Foil: 9 Panel: 4 Column: 2 Line: 99

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
R. Paul Chlan Jr.

Born, Raymond Paul Chlan on March 31, 1924 in Baltimore, Maryland, he grew up in Baltimore, and later in Woodlawn in Baltimore County. When he graduated from Catonsville High School in May 1942, World War II was underway, and like most of his contemporaries, he was focused on joining the U.S. Armed Forces. The Air Force was the most attractive choice to him, so he joined the United States Army Air Corps on November 27, 1942. This was the beginning of his life-long love of flying.
From November 1942, through early in 1944, Raymond was assigned to various staging areas around the United States to attend boot camp, gunnery school, and after qualification testing, to radio-operators school. After this, he ended up in the 15th Air Force (The "Vulgar Vultures")/ 304th Bomb Wing / 455th Bomb Group (Heavy) / 743rd Squadron flying aboard Consolidated B-24 (H) Liberator bombers. The 455th was formed in May 1943, and located their base of operations in San Giovanni, Italy near Cerignola in the autumn of 1943.
Soon thereafter, Raymond joined operations there where he and his aircrew flew on many of the 252 bombing missions to strategic targets in France, Italy, Germany, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Austria, and the Balkans. The "455th" received several citations for their war effort. Targets included marshaling yards and troop concentrations in support of ground forces. Especially poignant for Raymond were the missions over his ancestral city of Prague. During these missions, T / Sgt. Raymond Chlan had dual duties. As the radio operator, his position was aft of the flight deck, and it was his duty to communicate to and from the airplane using a "keyed" (Morse-type) transmitter. However, during bombing runs, he acted as a "waist gunner", firing his 50-calibre machine gun at attacking enemy fighter planes from one of the two sides of the plane, aft of the bomb bay. Raymond has several "kills" to his credit. During the summer of 1944, Raymond returned home for a month of leave. When he returned to duty, he was assigned to fly as lead radio operator. This new position called for the added responsibility of communicating the bombing mission results to headquarters requiring him to be both fast and accurate.
On April 26, 1945, the "455th" completed its bomb missions, and Raymond, along with most U.S. armed forces, was home and finished with the war in Europe by the summer of 1945. Most of the memories of the war experiences were left behind, but Raymond never forgot the B-24, and his safe return from this major war. Raymond continues to be an airplane enthusiast, and enjoys flying in small aircraft whenever the opportunity presents itself.
As one who successfully fought the war from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, he contributed to the on-going knowledge of what was good and viable in the field of aeronautics. In the pursuit of progress, the designers, builders, and maintainers of aircraft depend on the users of their machines as an important part of the process.