Silver Star
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Edward R. Ryan, United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy while serving with the NINTH Air Force in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.
General Orders: Headquarters, 9th Air Force, General Orders No. 170 (1944)
Service: Army Air Forces
Division: 9th Air Force
Lt. Edward R. Ryan was assigned to the "Pugnacious Pups", 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, and flew a P-51B Mustang, S/N 43-12130, "Roberta" named for his daughter. He was killed on a mission over France on April 5, 1944 having a record of four kills and four damaged enemy aircraft in aerial combat. His awards were the Silver Star, Air Medal with 6 Oakleaf clusters and the Purple Heart.
He entered the service from California, was married and completed basic training at Gardener Field. After graduation from Advanced Flying School, class 43-E, Yuma, Arizona, May 20th 1943, he was sent to England in October and assigned to the 354th Fighter Group. He flew bomber escort missions out of Boxted over Germany until April 1944. On April 5, 1944 he was flying a strafing mission over a German airfield in France where his plane was hit by enemy fire and crashed.
Capt. Clayton Kelly Gross
Ed came to my flight while we were in Portland, Oregon training in P-39 fighters. As was the Army Air Corps policy, he arrived with two other new pilots in alphabetical order - Radojits, Rhing and Ryan. They were the three best pilots I found in any replacement group in the course of the war. Unfortunately none survived the war.
Ed was in my flight and he was off my right wing the day he went down while strafing a German airfield.
Maj. Chuck Hawley, USAF Retired
I met Ed when we were flying out of the south of England, and living in Quonset huts, he was in the same hut. I hadn't been with the 354th but a month or so and hadn't had time to get to know any of the fellows very well before he was shot down.
I remember seeing him get shot down. It was a strafing run over an airfield in Belgium. We caught the Germans with their planes out on the tarmacs and raced across the field only once. The Germans had "flak towers” around the perimeter of the field where their gunners were positioned at the same height as our strafing run. I saw an open hanger with a Heinkle bomber in it and went after that one. Off to my left I saw a sheet of flame running the length of the runway, and knew that it was one of our planes that had caused it.
When we got back to our base and they took account of who was lost, I learned that the plane was Ed's. He was hit by one of the flak tower gunners.
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Edward R. Ryan, United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy while serving with the NINTH Air Force in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.
General Orders: Headquarters, 9th Air Force, General Orders No. 170 (1944)
Service: Army Air Forces
Division: 9th Air Force
Lt. Edward R. Ryan was assigned to the "Pugnacious Pups", 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, and flew a P-51B Mustang, S/N 43-12130, "Roberta" named for his daughter. He was killed on a mission over France on April 5, 1944 having a record of four kills and four damaged enemy aircraft in aerial combat. His awards were the Silver Star, Air Medal with 6 Oakleaf clusters and the Purple Heart.
He entered the service from California, was married and completed basic training at Gardener Field. After graduation from Advanced Flying School, class 43-E, Yuma, Arizona, May 20th 1943, he was sent to England in October and assigned to the 354th Fighter Group. He flew bomber escort missions out of Boxted over Germany until April 1944. On April 5, 1944 he was flying a strafing mission over a German airfield in France where his plane was hit by enemy fire and crashed.
Capt. Clayton Kelly Gross
Ed came to my flight while we were in Portland, Oregon training in P-39 fighters. As was the Army Air Corps policy, he arrived with two other new pilots in alphabetical order - Radojits, Rhing and Ryan. They were the three best pilots I found in any replacement group in the course of the war. Unfortunately none survived the war.
Ed was in my flight and he was off my right wing the day he went down while strafing a German airfield.
Maj. Chuck Hawley, USAF Retired
I met Ed when we were flying out of the south of England, and living in Quonset huts, he was in the same hut. I hadn't been with the 354th but a month or so and hadn't had time to get to know any of the fellows very well before he was shot down.
I remember seeing him get shot down. It was a strafing run over an airfield in Belgium. We caught the Germans with their planes out on the tarmacs and raced across the field only once. The Germans had "flak towers” around the perimeter of the field where their gunners were positioned at the same height as our strafing run. I saw an open hanger with a Heinkle bomber in it and went after that one. Off to my left I saw a sheet of flame running the length of the runway, and knew that it was one of our planes that had caused it.
When we got back to our base and they took account of who was lost, I learned that the plane was Ed's. He was hit by one of the flak tower gunners.
Silver Star
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Edward R. Ryan, United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy while serving with the NINTH Air Force in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.
General Orders: Headquarters, 9th Air Force, General Orders No. 170 (1944)
Service: Army Air Forces
Division: 9th Air Force
Lt. Edward R. Ryan was assigned to the "Pugnacious Pups", 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, and flew a P-51B Mustang, S/N 43-12130, "Roberta" named for his daughter. He was killed on a mission over France on April 5, 1944 having a record of four kills and four damaged enemy aircraft in aerial combat. His awards were the Silver Star, Air Medal with 6 Oakleaf clusters and the Purple Heart.
He entered the service from California, was married and completed basic training at Gardener Field. After graduation from Advanced Flying School, class 43-E, Yuma, Arizona, May 20th 1943, he was sent to England in October and assigned to the 354th Fighter Group. He flew bomber escort missions out of Boxted over Germany until April 1944. On April 5, 1944 he was flying a strafing mission over a German airfield in France where his plane was hit by enemy fire and crashed.
Capt. Clayton Kelly Gross
Ed came to my flight while we were in Portland, Oregon training in P-39 fighters. As was the Army Air Corps policy, he arrived with two other new pilots in alphabetical order - Radojits, Rhing and Ryan. They were the three best pilots I found in any replacement group in the course of the war. Unfortunately none survived the war.
Ed was in my flight and he was off my right wing the day he went down while strafing a German airfield.
Maj. Chuck Hawley, USAF Retired
I met Ed when we were flying out of the south of England, and living in Quonset huts, he was in the same hut. I hadn't been with the 354th but a month or so and hadn't had time to get to know any of the fellows very well before he was shot down.
I remember seeing him get shot down. It was a strafing run over an airfield in Belgium. We caught the Germans with their planes out on the tarmacs and raced across the field only once. The Germans had "flak towers” around the perimeter of the field where their gunners were positioned at the same height as our strafing run. I saw an open hanger with a Heinkle bomber in it and went after that one. Off to my left I saw a sheet of flame running the length of the runway, and knew that it was one of our planes that had caused it.
When we got back to our base and they took account of who was lost, I learned that the plane was Ed's. He was hit by one of the flak tower gunners.
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Edward R. Ryan, United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy while serving with the NINTH Air Force in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.
General Orders: Headquarters, 9th Air Force, General Orders No. 170 (1944)
Service: Army Air Forces
Division: 9th Air Force
Lt. Edward R. Ryan was assigned to the "Pugnacious Pups", 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, and flew a P-51B Mustang, S/N 43-12130, "Roberta" named for his daughter. He was killed on a mission over France on April 5, 1944 having a record of four kills and four damaged enemy aircraft in aerial combat. His awards were the Silver Star, Air Medal with 6 Oakleaf clusters and the Purple Heart.
He entered the service from California, was married and completed basic training at Gardener Field. After graduation from Advanced Flying School, class 43-E, Yuma, Arizona, May 20th 1943, he was sent to England in October and assigned to the 354th Fighter Group. He flew bomber escort missions out of Boxted over Germany until April 1944. On April 5, 1944 he was flying a strafing mission over a German airfield in France where his plane was hit by enemy fire and crashed.
Capt. Clayton Kelly Gross
Ed came to my flight while we were in Portland, Oregon training in P-39 fighters. As was the Army Air Corps policy, he arrived with two other new pilots in alphabetical order - Radojits, Rhing and Ryan. They were the three best pilots I found in any replacement group in the course of the war. Unfortunately none survived the war.
Ed was in my flight and he was off my right wing the day he went down while strafing a German airfield.
Maj. Chuck Hawley, USAF Retired
I met Ed when we were flying out of the south of England, and living in Quonset huts, he was in the same hut. I hadn't been with the 354th but a month or so and hadn't had time to get to know any of the fellows very well before he was shot down.
I remember seeing him get shot down. It was a strafing run over an airfield in Belgium. We caught the Germans with their planes out on the tarmacs and raced across the field only once. The Germans had "flak towers” around the perimeter of the field where their gunners were positioned at the same height as our strafing run. I saw an open hanger with a Heinkle bomber in it and went after that one. Off to my left I saw a sheet of flame running the length of the runway, and knew that it was one of our planes that had caused it.
When we got back to our base and they took account of who was lost, I learned that the plane was Ed's. He was hit by one of the flak tower gunners.
Gravesite Details
Entered the Service from California.
Family Members
Siblings
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