Image of the Air Force wings with the museum name underneath

Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week
FREE Admission & Parking

Uniforms from Ploesti Mission

Lt. Raymond P. "Jack" Warner was a navigator on one of the B-24s that bombed the oil refineries at Ploesti on Aug. 1, 1943. Immediately after bomb release he was firing a .50-cal. nose gun dueling at tree-top level with anti-aircraft batteries. Enemy shrapnel nearly severed his left arm, but he was able to bail out of the stricken B-24. He struck the ground just as his parachute was opening. Warner was captured and received hospital care. Nurses laundered his bloody shirt and repaired the many holes and returned it to him when he was released from the hospital in December. He wore this shirt proudly during his remaining nine months as a prisoner of war and and brought it home with him.

On the right is a flying suit and goggles worn by the donor, Gen. (Ret.) Leon W. Johnson, on the Ploesti raid of Aug. 1, 1943, the mission for which he received the Medal of Honor. The insigne is of the 3rd Attack Group of the pre-war period; the donor continued to wear the suit during World War II.

Click here to return to the Ploesti Mission Overview.

 

Find Out More
Line
Related Fact Sheets
Consolidated B-24D Liberator
Line
Note: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the National Museum of the USAF, the U.S. Air Force, or the Department of Defense, of the external website, or the information, products or services contained therein.