I've posted about my uncle a dozen times on here whenever these threads come up but I'm doing it yet again because almost all of these men are gone but they should never be forgotten, especially by those of us who were lucky enough to know them.

My Uncle Loren was born in 1919, dirt poor, the son of potato farmers, in rural Idaho, and grew up in Gridley California. He died a very wealthy man, the head of a successful, and eventually, international construction firm he founded that was responsible for major projects on the West Coast and Saudi Arabia. He played a major role in the development of Las Vegas, and was a central figure in what would later be called the "Mormon Mafia" (I never said he was perfect), who worked hand-in-hand with the actual Mafia in turning a desolate desert into one of the biggest tourist draws in the US. He capped his career by becoming the head of all international construction for the LDS church at a time that they were averaging a new temple almost every month.

In between that, he initially supported his parents and siblings as a professional musician, attained a bachelors degree from BYU at 20, and then enlisted in the Army when Germany invaded Poland, where he quickly advanced to the officer corps, a commissioned lieutenant and pilot by 21.

He was newly stationed at Hickam Field, directly adjacent to Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.

His Silver Star citation awarded to him for his actions on that day:

quote:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant (Air Corps) Loren A. Stoddard, United States Army Air Forces, for heroism in action during the attack on Hickam Field by Japanese forces (aircraft) on 7 December 1941. Second Lieutenant Stoddard, a Pilot in the 19th Transport Squadron, proceeded to Hanger No. 17, where the squadron's planes were parked. The adjacent hangar, No. 15, had already been severely bombed. A plane close by had been hit and was burning rapidly and its proximity to the transport planes greatly endangered them. Noting this danger Lieutenant Stoddard, on his own initiative and without orders, started the motors of one of the planes after the crew had rolled it back from the hangar a short distance. Although under fire by the enemy, Lieutenant Stoddard, with a crew member observing for him through the escape hatch, taxied the plane through debris and smoke to a relatively safe position on the field away from the hangars. Lieutenant Stoddard displayed fast thinking, bravery, coolness and a great devotion to duty by his action and was an inspiration to all who saw him. The heroism displayed by Lieutenant Stoddard on this occasion reflected great credit upon himself and the military service.

A news clipping from the ceremony. Uncle Loren is top row on the far left:

Closer pic of an American Badass:

In May 1944, he was piloting a B-24 Liberator (christened the "Bat Out of Hell") above Siapan:

quote:
At approximately 5:22am took off from Eniwetok Airfield piloted by Captain Loren A. Stoddard armed with three 100 pound bombs (Mission H-258) to escort U.S. Navy (USN) PB4Y-1 Liberators from VD-4 on a photo mission over Saipan. The weather was good weather. Departing Saipan, one of the B-24s developed mechanical problems with a feathered propeller and began loosing altitude. This B-24 dropped back to provide escort.

Between 12:10-12:30, roughly 25 miles from Saipan, this B-24 was intercepted by 8-10 Zero that hit the no 1 and no 2 engines, causing them to smoke then catch fire in the engines, bomb bay and wing and communication with the rear of the plane was cut off.. This fire was put out by using extinguishers and diving, but the third time it caught fire the pilots decided to ditch.

Two of the crew bailed out and the B-24 managed to ditch at roughly Lat 14° 42' N, Long 146° 57' E. The B-24 stayed afloat for roughly 30 seconds and the fighters strafed the bomber and the crew in the water.

"One fighter, believed to be a "Tony", a Japanese fighter that resembled the P-47, placed himself in front of and over this group and was joined by a second fighter. They made a coordinated attack, diving out of the sun and their gunfire set fire to the number two engine on Captain Stoddard’s plane.
One of our planes (VD-4's Lt. Mather) and Lt. Sheerin of the 98th attempted to provide protection for Stoddard but the damage had already been done. Captain Stoddard managed to make a crash landing in the water about 40 miles from Saipan after two of the crew used their parachutes to evacuate the plane. Some of our people who observed the attack, reported that the fighters strafed the crewmen in their parachutes. After Captain Stoddard made a successful water landing, they strafed the wreckage and men in the water."

The following crew remained with the B-24 during the ditching: Stoddard, Hryskanich, Peschau and Manierre and survived in a raft for four days and drifted towards Saipan. On June 2, 1944 the surviving crew were picked up by a Japanese patrol and became Prisoners Of War (POW) and were questioned over the next four days. On June 6, 1944 the four were flown to Japan and interned at Ofuna Camp.

He was officially reported as KIA and my family mourned his passing. His body was reported to be lost at sea.

The men in Uncle Loren's camp face brutal conditions. Beatings and executions were commonplace and starvation took the lives of too many. However, included in their meager rations were four cigarettes a day. Most of the men valued those four smokes far above a bowl of rice. Uncle Loren was a devout Mormon who had no use for cigarettes, and was free to trade them for extra food rations. My grandma used to joke that he was the only American POW that came home fatter than before he left.

His parents and siblings were sitting around, listening to the radio, in August 1945, as they were announcing the names of POW's that had been liberated in Japan. I can only imagine the pure joy in that room when they heard the name "Loren A. Stoddard" come out of the speaker.

He passed in 2008, accomplishing more than I could hope to in a dozen lifetimes.

And one last tidbit: many years later he was walking through a terminal in LAX when an openly crying man approached him. It was the pilot of the B-24 he had dropped back to protect before being shot down himself. His plane landed safely and the entire crew survived.