SIOUX CITYAN GIVEN D. F. C.
Sgt. Orville Adney Is Decorated for Gunner Achievement
An Eighth Air Force Bomber Station, Eng.—Staff Sgt. Orville E. Adney, 22, nose gunner on a B-24 Liberator, has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for “extraordinary achievement….cool courage and devotion to duty” during Eighth Air Force bombing attacks on nazi targets in Europe.
Sgt. Adney is the son of Mr. and Mrs. O. E. Adney, 1100 Nebraska street, Sioux City. His brother is George Adney, of Santa Monica, Cal. Before entering the Army Air Forces the sergeant was employed in an aircraft factory at Santa Monica.
Flak came “too close,” Sgt. Adney revealed. “I had my share of the close ones. Once I got a hole through my turret and on several occasions it was on every side of me.”
The veteran gunner encountered more difficulty on his most recent mission than any of the others he said. Two members of the crew were hit and the plane severely damaged as the nazis threw up one of their heavier flak barrages.
“Every man who flies in combat receives extreme satisfaction from bombing in support of the ground forces,” Sgt. Adney said in recalling St. Lo, Caen and D-day, when the heavies were out in force to help the foot soldiers.
A member of the Third bombardment division, which was cited by the President for its England-Africa shuttle bombing of Messerschmitt plants at Regensburg, Germany, in August 1943, Sgt. Adney holds the air medal and three oak leaf clusters for “meritorious achievement…coolness, courage and skill” during bombing attacks on nazi war making installations.
Source: Unknown newspaper, likely the Sioux City Journal
