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Official Website of the 389th Bombardment Group (H) |
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A SALUTE TO RICHARD A. PETERSON
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Dick Peterson joined the 2nd Air Division Association in 1983 and soon became the prime collector and custodian of the 389th Bomb Group photos. In 1984 he took a course in television production at his local community TV station, and took on the responsibility for preserving the history of our group and the Hethel airfield. He carefully organized them into photo albums which he took to 2ADA conventions and 389th reunions for display. He shot miles of video tape of the veterans who attended, capturing images of the photos and memorabilia they brought with them, and the recounting of tales behind them. These veterans were inspired to send Dick more photos after they got home, and the word spread to other 389th vets who missed out on the fun. The collection began to grow by leaps after Gene Hartley inaugurated the 389th newsletter in 1989 and encouraged the readers to send photos to Dick. At its peak, the newsletter subscribers’ list was over 700!
Always looking for more, like a good historian should, Dick went in search of more resources. He made trips to the National Air & Space Museum and the National Museum of the USAF, to name a few, and copied items from their archives. He organized all these images into themes, edited them into video histories and narrated them, and advertised them in the 389th newsletter. He later augmented his catalog by selling many war time training and educational films of interest to us Liberator lovers and 8th AF fans. The 389th has been very lucky to have someone like Dick, who, for more than two decades, has been so committed to collecting its history. Many other bomb groups in the 2nd Division have not been as fortunate. And we have been doubly endowed by Dick’s service because he has always faithfully donated the video sales profits to the 389th newsletter and other 389th-related projects.
After retirement as an engineer from Hughes Aircraft in 1984, Dick began working part time for a public television station in Torrance, California. Using his knowledge and access to video tape editing equipment at the TV station, Dick put together several videos on 389th history, which he sold to raise money for the 389th's newsletter and other historical projects which the 389th veterans wanted to sponsor.
Dick originally served with the 6th Anti-Submarine Squadron of the 479th Anti-Submarine Group in 1942-1943 with the Dean Dalton crew. They were first based in Gander Lake, Newfoundland, flying sub-hunting patrols from there and Bluie West One station. Their group was transferred again to the RAF Coastal Command base at Dunkeswell in southern England in September 1943. The aircrews flew only a few patrols in the Bay of Biscay before they were hit with another major change - the 479th was disbanded and its job of submarine patrol was handed over to the U.S. Navy. The aircrews were transferred to the 44th, 93rd, 392nd, and 389th Groups in the 2nd Bomb Division of the 8th Air Force on the 21st of September, 1943. They were given mission credits calculated on their hours of anti-sub patrol.
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| Above, radio operator Richard Peterson at the radio desk of a B-24. Below Dick is awarded an Air Medal for service in the 6th Anti-Submarine Squadron based in Newfoundland in 1943. |
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The Dalton crew was assigned to the 566th Squadron of the 389th and given credit for 14 missions: Capt Dean Dalton-pilot; Lt Roger Taylor-copilot; Capt Darwin Rasmussen-navigator; Lt Robert Hosier-bombardier; T/Sgt Thomas Grima-engineer; T/Sgt Richard Peterson-radio operator; S/Sgt Robert Pipkin-ball gunner; S/Sgt Joseph Bagdonas-waist gunner; and T/Sgt Stanley Vaughan-waist gunner.
Capt Dalton was transferred to the 565th on October 12, 1943, and appointed squadron operations officer. The other nine members of his crew remained in the 566th and were assigned to Lt Eldon Colby's crew. Dick flew his first mission with the 389th on November 5, 1943. With just one mission to go to complete his 25 mission combat tour, Dick was shot down with the Colby crew on December 30, 1943. He was captured by the Germans and held in Stalag Luft 4 and 6 POW camps. In the last months of the war, the camps were being evacuated and the POWs force-marched away from the advancing Russian army. Dick was one of those POWs force to walk through the bitter cold and snow for 86 days. Read the harrowing story which Dick recounted for the 389th newsletter: “Shot Down in France-A POW's Odyssey”. Dick's original pilot, Capt Dalton, was KIA on the November 26, 1943, mission to Bremen.
In early 2005, Dick decided to retire as the 389th Historian and encouraged the leaders of the association to elect me as his successor. This was done at the 2nd Air Division Association reunion in May 2005, and Dick turned over all the photos he had so meticulously collected, labeled, and organized over the previous 22 years. We continue to work together to grow the photo archives and make this important history accessible to all.
This website could not have been possible without the excellent foundation he laid. Dick has done a wonderful job as historian and performed a valuable service to the 389th veterans, their family members, and all who want to see this history live on. Thanks Dick!
Kelsey McMillan
389th Bomb Group Official Historian and
Editor, 389th NEWS
Copyright © 2009 389th Bombardment Group. All rights reserved.