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Wings Remembered Museum, Lebanon, TN (2026)

09/05/2026

Emil George Rieser, Ens. VSB 3 NAS Daytona Beach Florida

Emil George Rieser was born on 13 August, 1923, in St. Louis, Missouri. He enlisted on 7 May, 1942.

During his training, Rieser was stationed at U.S. Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois; U.S. Navy Auxiliary Air Station Cabaniss Field, Corpus Christi, Texas; and finally Naval Air Station Daytona Beach, Florida.

On 25 November 1943, Rieser was flying SBD-4 Dauntless BuNo 10367 with his gunner, Andrew Mullins Rufus. According to the official accident report, their mission that day was a gunnery exercise involving five aircraft.

One of the other aircraft participating in the mission was SBD-4 Dauntless BuNo 10753, flown by Richard D. Gogswell with gunner Joseph David Lavalette.

After recovering from one gunnery run and while maneuvering into position to begin the next, Gogswell found himself ahead of the other aircraft. He reduced the speed of his SBD while gaining altitude. In doing so, he lost sight of the other aircraft as they passed below his wing.

As Gogswell dropped back into position, he could not see the other aircraft in the group. Believing the aircraft preceding him had cleared the area, he nosed his SBD over to begin his next run.

Directly below him was Rieser's SBD, he collided with Rieser’s plane at approximately 2,500 feet. Both Dauntlesses went into spins and plunged into deep water, where they sank immediately.

Gogswell managed to bail out at approximately 1000 feet and survived. He was picked up by a crash boat.

His gunner, Joseph David Lavalette, was killed. Emil George Rieser and his gunner, Andrew Mullins Rufus, were also killed. All three men were reported to have gone down with the aircraft.

Emil George Rieser was only 20 years old when he lost his life on 25 November 1943. Although more than eight decades have passed since that day, his uniform, flying goggles, photographs, training materials, and personal papers have survived.

Today, these items help us remember the young man behind the name and preserve a small part of his story.

As long as we continue to tell his story, Emil George Rieser will not be forgotten.

08/23/2026

George Lawrence — 489th Bomb Group & 44th Bomb Group

George Lawrence was born on February 22, 1921, in Pickens, Alabama. He grew up in Columbus, Mississippi, and attended Stephen D. Lee High School, graduating in 1939.

In the early 1940s, George moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he enrolled at the Nashville Aircraft School and worked as a sheet metal worker at the Vultee Aircraft Company.

On May 19, 1943, George received orders to report for selection into the land or naval forces of the United States. He was formally inducted into the Army and sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, for basic training.

In late 1943, George was assigned to aerial gunnery school at Tyndall Army Air Field, Florida. In April 1944, he was sent to Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado, where he began B-24 crew training.

The pilot of his crew was Richard Beckingham, and together the men became known as “Beck’s Bad Boys.”

During the summer of 1944, George and his crew flew from Lincoln Army Air Base, Nebraska, to England, where they joined the 844th Bomb Squadron, 489th Bomb Group, at Halesworth.

George and his crew flew their first 10 combat missions with the 489th Bomb Group.

In October 1944, the 489th was preparing to cease combat operations and return to the United States for B-29 training. George and all but two members of his crew were transferred to the 68th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, at Shipdham, England.

George went on to fly another 25 combat missions with the 44th Bomb Group. His final combat mission was flown on March 22, 1945.

By the end of his combat tour, George Lawrence had flown 35 missions over enemy-occupied Europe as a B-24 waist gunner.

George arrived back in the United States on May 5, 1945. On October 15, 1945, he received his Honorable Discharge at Chanute Army Air Field.

After returning home, George enrolled in the School of Engineering at Mississippi State College in Starkville, Mississippi, where he studied mechanical engineering.

In November 1946, George met Eva Humphries. They were married on April 3, 1947, and their first child, Dorothy, was born on August 5, 1947.

George worked for the Columbus Light and Water Department before moving to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in October 1953 to work for the Atomic Energy Commission. Their second child, George Jr., had been born earlier that year, in February 1953.

In 1956, George moved his family to Birmingham, Alabama, where he began working for Rust Engineering. During his 31 years with the company, his work took him around the world, including assignments in Brussels, Belgium; Luxembourg; and Venezuela.

George retired in 1986.

George Lawrence died on October 12, 1996.

From the skies over Europe in a B-24 Liberator to a long career in engineering, George Lawrence lived a remarkable life. His 35 combat missions with the 489th and 44th Bomb Groups represent only one chapter of that life, but they are a chapter worthy of being remembered.

We remember George Lawrence and the thousands of young airmen like him who answered their country's call during World War II.

George Lawrence's uniform, photographs, and personal information were generously provided to Wings Remembered by his son, George Lawrence Jr., helping us preserve his father's story and ensure that his service and sacrifice will not be forgotten.

07/09/2026

386th Fighter Squadron – 365th Fighter Group "Hell Hawks"

As Allied troops fought their way across France following the D-Day invasion, an Army unit became pinned down while attempting to capture a French village. Unable to advance, they radioed for fighter support.

The Hell Hawks answered the call.

Three flights of P-47 Thunderbolts from the 386th Fighter Squadron were dispatched to attack the German positions. Their strikes forced the enemy to withdraw, allowing the American troops to secure the village.

After the battle, soldiers from the Army unit discovered this German banner in the village. Wanting to thank the pilots who had come to their aid, they contacted the Hell Hawks and obtained the names of the airmen who flew the mission. The soldiers carefully wrote those names on the banner and presented it to the Squadron Commander as a token of their gratitude.

Following the war, Lt. Rodgers, whose name appears under A Flight on the banner, kept this remarkable souvenir. He was known to tell people that the holes in the banner were not caused by rats!

The banner remains a unique piece of Hell Hawks history, preserving the names of the pilots who answered the call when fellow Americans needed help on the battlefield.

The Historian of the Hell Hawks provided Wings Remembered with six photographs in which every pilot whose name appears on this banner can be seen in at least one image. Those photographs accompany this post and help put faces with the names of the men who earned this tribute more than eighty years ago.

03/25/2026

Adrian Vernon Knox P-38 Pilot 474th Fighter Group

Vernon was born on 10 November 1921. He was one of seven brothers and sisters. At the age of 16 he was accepted into Davidson College located in Davidson, NC. He joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and after earning his pilot's wings he became an instructor at Spence Field in Georgia. Later he decided to enter into the war as a pilot. Vernon was engaged to his childhood sweetheart Hilda Mayes when he left for Europe.

Vernon became a member of the 474th Fighter Group, 428th Fighter Squadron flying the P-38. On 23 December 1944 he was flying P-38 42-68081, a plane borrowed from the 429th squadron. On this mission, the squadron was strafing a German convoy. During the attack a truck mounted Flak 88 began firing, hitting Vernon's P-38. He turned his damaged P-38 toward home with fellow pilot Richard Johnston flying beside him. His P-38 crashed soon after and Vernon was KIA.

On display are some of the many artifacts we have that were recovered from the crash site of Vernon’s P-38. Accompanying the artifacts are many original photos, his college year books, pilots log book, and more from his family.

03/10/2026

Ben Ernst was born on 2 June 1918 in Ohio. In 1930 his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they established the Ernst Cereal Company. He attended Hume-Fogg High School and later enrolled at Vanderbilt University and Andrew Jackson University, earning his degree in 1940.

In January 1942 Ernst joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. After completing flight training he was assigned as a B-25 pilot with the 12th Bomb Group, 81st Bomb Squadron.

On the night of 14 July 1943, Ernst flew his sixth combat mission as a co-pilot. The target was the harbor at Palermo, Sicily. During the attack their B-25 was caught in searchlights and struck by anti-aircraft fire. A flak burst hit the left wing, forcing the pilot to order the crew to bail out. Ernst initially intended to remain with his friend, the pilot, but was ordered to jump. He parachuted into Palermo Bay and was forced to swim to shore, where he was captured.

Ernst was first held in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp. On 17 October 1943 he was transferred to Stalag Luft III in Germany, the camp later made famous by the “Great Escape.” Ernst was held in a different compound when that escape took place. In February 1945 the prisoners were forced to march west as the German army retreated, eventually arriving at Stalag VII-A. He remained there until the camp was liberated by American forces. Ernst later recalled personally meeting General George S. Patton during the general’s visit to the camp.

After the war Ernst returned to Nashville, where he became a prominent figure in the community through his career in banking and service in Tennessee state government. Remembered both for his public service and his wartime sacrifice as a prisoner of war, Ben Ernst passed away on 10 September 2015.

One of the artifacts on display is Ben’s F-2 heated flying jacket, which he was wearing when he bailed out over Palermo. While a prisoner of war, one of the RAF prisoners who had sewing skills found a white sock and used it to fashion a set of pilot’s wings. The same prisoner also created the collar and rank insignia that were sewn onto Ernst’s jacket.

02/08/2026

16 April 1944

The mission of April 16, 1944—aka (black * sunday) was a truly harrowing chapter in the air war over the Southwest Pacific. Hundreds of aircraft were forced to fly through a severe and unexpected weather front that blocked their path home. Many crews, unfamiliar with purely instrument flying, crashed in the storm. Others ran low on fuel and were forced down into dense jungle, mountainous terrain, or the waters of Papua New Guinea’s Madang Province. Most of the losses were A-20 aircraft, which were already operating at the limits of their fuel capacity on missions to Hollandia.

Caught behind enemy lines, returning squadrons of U.S. Fifth Air Force aircraft had little choice but to attempt to pe*****te the weather front. Many aircraft remain missing to this day, while others were deliberately forced down short of home rather than risk the storm. Some crew members survived and escaped; others did not.

A-20 serial number 43-9629 was assigned to the 417th Bombardment Group, 675th Bombardment Squadron.

On April 16, 1944, the aircraft departed Saidor Airfield, piloted by 2nd Lt. Edward Davidson, on a low-level strike mission against Hollandia. On the return flight, the aircraft encountered the severe weather front. While attempting to land at Yami Airfield near Saidor, the left main landing gear collapsed after touchdown in mud. The crew survived, but the aircraft was written off.

The instrument panel on display was recovered from A-20 43-9629 by my friend Charles Darby in 1974. The two photographs of the aircraft were also taken by Charles.

We are actively searching for photographs and additional information on the crew members of this aircraft.

Wings Remembered Museum

09/05/2026

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07/09/2026

03/25/2026

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