly. 2 x 12.7mm machine guns in upper-fuselage turret. 2 x 12.7mm machine guns in under-fuselage assembly. 1 x 12.7mm machine gun in left-waist fuselage position. 1 x 12.7mm machine gun in right-waist fuselage position.
Up to 8,800lbs of internal bombs. Accommodations 10 Operators the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
* Model 31 - Flying Boat Model whose wing assembly would become the basis for the B-24 design. * Model 32 - Base B-24 Model Series Designation. * XB-24 - Initial Prototype Model Designation fitted with R-1830-33 radial piston engines generating 1,200hp. * YB-24 - Preproduction Model Designation * B-24A - Fitted with 2 x 7.62mm tail guns, 6 x 12.7mm machine guns in nose assembly, dorsal and waist gun positions. * B-24C - Fitted with turbocharged R-1830-41 engines; 8 x 12.7mm machine guns - nose (single gun), ventral, waist (left and right), dorsal turret (two guns) and tail turret (two guns). * B-24D - Based on the B-24C model but fitted with R-1830-43 engines; later models of this series would feature the twin 12.7mm ball turret gun assembly in the ventral fuselage position; self-sealing fuel tanks; 2,381 produced. * B-24E - Modified propeller systems; 801 produced. * B-24G - Fitted with R-1830-43 engines; powered nose turret with 2 x 12.7mm machine guns. * B-24H - Improved Model with extended nose section; 3,100 produced. * B-24J - Fitted with R-1830-65 engines; improved bombsight; autopilot functionality; 6,678 produced. * B-24L - Based on B-24J model but fitted with hand-operated tail guns; 1,667 produced. * B-24M - Based on B-24J model with lighter mounting for hand-operated tail gun; 2,593 produced. * XB-24Q - General Electric Conversion Model of B-24L model fitted with radio-controlled tail turret. * B-24Q - Final Production Model Designation * B-24Q * LB-30 - Transport Variant * C-87 - Air Force Transport Variant * RY - Navy Transport Variant * C-109 - Fuel Tanking Model * F-7 - Photographic Reconnaissance Model * PB4Y-1 - Patrol Bombing Model * PB4Y-2 - Specialized Model with single vertical tail surface assembly. * GR - British Maritime Reconnaissance Model.