Foil: 7 Panel: 1 Column: 3 Line: 55

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Norma V. Martin

Troy M. Childers, Captain USAAF
World War II
From Pre-Flight Navigation School in Selman Field, Monroe, Louisiana, Troy attended the Pan American Navigation School in Coral Gables, FL. Upon his graduation he was assigned to Langley Field, CA for Anti-Submarine training and on to Jacksonville, FL for submarine patrol in B-25s.
His next assignment was to Davis Monthan Field in Tucson, AZ where he was assigned to Clifton Jennings combat crew in B-24s. After phase training in Blythe, CA, they were organized into the 491st Bomb Group and 852nd Bomb Squadron and transferred to Pueblo, Colorado and issued a brand new B-24 Liberator which we flew to England, arriving at Metfield on May 10, 1944. We named our plane “She Devil” and had the distinction of flying the same plane from its entry into the Air Force at Pueblo until the Squadron finished its tour of combat on Nov. 21, 1944.
The crew successfully completed 30 missions, many of which Troy served as Lead Navigator.
The objective of our missions was to destroy Hitler’s ability to wage war by targeting all aircraft factories and airfields, fuel factories, transportation facilities, i.e., railroad yards, bridges and waterways. Canals were a major form of transportation. One in particular was the interchange and aqueduct of the East-West canal overpass of the Wesser River which we destroyed and drained, leaving ships and barges sitting on dry land. The entire Eighth Air Force also contributed to the success of D-Day.
Upon his return to the United States, Troy was assigned to the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics, which at that time was investigating Germany’s V-Bomb. His next base was Williams Field, AZ where his ground position was “Budget and Fiscal Officer.” From there he was reassigned to the PTO and stationed in Okinawa where he was Navigator on a B-29 crew. Their object was to defend the Island against the Japanese threat.
Troy’s military service was ended on April 25, 1947 when he decided to become a dairy farmer and settled in Georgia where he successfully provided milk for his country until his retirement in 1971.