“Originally it was 25 missions and then at 26 and finally they had to put in 30 missions to put in a tour - to be all done,” Olmsted said. They were losing a lot of them, so we went to the source.”Īccording to some historians, prior to 1944, a crewman’s tour of duty was set at 25 missions before they could go home. We first started out (bombing) submarine pads off the coast of France because the (German) submarines at that time were really tearing up our Navy and freighters bring fuel and food over across the ocean.

“We would follow railroad tracks, a train station or something like that. “The plane would bounce up when we dropped the bombs, sometimes we’d have 100, 200 or 500 pound bombs and it would jump,” Olmsted said. As a gunner, he was part of a 10-man crew on B-17 bombers. He was then stationed on an airbase near Bedford, England in November 1943.ĭuring his time in England, Olmsted completed 43 combat missions over Norway, France, Poland, Belgium and Germany. During training, Olmsted learned to shoot at targets with 30 caliber machine guns while flying in a small, open pit airplane.Īfter graduation, he flew to Shannon, Ireland and was sent directly to Scotland where he spent one week in Escape and Invasion School. He then attended and graduated flight school at Kingman Army Air Base in April 1943. “I was on KP (kitchen duty) in the mess hall scrubbing out garbage cans and this little lieutenant came running in shouting, ‘Olmsted, Olmsted, Olmsted! I got news for you, you’re going to Miami Beach and you’re in the Army Air Corps,’” Olmsted said.Īfter leaving Miami, Olmsted boarded a troop train to Denver, Colorado to attend Armament School, where he learned to care for and use a variety of military weapons. Olmsted joined the Army and went to Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he was selected to be in the Army Air Corps. Instead of being drafted, I enlisted in Oct. As time went by, I decided that instead of going to college I would take a postgraduate class in mathematics so that perhaps I could get a commission - I always wanted to be in the Army Air Corps anyway. “We, the same as everybody else, just couldn’t believe it. “I was laying on my belly next to a pot belly stove reading the funnies, there was snow on the ground in December and the news came on the radio,” he said. graduated from flight school at Kingman Army Air Base on April 24, 1941.

Olmsted began his military career, when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan and the U.S. Olmsted has a rich military history and is a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Purple Heart, several Theater of War citations, a Meritorious Service Medal and eight air medals Organizers of the Williams 2022 Patriot Day parade have selected World War II veteran Walter Olmsted Jr. The theme for the parade is God Bless America. The Patriot Day Parade is another way in which the community of Williams provides a weekend of patriotism, music and fellowship focusing on the 21st anniversary of 9/11. Many people around the country have begun to observe Patriot Day as a way to remember those injured and killed in the Sept. The third annual Williams Patriot Day Parade returns to downtown Williams Sept. Supporters line the street for the 2021 Patriot Day parade in Williams.

Submarine canyon