 “Destiny’s Child was named by the original crew of 1st Lt. Howard Weber, when each crewmember placed their choice of a name in a hat, and the one drawn was chosen to be the name of the plane. S/Sgt Eugene Letalian, who was the assistant radio operator and waist gunner, placed the name ‘Destiny’s Child’ in the hat. They left it up to me to decide what to draw on the nose, provided they all agreed with the design. I drew up a character from one I remembered in a comic strip about ‘hillbillies’. That character was called ‘Uncle Rafe’, and was the kid in diapers with a long rifle. The crew all liked the design, so I went to work and created the nose art, using bubble letters and the Uncle Rafe character.” Destiny’s Child flew 53 combat missions without having to abort due to mechanical failure, and flew 44 plus missions on the original four engines. Destiny’s Child was shot down over the Mockhau Air Field near Leipzig, Germany on July 20, 1944. Ironically, on that day, Destiny’s Child was on standby and not scheduled to fly. The tail gunner, S/Sgt Jack Paget, who flew twenty missions on Destiny’s Child, watched his former plane go down before he was shot down while flying on “Liberty Run”.
On July 14, 1944, Jack Gaffney received the Bronze Star for the maintenance work he did on Destiny’s Child. Mr. Gaffney said, “all I could think of was here you are, entrusted with a $300,000 bomber, so you had better take good care of it and those who fly it.” He was also awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the Victory Medal, the American Defense Medal, the Distinguished Unit Citation with cluster, and the European Campaign Ribbon with six battle stars. After his service in the 8th Air Force, he worked in the grocery business for 41 years, and then retired to focus on his artwork, with scratchboard art as his specialty. He has also announced high school sports for 25 years. An accomplished dancer and singer, he entertained the troops at Bassignbourn, and recalls this memorable event that occurred during an open house at Bassingbourn. |
"The Shamrock Special (LL-Z) was parked outside the 401st hanger for repairs when it was rammed by, ironically, The Careful Virgin of the 323rd Bomb Squadron. Minor damage was done to The Careful Virgin, however, the damage was considerable to The Shamrock Special. The Careful Virgin had its hydraulic system shot up, and it didn’t make the turn off the runway onto the taxi strip. It hit LL-Z in the elevator and vertical stabilizer section with its number four engine prop, and rammed the prop dome right through the stomach of the 337 girl painted on the dorsal fin. I had been working on some oxygen lines in the tail section just prior to the accident, when a little voice told me to go out and grab a smoke. Just as I was swinging out of the waist door, I was sent rolling, unhurt, on the grass, only to look back and see my artwork, as well as the tail end of The Shamrock Special, in a state of disrepair.