Technical Sergeant Edward Noel Fortin / US Army

The notice below was received in late August, 1942, at 29 Pine St., Nashua, NH.

Date of Mailing – August 24, 1942

To Edward Noel Fortin Order 1187

Having submitted yourself to a Local Board composed of your neighbors; for the purpose of determining your availability for training and service in the armed forces of the United States, you are hereby notified that you have now been selected for training and service in the Army. You will therefore report to the Local Board names above at Basement City Hall – Nashua at 6:45a.m. on the 3rd day of Sept. 1942.

And just like that, Edward Noel Fortin was part of WWII.

Fortin grew up on Pine St. in Nashua, NH, at an address that has since been obliterated due to Nashua’s urban renewal of the early 1970’s. He attended St. Louis de Gonzague High School in Nashua, the local Catholic school. It is unknown if he ever graduated or not. At the time of his military induction, Fortin was working as a receiving clerk at J.F. McElwain Company, a major employer in Nashua.

He showed up at the Nashua City Hall at the assigned time, greeted by a cadre of other inductees. They then boarded a train, probably at the Nashua Union Station on Temple St. and headed south. The actual induction was executed at Ft Devens in Shirley, MA. In a hand-written memoire, Fortin notes, “We were issued all the equipment needed to be soldiers in the Army Air Corps.” He does not state if he requested that duty or not, or maybe he did not have a choice. Or maybe it was because this missive was written at a later date. It didn’t take him long to get into the “swing” of things… he continues, “While here, I served on K.P. and guard duty (German POW’s).”

Fortin’s memoire continues:

On Sept. 22 we embarked on a train going west – we learned later that some of our group had been assigned as clerks. We are to open and man a new induction center in Fresno, Cal. (904 Quartermaster) (Author’s Note: This would have been the 904th Quartermaster Company.) While in Fresno, we were offered many types of jobs including office work. But nothing about flying, which I had hoped for. I had to settle for dining room orderly. I served as a DRO until I saw a notice on a bulletin board that they were looking for volunteers for aerial gunnery school. I signed up. On Nov – 19 – 42 I passed the physical and was on my way to Las Vegas, Nevada for aerial gunnery school.

On January 28, 1943, Fortin graduated from the gunnery school and was promoted to Sergeant. Two days later he was shipped out to Denver. CO for 9 weeks of armorer training. At the end of this training, Fortin was promoted to Staff Sergeant. Then, he was off to Salt Lake City for radio operator’s school. Once that was completed, Fortin was “ready to go to work” as a B-17 radio operator. (Author’s Note: The Armorer Course in the US Army is a specialized training program designed to equip soldiers with the skill necessary to maintain and manage their unit’s small-arms. Included are assembly and disassembly, operation, repairs, inspection and maintenance.)

From there, Fortin moved on to Ephrata, WA where he met the crew he would be flying with, then received a 10-day furlough. Upon his return, he and his crew went to Rapid City, SD for air and ground training for the B-17 Flying Fortress. Then it was off to Topeka, KS, Camp Kilmer in NJ and finally to New York City. It here that Fortin boarded the Queen Mary bound for England.

Fortin noted that he spent “5 hectic” days on the Queen Mary enroute to Europe, but did not state what made it hectic. It may have had something to do with the ship being over-crowded as most troop ships were in WWII. They came ashore in Glascow, Scotland and eventually made it to Chelveston, what had been a quaint, tiny English village, but was now a bustling US Military installation. Fortin noted in his memoire, “This was my home base for the duration – in a Quonset hut.”

Author’s Note: Army infantry soldiers often spoke with disdain about the “fly-boys” of the Army Air Corps because they got to sleep every night in a warm, dry Quonset hut. The flyer’s retort was that while the Quonset hut was nice, and they appreciated it, when they were in the air and started taking flak, and machine-gun fire from attacking German fighters, there was no hole to jump into like the “infantry guys.” This was especially true of the B-17 crews. In order to hit their target, they had to stay in formation and hope the flak bursts, and German fighter-planes missed them. There was no place to hide… no ditch to jump into at 25,000 feet.)

Fortin continues, “Our B-17 crew consisted of four officers and six enlisted men. We worked fine together and we were very fortunate to all come out in one piece. Our goal for the tour of duty, was 25 missions which was upped to 30. On June 6, ’44, I completed missions 28 + 29.”

In his memoire, Fortin goes on to tell a story about flying VIP’s to the Normandy invasion sites and landing at the beaches. Among the passengers were General Henry “Hap” Arnold, General Carl Spaats, and General Dwight D. Eisenhower. You couldn’t find three higher-ranking people in the European Theater. What the story below doesn’t state, and what he was told at the time was, that the flights would give him a full-count of the required 30 flights, and he would be qualified to go home. Plus, he would receive the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Author’s Note: By my count, he made 32 European Theater flights altogether. Official numbers notwithstanding, Sgt Fortin and his B-17 crew were able to do something not every crew got to do in the European Theater – fly the requisite number of missions, and live to tell about it.)

With his flying days over, Sergeant Fortin boarded the RMS Aquitania in Scotland, arriving back in New York August 3, 1944. The next day he was on a train to Fort Devens and from there, home to Nashua, for a much deserved 20-day furlough.

At the end of his furlough, Fortin boarded a train bound for Miami where he spent eight weeks at an R&R hospital. It was then on to Scott Field, IL. for a 6-week radio refresher course. On January 10, 1945, Fortin was sent to Sioux Falls, SD where he was assigned to a chemical warfare outfit. He didn’t say what his job entailed; only that he was “bored with it” which is understandable after flying a B-17 over Europe.

And then, an opportunity arose. Fortin saw a notice on a bulletin board – the Air Force was looking for a radio operator to fly on transport planes. He signed-up and was accepted. He left Sioux Falls, March 23, 1945, arriving in Reno, NV two days later for four weeks of ground school and another two weeks of flying school. On June 5, 1945, Fortin arrived in what would be his home base, Nashville, TN. Having a 16-day layover until his first mission, Fortin made a quick trip back to Nashua. (Author’s Note: By this time the war in Europe was over. It must have been satisfying to Fortin to know that war ended in the European Theater on May 8, and that he played a key role in that victory.)

On July 10, 1945, Edward Fortin took the radio seat on a Curtiss, twin-engine C-46 cargo plane, headed for Calcutta. Here, his memoir continues:

Stopped at Dow Field, Maine to pick up cargo. Next flight was to Goose Bay, Labrador (overnight) Greenland (overnight) Iceland (overnight) Scotland (overnight). Across the Channel to Abadan, Iran for fuel, on to Tripoli, next to Cairo, Egypt, (overnight) then to Karachi, Pakistan (overnight) Orders rescinded. Returned to Nashville, TN.

The crew arrived in Nashville, July 31, 1945. On August 11, the same crew went to Memphis to pick up a C-54, 4-engine plane to return to Calcutta. The crew flew the “southern route” with a lay-over in El Paso, TX, then on to Juarez, Mexico. From that point the orders for Calcutta were rescinded – again!

The new orders called for a westward track to Hamilton Field, CA. After two days in CA, the crew continued to Hickam Field at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After a short layover, the crew continued to Kwajalein, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean and part of the Marshal Islands. Then it was on to Guam and Okinawa where the crew was based for the next 23 days. From Okinawa, the crew made four trips to Atsugi, Japan, carrying occupation troops and supplies. (Author’s Note: The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. By the time Fortin reached Okinawa, it was about August 20, 1945 and the war was essentially over although the official surrender did not occur until September 2, 1945.)

Once this mission was complete, it would appear that the crew made two more trips between the Pacific and Hamilton Field in Marin County, CA via Hawaii ferrying supplies for the occupation of Japan. Upon his last trip to Hamilton Field, Fortin was able to get back to Nashville, where he applied for a discharge. He was transferred to Ft. Devens and out of the military December 4, 1945.

Military Training According to Official Records

• Army Gunnery School – Las Vegas, NV – 5 weeks
• Armament Training – Lowry Field, CO – 9 weeks
• Radio Operator and Mechanic – Scott Field, IL – 6 weeks (This may have been Salt Lake City)
• Combat Crew Technique – Salt Lake City, UT – 2 weeks

Author’s Note: From 1936 to 1945, there were 12,731 B-17 bombers built and it would cost about $3.3 million each today. It had a service ceiling of 25,000 to 35,000 feet. A standard B-17 crew would have 10 total members with each wearing gear that enabled them to survive inside the unpressurized cabin. So, they not only had to worry about being shot by a bullet, or punctured by flak, or having the wings ripped off the plane or have the fuselage ripped in two from bombs falling from B-17’s flying above them, the crew would be susceptible to frostbite if their outfit was compromised. Since B-17s were assigned to the busiest parts of Germany, they only had a 25% to 33% chance of surviving the 25 (later 30) missions needed to complete their tour. What’s even sadder is the fact that the ages of the crewmen were, on average, 24 and below. Fortin was one of the oldest, 24, on his first mission.

Combat Missions According to Official Records
1943
December 5 – La Rochelle, France
December 20 – Bremen, Germany
December 22 – Osnabruck, Germany
December 30 – Ludwigshaven, Germany

1944
January 4 – Kiel, Germany
January 5 – Kiel, Germany
January 14 – Calais, France
January 21 – Strategic, France
January 29 – Frankfurt, Germany
January 30 – Brunswick, Germany
February 4 -Frankfurt, Germany
February 20– Leipzig, Germany
February 24 – Swinefurt, Germany
February 25 – Augsburg, Germany
March 2 – Frankfurt, Germany
March 3 – Berlin, Germany
March 4 – Berlin, Germany
March 6 – Berlin, Germany
March 8 – Berlin, Germany
March 18 – Lechfelt, Germany
April 20 – Strategic, France
April 25 – Nancy, France
May 1 – Reims, France
May 4 – Paris, France
May 8 – Berlin, Germany
May 19 – Berlin, Germany
May 24 – Berlin, Germany
June 6 – Le Havre, France
June 8 – La Havre, France
June 11 – Invasion Coast, France
June 14 – Invasion Coast, France
June 15 – Invasion Coast, France

Fortin’s Awards According to Official Records
January 22, 1944 – Receives the Air Medal award
Citation: For exceptionally meritorious achievement while participating in five separate combat missions over enemy occupied Continental Europe. The courage, coolness and skill displayed by this Enlisted Man upon these occasions reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.

February 7, 1944 – Receives 1st Oak Leaf Cluster
Citation: For exceptionally meritorious achievement while participating in five separate bomber combat missions over enemy occupied Continental Europe. The courage, coolness and skill displayed by this Enlisted Man upon these occasions reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.

March 7, 1944 – Received 2nd Oak Leaf Cluster to wear with an Air Medal previously awarded.
Citation: For exceptionally meritorious achievement while participating in five separate bomber combat missions over enemy occupied Continental Europe. The courage, coolness and skill displayed by this Enlisted Man upon these occasions reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.

March 23, 1944 – Received 3rd Oak Leaf Cluster to wear with an Air Medal previously awarded.
Citation: For exceptionally meritorious achievement while participating in five separate bomber combat missions over enemy occupied Continental Europe. The courage, coolness and skill displayed by this Enlisted Man upon these occasions reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States. (Author’s Note: The Oak leaf Cluster is a ribbon device awarded airmen during WWII to denote subsequent awards of the Air Medal. It represents one additional award. The bronze oak leaf cluster represents one additional award, while the silver oak leaf cluster is worn in lieu of five bronze oak leaf clusters.)

June 23, 1944 – Received Distinguished Flying Cross
Citation: For extraordinary achievement while serving as a radio operator in a B-17 airplane on a number of bombing missions over enemy occupied Continental Europe. Displaying great courage and skill, Sergeant Fortin, fighting from his gun position, has warded off many enemy attacks, and has materially aided in the success of each of these missions. The courage, coolness and skill displayed by Sergeant Fortin upon these occasions reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.

Date Unknown – Received Distinguished Unit Badge being part of the 1st Bombardment Division, 305th Bombardment Group

Sgt Fortin Tells His Story
Edward Fortin had six children. They all knew that he had been in “the war” but had no idea where he went or what he did. But this is not uncommon among military veterans of that era. One day, his daughter, Jeanne, was sitting with him in his “home office” where he liked to sit and read. She noticed a small wooden box on his desk with some drawings on top of it, and asked about it’s nature. Fortin replied, “Those are drawings of the medals I should have received in the war. I never received a one of them! And I don’t know why. I simply never questioned it!” Pushing further, Jeanne found the box was full of trinkets and mementoes of her father’s time in Europe. It was then that he started talking being a radio operator and a window-gunner. He was 90 years old. For 65 years, he hadn’t said a word.

Daughter Jeanne saw a tragic injustice and contacted NH Congressman Paul Hodes to see if he could secure the proper medals owed her father. Daughter Jeanne tells the story, “At first my father was ticked-off that I contacted Congressman Hodes about his medals. My father wasn’t one to look for glory or recognition for what he had done. He was just glad to make his required flights without a scratch.”

Long story short, Congressman Hodes was able to secure 10 medals and presented them to Sgt Fortin at the Congressman’s Nashua office on Memorial Day, 2010. During the presentation, Congressman Hodes took each medal out, and explained what it was and the reason why Fortin had earned it. That was when Fortin started to open up, relating a short story with each medal. He said, “With each mission we would count the number of planes assigned to that mission. If we had 30 B-17’s going out, we knew maybe 10 would make it back.”

In addition to the awards noted above Congressman Hodes presented Fortin with a WWII Victory Medal, Europe and Pacific Lapel Pin, an American Campaign Pin, and others.

Flying With Ike
The following excerpt is taken from a Nashua Telegraph article of June 1, 2010 which also described the awards ceremony above:

He (Fortin) was one flight shy of completing his service when a pilot recruited him for a special mission. “I want you to be my radio operator for a special crew to fly these VIP’s to France,” the pilot said. It was a “special deal” the pilot told Fortin, but the Nashua native didn’t agree to it until he was assured that he wouldn’t be required to complete another mission afterward. The three flights were scheduled for June 12 – 6 days after D-Day – June 13 and June 15. “We landed three times on Omaha Beach, Utah Beach and an English beach,” Fortin said.

Author’s Note: The landing strips at Omaha and Utah Beach were likely made directly after the invasion, probably in D+3 or 4.)

The plane, a B-17 with the numbers 555, imprinted, but no name, had little space, and Fortin recalled how 26 passengers, including generals and colonels sat on the floor. Gen, Dwight D. Eisenhower who was to become president, sat next to Fortin.

“There was all these important people, and you should have seen the escort,” Fortin said. “Eisenhower said, ‘Look out the window.’ There were British fighter planes, and 12 Spitfires backing us up. I wasn’t afraid that day.”

Fortin described Eisenhower as, “…a very nice guy to talk to.” When he told the future U.S. president that he was from NH, he recalled that Eisenhower remarked, “New Hampshire, a nice little Republican place.” “Not all of us, sir.” Fortin replied.

But years later, when Eisenhower ran for office, the radio operator from Nashua was among his supporters. “I did vote for him,” Fortin said. “He was a nice guy.”

Author’s Note: These three flights would account for the last three flights on Fortin’s list classified as “Invasion Coast – France” despite a discrepancy on the first date.)

An Honorable Discharge
Fortin received an Honorable Discharge and mustered out of the Army at FT Devens in MA, December 4, 1945. He received a letter of thanks from the White House signed by then-President Harry Truman and a similar letter from the Army signed by Henry “Hap” Arnold, Commanding General of the Army Air Force. He had served in the 305th Bombardment Group.

Fortin returned to Nashua and went back to J.F. McElwain Company where he worked as a shoe cutter for over 30 years.

From the Army Air Corps Museum Web Site
The 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was established on January 28, 1942 and activated on March 1, 1942. The initial crews were trained for duty overseas with B-17’s. The Group then moved to England between August and October 1942 and was assigned to the Eighth Air Force. Combat began for the Group on November 17, 1942 operating chiefly as a strategic bombardment organization. They attacked such targets as submarine pens, docks, harbors, shipyards, motor works and railroad marshaling yards in France, Germany, and the Low Countries. They received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on April 4, 1943 when an industrial target in Paris was bombed with precision in spite of pressing enemy fighter attacks and heavy flak. During the second half of 1942, the Group began deeper penetration into Germany striking heavy industry. They received another Distinguished Unit Citation for withstanding severe opposition to bomb aircraft factories in central Germany on Jan 11, 1944. On D-day, June 6, 1944, the Group bombed enemy strongholds near the battle area and attacked enemy positions in advance of ground forces at St. Lo, France in July, 1944. The 305th Bombardment Group was inactivated in Germany on December 25, 1946.

Author’s Note: Daughter Jeanne said one of her father’s favorite sayings was “good enough.” No matter what happened… things were always… “Good enough.” I hope he looks down on this profile, smiles and says, “Good Enough.”)