WWII awards

[SIZE=10.5pt]I'm researching my Great-Great Uncle's service in WWII. I'm currently creating a report of his time in the service and would like to include his awards. He was a waist gunner on a B-17 and was shot down twice and perished the second time on November 16, 1943. He enlisted or was drafted in September 1942 and served with the 569th Squadron, 390th Bomb Group (Heavy). I know he earned a Distinguish Unit Citation, Air Medal, and Purple Heart from my research. Also from my research I believe he qualifies for the World War II Victory Medal and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. Does my uncle qualify for these two awards? Are there other awards he might qualify for I didn't list? Finally, does anyone know of a good sight to create a digital ribbon bar with devices?[/SIZE]

 

Here's a great ribbon bar builder:

http://www.myservicepride.com/rack-builder.html

 

Buck, everyone who served during WWII was awarded the Victory medal- there was no time requirements. Also, every service member who served in the European theater was entitled to the EAME service medal- I believe there was a time requirement but your g-g uncle definitely met this requirement. One thing I will need to research is how the AAF designated campaign awards (battle stars).

 

[SIZE=10.5pt]Thank you all for the help.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]His name was Roy Norman Ball and I have already done a lot of research on him and his unit. I wish I knew of a way to upload the report I'm currently working on, for family history, to show you all. I have tried to attach it but it is too large. If anyone knows of a work around let me know.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Also I was wondering about his rank, Staff Sergeant. He had this rank and was only in the service for a little over a year. I remember hearing or reading somewhere that the Allies gave their air crews higher ranks than individuals that didn't fly with the same time in service because of the air crews’ chances of ending up in a POW camp. The higher rank was supposed to help them receive better treatment while in the camps. I have researched this online but couldn’t find anything. I believe this probably is true because all the enlisted crew on Roy’s crew where a S/Sgt. Can anyone confirm or deny this? [/SIZE]

 

It appears the members of air crews were awarded with one campaign star on the EAME medal. Seems as they should received one for each campaign area they flew into, but there was also a time requirement to be eligible for campaign stars.
Was your g-g uncle's body recovered? The air crews suffered terrible losses- especially during the early part of the war- that may be why the men made rank so fast. I'm always humbled by their ability to crawl back into those flying coffins after being shot down, or even shot at.



"For those service members who did not participate in a designated battle campaign, the following "blanket campaigns" are authorized to the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, denoted by service stars.[2]

Blanket Campaigns
Name of campaign Start Date End Date
Antisubmarine 7 December 1941 2 September 1945
Ground Combat 7 December 1941 2 September 1945
Air Combat 7 December 1941 2 September 1945

 

Roy N Ball's serial number is hard to read on the MACR, but it appears to start with '3' which means he was drafted.

There is a series of photos on fold3.com from the Rjukan attack on 16 Nov 43 and a ship pulling out of the formation is annotated as "could be 42-30455". Other photos in the series show parachutes leaving the ship.

Go to www.fold3.com, browse to "World War II", then to "WWII US Air Force Photos"; then in the search field above, put in "Rjukan Attack" and you can locate the photos. The photos are free, the MACR is also on fold3 but requires a subscription. If you do not have the MACR, reply back and it can be pulled.

Battle stars for the EAME were time based as Buten42 stated - the 390th BG should have a list of battle stars that the group was eligible for.

 

No, my uncle's body was never recovered. Looking at his IDPF the Army believed he was swept out to sea and died of exposure along with the rest of the crew.

Thanks for the lead on www.3fold.com

 

Holy crap!!! That is my Uncle's plane. I just got chills looking at the photos. The photos match every statement in his IDPF.

 

Good find on Fold3.com, mccoffee. It's a great site for military research, which is why I keep renewing my membership.