I knew my great-uncle Herman Hochman was a WWII B24 tailgunner and a POW, and I knew he had a Silver Star but I never knew the full story or many details. I also recently found out that he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross.

He died in 2011. My dad (Herman's nephew) recently sent me this article.
Link

Valor: Behind Enemy Lines
By John L. Frisbee
Nov. 1, 1993
In July 1942, a 21-year-old Texan, SSgt. Herman Hochman, arrived in Palestine for duty with the 98th Bomb Group. Sergeant Hochman, who had fired a machine gun once in Florida–on the ground–became tailgunner on a B-24. In 31 missions during the next seven months, he shot down three enemy planes over North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.

Another blank in Sergeant Hochman’s training was the complete lack of instruction in escape and evasion, soon to be compensated for by his leadership, imagination, and daring.

The 98th deployed some of its B-24s to Tobruk on the coast of Libya for a Feb. 9, 1943, strike against targets near Naples. Resisting heavy fighter attacks, the B-24s ran into violent thunderstorms short of the target. Only four of the 22 bombers, including Hochman’s, penetrated the storm to drop their bombs. His damaged B-24 had to crash-land in Sicily, which, like the entire Italian peninsula, was still under Axis control. The crew was captured immediately. Its enlisted members were taken to an interrogation center and prison for enlisted men north of Rome. The prison was commanded by an Italian colonel, whom Hochman later was to meet again under very different circumstances.

The Italian government withdrew from the Axis on Sep. 3, 1943, and joined the Allies. When the surrender was publicly announced on Sept. 8, Hochman, the senior NCO in the prison, convinced the Italian guards that the Germans would kill them. The guards took off, and the POWs walked out.

Led by Hochman, they soon broke up into smaller groups. He and his friend, J. C. Moore, contacted Italian partisans, who gave them guns, grenades, and civilian clothes. The two headed for the mountains of central Italy, living off the land with frequent help from friendly locals. Rather than avoiding the Germans they ran across, Hochman would ask for cigarettes in Italian, which he had learned in prison.

On Nov. 28, while making their way through deep snow, the two were captured again just as they were about to enter a mine field. They were taken to another prison. At Christmas time, the POWs were driven to Rome and forced to march down the streets, singing carols to demonstrate the good will of the Germans. Taken to a sumptuous banquet attended by the German brass, Hochman was asked by German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring how he liked the food. Hochman replied that it was great but in the prison camps the POWs would starve without Red Cross packages. Kesselring grunted and walked away.

On the way back to prison, Hochman found a wire cutter in the driver’s tool bag and hid it in the lining of his coat. Three days after Christmas, the POWs were told they were to be moved to Germany by train. Before being crammed into boxcars, they stood in the snow and were strip-searched. Hochman’s wire cutters weren’t discovered.

Near the roof of the boxcar was a small window covered with heavy wire. Hochman spent all day working on the wire. At nightfall, he and two others squeezed through the window and jumped from the moving train as the guards fired on them. Inadequately clothed for the bitter winter weather and often with no food, they crossed the mountains to Perugia in central Italy, where they were once more captured by die-hard Italian Fascists working for the Germans. A crowd of friendly Italians forced the Fascists to let them go and told Hochman of an American woman living in the city. She and her husband, the Italian colonel who had commanded Hochman’s first prison, gave them food, maps, and advice.

In the next five months, Hochman and others who joined him worked their way across the mountains to the Adriatic coast near Ascoli. After several attempts to escape by boat, Hochman found a seaworthy sailboat and, with the help of a hand grenade, persuaded the wealthy Italian owner not only to give it to them but also to accompany them in an escape attempt. Sailing all night and until sunset the next day, they moved south until crossfire on shore told them they were beyond the lines–in friendly territory.

On June 1, 1944, Hochman landed south of the Sangro River, bringing with him a South African pilot, four Yugoslavs from Tito’s forces, six Italian partisans, and his old friend J. C. Moore. He also brought much military information of value to Allied forces.

For his “conspicuous gallantry, courage, and daring” during an extraordinary 16 months behind enemy lines, SSgt. Herman Hochman was awarded the Silver Star, presented by Maj. Gen. Nathan F. Twining, commander of Fifteenth Air Force, later to become USAF Chief of Staff and chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

After the war, Herman Hochman became a stockbroker in Houston, Texas, where he now lives as the semiretired president of his own brokerage firm. His stories about escape and survival in wartime Italy would fill a book.

I had the honor to know several WWII US airmen who saw combat. For the life of me, I could never figure out how they managed to take off with a full fuel load and their huge brass underpinning, every one of them!

My next-door neighbor in the late 1950's and early 1960's still kept the Gold Star in her front window, in honor of her son, shot down over Europe in a B-24.

God, I miss those men!

Had a uncle who served WW2 European Theatre "Glider Corps" who survived several hard / crash landings where he was the only survivor to walk away but several other survivors were carried away on stretchers... He passed in 2019 at the age of 100yrs 1 month and several days.. He was a member of the greatest generation. ............................... drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:
I knew my great-uncle Herman Hochman was a WWII B24 tailgunner and a POW, and I knew he had a Silver Star but I never knew the full story or many details. I also recently found out that he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross.

He died in 2011. My dad (Herman's nephew) recently sent me this article.
Link

Valor: Behind Enemy Lines
By John L. Frisbee.

….

Wow, incredible story.

quote:

Originally posted by mdblanton:

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:
I knew my great-uncle Herman Hochman was a WWII B24 tailgunner and a POW, and I knew he had a Silver Star but I never knew the full story or many details. I also recently found out that he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross.

He died in 2011. My dad (Herman's nephew) recently sent me this article.
Link

Valor: Behind Enemy Lines
By John L. Frisbee.

….

Wow, incredible story.

Absolutely incredible!

My MIL's neighbor on the opposite side of the block was Ed Stamford. For his service at the Chozin Reservoir he was told he was up for MOH but later learned that only one per battle is the unstated rule and someone else was going to receive it. Instead, he received the Silver Star.

A book and movie were made about his service at Chozin. He was a very humble man who never brought attention to himself. I talked with him before he died and was just salt of the earth, unassuming kind of person

ChicagoSigMan,

Damn... that is one hell of a story... thanks for sharing it with us.

Oh and Flashlighboy,... my father was one of the frozen chosen.... one of the guys in his platoon always complained about missing out on his Medal of Honor... they were hunkered down in a fox hole and a Chinese grenade flew in and this guy, Spider Martin jumped on it... and the damn thing was a dud. He would joke about this at the reunions... damn crappy Chinese manufacturing cost him his medal... much later he was awarded the Silver Star.

That such men lived. Proves that fighting for something other than ones self is worth fighting for. God Bless all of those men.

What a thrilling and interesting story!

You must be very proud!

That’s a story. The greatest generation.

I truly miss my uncles and others who were there. One uncle carried D-Day shrapnel in his leg til he passed. Another had a huge D-Day scar from adams apple to ear. One more was in on the skip bombing. The youngest uncle was a medic in Korea. He had some horrible memories from Korea. My dad was the veterinary officer on mule ships to China....And before that, he inseminated cows for the military. Somebody had to do it

Your great uncle was a true badass.

I love that story.

My father inlaw was a B29 pilot shot down over Germany, story has it that the tail gunner was hit a not able to bail out in his own. My father in law put a parachute on him and pushed him out of the plane, then bailed out himself.

My father in law was captured and sent to stalag luft one where he was until the Russians liberated them. Another story there. My Fathered in law went to an Eighth Air Force reunion many years later and ran in to the tail gunner he pure a chute on one pushed out of the plane. Until that day, he didn’t know if the tail gunner lived or died. That story is he was picked up by the resistance and smuggled out of country for medical help.

There are some really good stories if you can get the WWII vets to tell them.

That was a great read. Thank you for sharing it.

quote:

Originally posted by 95flhr:
I love that story.

My father inlaw was a B29 pilot shot down over Germany......

Do you mean a B-24 or perhaps a B-17? I don't think B-29's saw action in Europe.

It must be a B-24, simple typing error. B-29's had a tailgun but no tailgunner. I believe it was radar-controlled from another position.

My college room mate's father flew B-29's in the Pacific Theater towards the end of the war, so I had some personal contact that made the plane more interesting to me. I believe he was in the same unit that dropped the A-Bombs, knew Tibbets and probably all the other crew members of both planes.

Was helping out with a machine gun shoot on a friends farm a few years ago and a truck drove up and an old guy got out and started walking toward us. My friend told me he was a neighbor who had flown the 25 missions over Germany as a tail gunner. The old guy walked up and my buddy tried to get him to try out the belt fed machine gun... a German G2, and the guy just kept shaking his head saying no. I finally had to explain to my friend that this guy has no interest in shooting that gun he'd had enough of it many years ago. I did have the honor of shaking the old guy's hand.

quote:

Originally posted by Tejas421:

quote:

Originally posted by 95flhr:
I love that story.

My father inlaw was a B29 pilot shot down over Germany......

Do you mean a B-24 or perhaps a B-17? I don't think B-29's saw action in Europe.

B24, not sure how I got 29, other than just watched a video on a B29

Thanks for sharing that amazing story. A couple of years ago I dug for info on my grandfather and great uncles in WWII (one great uncle being killed near Luxembourg City and buried in the National Cemetery in Luxembourg) and found my grandfather had a Bronze Star non of the family knew about. I was able too get my grandfathers medals and original jump wings (with the sideways pin) and preserve them for future generations of family. Truly the greatest generation.