17th Bombardment Group Reunion Association

The 17th Bombardment Group was originally authorized as the 17th Observation Group on October 18, 1927. After several re-designations, it became the 17th Bombardment Group (medium) in 1939 and placed under command of the Twelfth Air Force. Early in 1942, 120 volunteers from the 17th Bomb Group flew to Eglin Field in Pensacola, Florida to train with the North American B-25 Mitchell, a twin-engined medium bomber, for what became known as the Doolittle Raid (also known as the Tokyo Raid), the first American air raid of homeland Japan during World War II. Flown on April 18, 1942, the raid, led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle, successfully bombed strategic targets in Japan. After the raid, the group began training with the Martin B-26 Marauder at Barksdale Field in Shreveport, Louisiana. Due to the high demand for experienced B-26 Marauder aircrew, many members of the 17th Bombardment Group were transferred to other bombardment groups, giving rise to the name, "Daddy of Them All." The group received their transfer orders at the end of 1942 to fly to North Africa via Brazil. Throughout the war, the 17th Bombardment Group consisted of four bombardment squadrons: the 34th, 37th, 95th, and the 432nd. The majority of their missions took place in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, beginning in North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia), moving north to Sardinia and Corsica, then to Southern France until the end of the war when they began bombing Schweinfurt, Germany. Missions included bombing raids on rail lines, harbors, marshaling yards, troop concentrations, and bridges. After V - E Day, the group participated in the disarmament of Germany and returned to the United States in November 1945. They were inactivated on November 26, 1945. The group was reactivated for the Korean War on May 10, 1952, this time equipped with the B-26 Invader. They provided support for ground troops until the end of the war and were then moved to Japan and returned to the United States the following year, in 1955. The 17th Bombardment Group Reunion Association (17th BGRA) was organized on June 25, 1977. Officials were elected during the first meeting including: Ken Earl as President, Joe Klein as Vice President, Ludeen Earl as Secretary-Treasurer, and Dick Harrell, Clay Collier, Bill Schaffenaker, Bill Wilson, and Bill Frymire as group representatives. The association partnered with the 319th Bombardment Group Reunion Association (319th BGRA) for their first two annual reunions. The early roster was maintained by Neal Baker, a member of the 319th BGRA. Many of the group's early members came from the 34th Bombardment Squadron, in part from the publication of Ken Earl's book, The Thunderbird Goes to War, which listed a number of addresses. During this time, the 432nd Squadron was already holding their own reunions, but in 1978, at the invitation of the 17th BGRA, the 432nd Bomb Squadron agreed to join, though they continued to hold their own reunions as well. With the search for members in full swing, the group continued to grow, and in 1979 had over 1,000 members. The search for missing members continued to be a large task placed on all active members, and many were found by Herschel Davis, Bill Schaffenaker, his wife Ruth, Jack Gordon, Robert "Whitey" Carothers, and Joe Carciotto, who received an award every year for finding the most missing members. With so many members the group decided to hold their first independent reunion in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which was attended by 370 members. The reunion was a success and afterward they continued to hold their reunions separately from the 319th BGRA. With the election of William Baird as president in 1979, the group newsletter, Sortie, was created. The Sortie became the voice for the group, informing members about reunion dates, internal affairs and providing space for photographs, stories and letters sent in by the group, for the group. With more annual reunions, photographs became a mainstay and Ronald Macklin became group photographer. The group became more interested in their own history and Samuel Wilson became group historian. He wrote the book, 17th Bomb Group (1995) along with several aircraft identification guides that provided information on individual aircraft flown by the 17th Bombardment Group. While originally open to World War II veterans of the 17th Bombardment Group, the group invited the 17th Bomb Wing (Korea) in the middle of 1985. This provided not only new members, but helped solidify the affinity between the groups; the 17th Bomb Wing was a direct descendent of the 17th Bomb Group and many members fought in both wars. By the beginning of 1992, the group held an active roster of 2,236 members. William Baird continued as editor of the Sortie after his presidency in 1979 until early 1998, when Ted Baker, a 17th Bomb Wing (Korea) member, took over and continued publishing until June 2011. The 17th BGRA past presidents include: Ken Earl, Bill Frymire, Bill Baird, Jack Sorrelle, Herschel Davis, Bernard Brightman, Rip Collins, and Harry Jones. While the organization no longer holds annual reunions or meetings, the organization's database is still maintained by Ted Baker along with an active website.