Carl Burton McDonald was born in Woodville, Tyler County, Texas, to Edward Howard "Eddie" McDonald and Fannie Singletary McDonald who were residing in Warren, Texas. Eddie died when Carl was three years old. He was in his senior year of high school when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Following his graduation from Kountze High School he registered for the draft on June 30, 1942 in Beaumont, Texas.
At 18, blue-eyed blond Carl stood 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 118 pounds, a perfect size for an aerial gunner. He joined the Army Air Corps and was trained as a tail-gunner. He was shipped to England with his crew in early 1944, assigned to the 389th Bomb Group, the Sky Scorpions, a B-24 Liberator unit based at RAF Hethel. They named their B-24 "Duke the Spook." On June 30, 1944, the crew was on a mission to bomb Munich, Germany. Just after the Duke dropped its bombs, a tremendous explosion rocked the aircraft. A burst of flak had damaged both engines on the right wing. With the plane losing altitude and fuel, the pilot decided to stay with the Duke and try to land in Switzerland, a neutral country. None on the crew were injured.
Carl joined a group of men determined to escape but they were arrested on a train. He was sent to a Swiss prison for about two months then released, whereupon he made a second successful attempt
After the war he married Virginia Bean and they had four children. He graduated from Abilene Christian College while working as a cashier at the Paramount Cafe in Abilene.
He taught school in various districts and advanced to principal at Hawley School District. He worked as an educator for more than 40 years.
Carl was an elder of the Church of Christ.
In the air corps, a tail-gunner was a position of trust, the crewman whose job was to watch the backs of the others. While in a Swiss prison, Carl wrote to Lt. Walter "Buck" Hicks and asked if he had toiletries to spare as he hadn't even a toothbrush. He signed the letter "Always A Tail-gunner."
Carl Burton McDonald passed away on Sept. 2, 1993, in Hawley, Texas. He was interred at Hawley, Cemetery.
Contributor: Phillip Smith
(50461614)
At 18, blue-eyed blond Carl stood 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 118 pounds, a perfect size for an aerial gunner. He joined the Army Air Corps and was trained as a tail-gunner. He was shipped to England with his crew in early 1944, assigned to the 389th Bomb Group, the Sky Scorpions, a B-24 Liberator unit based at RAF Hethel. They named their B-24 "Duke the Spook." On June 30, 1944, the crew was on a mission to bomb Munich, Germany. Just after the Duke dropped its bombs, a tremendous explosion rocked the aircraft. A burst of flak had damaged both engines on the right wing. With the plane losing altitude and fuel, the pilot decided to stay with the Duke and try to land in Switzerland, a neutral country. None on the crew were injured.
Carl joined a group of men determined to escape but they were arrested on a train. He was sent to a Swiss prison for about two months then released, whereupon he made a second successful attempt
After the war he married Virginia Bean and they had four children. He graduated from Abilene Christian College while working as a cashier at the Paramount Cafe in Abilene.
He taught school in various districts and advanced to principal at Hawley School District. He worked as an educator for more than 40 years.
Carl was an elder of the Church of Christ.
In the air corps, a tail-gunner was a position of trust, the crewman whose job was to watch the backs of the others. While in a Swiss prison, Carl wrote to Lt. Walter "Buck" Hicks and asked if he had toiletries to spare as he hadn't even a toothbrush. He signed the letter "Always A Tail-gunner."
Carl Burton McDonald passed away on Sept. 2, 1993, in Hawley, Texas. He was interred at Hawley, Cemetery.
Contributor: Phillip Smith
(50461614)
Carl Burton McDonald was born in Woodville, Tyler County, Texas, to Edward Howard "Eddie" McDonald and Fannie Singletary McDonald who were residing in Warren, Texas. Eddie died when Carl was three years old. He was in his senior year of high school when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Following his graduation from Kountze High School he registered for the draft on June 30, 1942 in Beaumont, Texas.
At 18, blue-eyed blond Carl stood 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 118 pounds, a perfect size for an aerial gunner. He joined the Army Air Corps and was trained as a tail-gunner. He was shipped to England with his crew in early 1944, assigned to the 389th Bomb Group, the Sky Scorpions, a B-24 Liberator unit based at RAF Hethel. They named their B-24 "Duke the Spook." On June 30, 1944, the crew was on a mission to bomb Munich, Germany. Just after the Duke dropped its bombs, a tremendous explosion rocked the aircraft. A burst of flak had damaged both engines on the right wing. With the plane losing altitude and fuel, the pilot decided to stay with the Duke and try to land in Switzerland, a neutral country. None on the crew were injured.
Carl joined a group of men determined to escape but they were arrested on a train. He was sent to a Swiss prison for about two months then released, whereupon he made a second successful attempt
After the war he married Virginia Bean and they had four children. He graduated from Abilene Christian College while working as a cashier at the Paramount Cafe in Abilene.
He taught school in various districts and advanced to principal at Hawley School District. He worked as an educator for more than 40 years.
Carl was an elder of the Church of Christ.
In the air corps, a tail-gunner was a position of trust, the crewman whose job was to watch the backs of the others. While in a Swiss prison, Carl wrote to Lt. Walter "Buck" Hicks and asked if he had toiletries to spare as he hadn't even a toothbrush. He signed the letter "Always A Tail-gunner."
Carl Burton McDonald passed away on Sept. 2, 1993, in Hawley, Texas. He was interred at Hawley, Cemetery.
Contributor: Phillip Smith
(50461614)
At 18, blue-eyed blond Carl stood 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 118 pounds, a perfect size for an aerial gunner. He joined the Army Air Corps and was trained as a tail-gunner. He was shipped to England with his crew in early 1944, assigned to the 389th Bomb Group, the Sky Scorpions, a B-24 Liberator unit based at RAF Hethel. They named their B-24 "Duke the Spook." On June 30, 1944, the crew was on a mission to bomb Munich, Germany. Just after the Duke dropped its bombs, a tremendous explosion rocked the aircraft. A burst of flak had damaged both engines on the right wing. With the plane losing altitude and fuel, the pilot decided to stay with the Duke and try to land in Switzerland, a neutral country. None on the crew were injured.
Carl joined a group of men determined to escape but they were arrested on a train. He was sent to a Swiss prison for about two months then released, whereupon he made a second successful attempt
After the war he married Virginia Bean and they had four children. He graduated from Abilene Christian College while working as a cashier at the Paramount Cafe in Abilene.
He taught school in various districts and advanced to principal at Hawley School District. He worked as an educator for more than 40 years.
Carl was an elder of the Church of Christ.
In the air corps, a tail-gunner was a position of trust, the crewman whose job was to watch the backs of the others. While in a Swiss prison, Carl wrote to Lt. Walter "Buck" Hicks and asked if he had toiletries to spare as he hadn't even a toothbrush. He signed the letter "Always A Tail-gunner."
Carl Burton McDonald passed away on Sept. 2, 1993, in Hawley, Texas. He was interred at Hawley, Cemetery.
Contributor: Phillip Smith
(50461614)
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