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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Kathleen A. Fox

James E. Jennings (b. 1915, d. 1969) enlisted in the armed forces on October 28, 1939 and served with honor in World War II, rising to the rank of Master Sergeant. As line chief with the 15th U. S. Air Force B-24 Liberator bombing squadron stationed in Italy, he was awarded the Legion of Merit medal for his participation in the attack on the Romanian Oil Refineries at Ploesti on August 1,1943.
The 98th Bombardment Group, of which he was a member, began operations in the Mediterranean Theatre in July, 1942 and carried out its first mission on August 1,1942 over Mersa Matruh. Operating from bases in Palestine, the group successfully carried out air strikes on Crete, Greece, Tripoli, Benghazi, Tobruck, Naples, Tunisia, Sicily, Rome, Ploesti, Klagenfurt, Augsburg, Regensburg and Steyr. By March 28,1944, the 98th Bombardment Group had flown 200 missions, dropped more than 14,452,000 pounds of bombs on Axis targets and shot down 271 enemy aircraft.