Lt. Gordon W. Rosencrans,
pilot
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His radio first phase
training was in AAB Pueblo, Colorado; his final phase was in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He attended gunnery school in
Yuma, Arizona with the 2nd Air Force; and his final staging
area was at Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, Texas.
His crew flew their B-24 bomber, "The Tremblin Gremlin," to
the European Theater of War and were assigned to the 15th
Air Force in Italy. Jesse was the radio operator and waist
gunner.
On a mission to bomb the Markersdorf airdrome at Vienna, 50
German Messerschmitts attacked the plane. The gunner, Jesse,
"got" four of them. Quoting the pilot, 2nd Lt. Gordon W.
Rosencrans in a newspaper interview,
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"My waist
gunner, whose leg was blown off, stood on his one
remaining leg and shot down two more of the
fighters before machinegun bullets hit the gas tank
of our plane and blew it up. That was the most
heroic deed I ever saw. His name was Jessie M.
Whisenant from San Benito, Texas."
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