PAM History - A Living History - Robert 'Bob' Stangier

A Living History - Robert "Bob" Stangier

Bob was born and raised in Pendleton Oregon and graduated in 1942 from Pendleton High School.

Bob Murstig and Bob Stangier,
veterans day 2003

Bob proceeded to Oregon State University and during this time, received a draft notice from the Army. His mother did not open the letter and Bob did not want to be an infantry soldier so he enlisted in the Army Air Corp.

Bob trained as an aviation cadet in 1943 at Lubbock Texas pre-flight school and graduated from Texas Tech.

From Lubbock Bob was sent to Santa Anna California for 3 months for more flight schooling with a pay of $50 per month. The cadet's were not officers but were not enlisted men. Some enlisted soldiers did not know if they should solute and the Officers did not want to associate with them. The cadets did not know where he fit in the ranking order.

Tucson Arizona was the next stop for primary flight training for 3 months with a extra $ .75 an hour for hazardous time while flying a "Rayon" single engine low wing mono plane.

Bob finished his primary flight training and moved on to Lemoore California for his basic flight training in a BT 13A Vultee single engine trainer.

Rayon Single Engine

	The last stop was Fort Sumner New Mexico for advanced training in a twin engine Army Air Force AT 17 (Cessna T-50 Bobcat) which we all know as the plane Sky King flew in the TV series and which the pilots called the "Bamboo Bomber" for its wooden structure. Bob graduated as a second lieutenant and received his pilot wings in class 44D in April, 1944. His pay increased to $150 per month.
381st Squadron
In June 1944 Bob was sent overseas to Naples Italy by ship as a twin-engine pilot but did not know if he would be flying a twin-engine fighter or bomber. The pay was the base salary of $150 plus $75 per month for hazardous duty. Bob was assigned to the 381st squadron, 310th bomb group, 57th bomb wing of the 12th Army Air Corp at Corsica, Italy.

BT 13A Vultee

The 310th bomb group was made up of four squadrons: the 379th, 380th, 381st and the 428th. Eight members of the famous Doolittle Raiders flew combat missions with the 310th bomb group in North Africa in Dec. 1942.
The 310th bomb group was the first bomb group in the European Theater of operations to complete 500 combat missions on July 7th, 1944.
	310th Bomb Group

Army Air Force AT 17 (Cessna T-50 Bobcat)

While in Corsica, Bob had his first experience flying the B-25 twin-engine medium bomber as a replacement pilot. Normal training time for the B-25 bomber pilot was 100 hours, Bob received 10 hours as co-pilot. Bob did not know who was more scared, he or the flight crew knowing he had very little training with the B-25.

Bob's first mission was the invasion of southern France in August 1944 during the 310th bomb group operation called "Anvil." The bomb group was under the command of Col. Anthony Hunter with 1,319 men and 72 aircraft. In Oct. 1944 Col. Peter H. Remington became commander of the 310th.

	After about 35 missions Bob was promoted to first lieutenant. The next large bomb mission was the Ruhr River Valley and then Brenner Pass in Northern Italy as the Germans were trying to escape back to Germany. The sky was pretty much owned by US Air power with P-47 Thunderbolts and British Spitfires escorting the bombers and taking on any enemy fighters.
Army 12th Air Force
The worst was the enemy flak from anti-aircraft fire, which was intense and concentrated.

B25 Bomber Run

Bob' stay in Corsica was in a three story building built around the 1880's across from a bombed out rail yard. No paved roads, no indoor toilets or plumbing and no electricity! The military was gracious to provide one generator to power the single light bulb in the building. The only heat was from the fireplace which the pilots used aviation gas for heat.

There was an outhouse in the back of the hotel for all the pilots to use. The fragrance must have been wonderful! The food was so great that Bob can't remember what they ate.

From Corsica the squadron moved to Fano, in Northern Italy. The population was about 50,000 so it had paved roads and the pilots lived in a two-story workingmen's dorm. No indoor toilets but at least it had electric lights.

After completing 70 missions Bob was sent back to the states in April 1945 via ship, for 30 days leave and re-deployment but the war in Europe ended in May 1945 before Bob could be redeployed. By May 1945 the 310th bomb group had completed 989 combat missions, which had the distinction of having flown the greatest number of combat missions of any medium bomber group in the Mediterranean Theater of operations.

The group was deactivated on Sept 12th, 1945, ten days after the Japanese unconditional surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri to Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Of the high-ranking officer's present was the first person to bomb Japan after Pearl Harbor, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle.

After Bob's departure from the Army Air Corp, he and Sunny Robertson started a flying service for crop dusting called Sunny & Bobbie Flying Service from 1946 to 1948.

Bob married his wonderful wife Mary Jane in 1949 and has been married to her since. Bob and Mary Jane have four children, Hans, Dirk, Megan and Gretchen.

Of the 100 flight cadets that trained in class 44D, 25 were shot down. The average bombing flight took only 4 hours as they were very close to the German front lines. The squadron consisted of 18 aircraft flying in a box formation with 6 planes to a box. Normal altitude was 12,000 feet but they dropped to 10,000 feet to increase their air speed to 200 MPH for the bomb run.

During the bomb run they flew in three-plane V formations and when the lead bomber dropped its bombs, the rest would release theirs. The success rate was 87% so the unit received several citations and commendations.

From 1942 through 1945 the 310th bomb group destroyed 121 enemy aircraft in flight with the loss of 87 B-25's. 208 enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground. 206 enemy ships were sunk including freighters and destroyers. A total of over 6,298,550 miles were flown during combat missions with 493 personnel injured or killed. 23,984 tons of bombs were dropped during 57,244 hours of combat.
	B-25 Bomber

The North American B-25 Mitchell twin-engine medium bomber had a wingspan of 67 ft. 7 in. and was 52 ft. 11 in. in length. Two Wright R-2600-29 1,700hp radial motors powered it. Empty weight was 21,100 lbs and maximum loaded weight of 41,800 lbs. Maximum speed unloaded was 275 MPH at 15,000 ft. elevation and a maximum range of 1,275 miles.

Written by Bob Murstig
November 2003