08/28/2026
🇺🇸 Welcome Aboard, Flight Officer Harvey S. Horn
We are honored to welcome Flight Officer Harvey S. Horn, veteran of the 15th Air Force and former prisoner of war, as a new docent at the 390th Memorial Museum.
Harvey’s story is one of courage, survival, persistence, and a determination to ensure that the men who saved his life are never forgotten.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Harvey enlisted in the Army Air Corps in October 1942 and was called to active duty in March 1943. He volunteered for pilot training but was ultimately selected for navigator training. After completing his training, he deployed to Italy and joined John Lincoln’s Crew 11-30 as navigator with the 772nd Bomber Squadron, 463rd Bomber Group, 15th Air Force, based at Foggia, Italy.
On March 20, 1945, Harvey and his crew flew a mission against the marshalling yards south of Vienna at Amstettin, Austria. Their B-17G, “Pretty Baby’s Boys,” was hit by flak over Zagreb, Yugoslavia. With multiple engines failing, the crippled Flying Fortress became increasingly difficult to control.
Pilots John Lincoln and Lorin Millard brought the aircraft down to approximately 500 feet over Fiume before ditching under enemy fire into Kvarner Bay.
All ten members of the crew survived.
For Harvey, that ditching would become one of the defining moments of his life.
After reaching shore, Harvey and his crewmates were captured by the German Navy and became prisoners of war. Harvey spent 36 days in captivity, traveling from Fiume to Nuremberg through a succession of trains, trolleys, buses, and forced marches.
As an American Jewish soldier captured by N**i Germany, Harvey faced fears that went beyond those experienced by many of his fellow prisoners. At one point, he was placed in solitary confinement, alone in a dark space with no idea what would happen to him—or whether his family would ever know what became of him.
Eventually, Harvey and his fellow prisoners were liberated by American forces.
After the war, he returned home to New York and spent decades trying to put his wartime experiences behind him.
But Harvey’s story did not end there.
Years later, he began sharing his experiences, became active with veterans organizations, and volunteered for many years at the Tucson VA Hospital. He also documented his wartime experiences in his book, Goldfish-Silver Boot: The Story of a World War II Prisoner of War.
Now, Harvey is joining us at the 390th Memorial Museum.
For a museum dedicated to preserving the stories of the men who served, there could be no better way to welcome a new docent than by welcoming someone who has lived the history we are entrusted to preserve.
We are grateful to have Harvey with us, and we look forward to hearing his stories and sharing them with our visitors.
Welcome aboard, Harvey. 🇺🇸
