Lieutenant Colonel Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Rosenthal (June 11, 1917 - April 20, 2007) was a legendary World War II, B -17 Bomber pilot. Among his memorable missions include:
- On a mission to Munster, Germany, Rosenthal's B-17 returned safely to base, missing two of four engines, the intercom and oxygen system. In Edward Jablonski's book on the B-17, "Flying Fortress" the author describes this mission:
"Thirteen planes from the 100th group took off for Munster; only one, Rosie Riveters returned...." and "....except for Rosie's Riveters, not one of the 100 planes (emphasis mine) had succeeded in reaching the target. They were attacked just as the formations were approaching the IP (initial point) , just when the P-47s (fighter escort) had to turn around (due to inadequate range). Without fighter escort, the Fortresses were now open to to attack....Over Munster, Rosenthal completed his bomb run; his two engines (out of four) were already out, both waist gunners were wounded, one seriously. the interphones were out and the oxygen system was shot up; a rocket had gone through the right wing, ripping a large hole in the skin. The flak was heavy as the plane dropped its bombs."
- In a September 1944 mission, his B-17 was shot down over Germany. Rosenthal, broke his arm and nose. After his rescue by Free French forces, he immediately returned to duty.
- On February 3, 1945, Rosenthal led a mission of 13 B-17's to bomb Berlin. His bomber group was the first one to bomb Berlin.
Rosenthal was born in Brooklyn N.Y. was a graduate of Brooklyn College and Brooklyn Law School. He was working at a Manhattan law firm when on December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor. The very next day, he enlisted in the United States Army and the rest is history. He flew a total of 53 missions and is a highly- decorated pilot in the Eight Air Force in the United States Army Air Forces.
He won sixteen awards including the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC, the second highest military decoration, shown at left) for "extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against the enemy," the Silver Star (with cluster for gallantry in action), the Distinguished Flying Cross (with cluster) , the Air Medal (with seven clusters) and the Purple Heart (with cluster).The blogger wishes to thank, Richard J. Garfunkel's RJGPublicthoughts for some of the information published herein (see blog on The A.B. Davis High School Flying Fortress- August 25, 2006)
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