Home | 486thbombsquadron

This site is dedicated to the brave men who served with the 486th Bomb Squadron, 340th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force during WWII.

This site is a work in progress and will be updated periodically. Please feel free to share your stories, photos, and items from the squadron so we can continue to grow the site. We have many more items to add to the museum but are constantly looking for more, so feel free to take photos of your items and we can add them to the museum as well. Lastly if you recognize anyone from the photos please help us identify them as none were labeled in the album they were taken from.

The site is best viewed on a computer or tablet. We are still working on the mobile version which isn't displaying correctly at this time.

From L to R - F/O Richmond R. Lewis, Lt. Loren E. Jenne, Lt. Charles W. Bowers Jr., Lt. Paul T. Henderson, UNK, Lt. Fred E. Blaney, Lt. Edwin C. Masten, F/O John M. Shepherd, Lt. Calvert A. Moody, and Lt. Samuel R. Dorrance. Photo of some of the original members of the squadron taken sometime in early 1943 -

Loren Jenne Collection.

We've been very busy here at the 486th the last few months. We've conducted two recorded interviews with veterans of the squadron, which will be available in the stories section. The first was with Albert King, a tail gunner from May 44 until Early 45. The second was with Joe "spider" McCormick, a pilot that served with the squadron from their time at Catania until May of 44. It was an honor speaking with both gentleman and I'm looking forward to many more conversations.

We have also been fortunate to have acquired copies of 3 personal war diaries from some early pilots with the squadron. They have all been transcribed and will be available for anyone that may like to read them. The first two were from Sam Shireman and Loren Jenne. Both pilots were with the squadron at the beginning and finished up in November of 1943. The third was from Astronaut Donald "Deke" Slayton, who was with the squadron from October 43 until May of 44.

Thanks to the generosity of many family members we continue to add to our photo and document archives. We have several new photos from their time on Corsica that haven't been seen before. As always I continue to offer digitizing services free of charge to any veteran or family member of the 486th. I will scan all your original photos and provide high resolution digital copies on a CD or thumb drive that you can share with anyone. I just finished up with the Lorren Jenne collection and now his photos and documents have been copied and will always be available, even if something should happen to the originals.

Lastly we've acquired several new squadron patches and uniforms that can be seen in the museum section. As always we are looking for any material related to the squadron. If you are interested in selling or donating any of your 486th memorabilia we would be glad to give it a home in our virtual museum so that everyone can enjoy them.