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OMSA 2014 was co-chaired by Adam Rohloff and Nathan Weiss and hosted by the Southern California Orders and Medals Society, whose members gave of their time and effort assisting in many ways and to whom OMSA is most grateful. Future OMSA convention locations and dates are 2015: August 6-9, Atlanta, Georgia at the Crowne Plaza Rivinia, chairmen: Tim Bartholow, Nathan Weiss; 2016: August 10-13, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Wyndham

Grand Hotel, chairmen: Andreas Schulze Ising, Nathan Weiss; and 2017: August 9-12, Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, chairmen: Tom Kullgren, Nathan Weiss. See you all in Atlanta !!!

Acknowledgements: The photos for this article were contributed by Tim and Lisa Bartholow, Fred Borch, Mary Rose Cassa and Marina Watson.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

OMSA holds elections for two Directors every year and OMSA officers (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer) every second year as approved by the General Membership in August 2005. The term of a Director is three years, that of an OMSA officer four years. These “staggered” elections prevent a possible 100% turnover of the Board of Directors, thus avoiding the loss of continuity of experience.

In 2015, the term of office for Director William F. Brown, Jr. and Director Charles C. Freihofer, III will expire.

In accordance with Article VI, Section 2 of the By-Laws of the Orders and Medals Society of America, Inc. and acting on instructions from the President, the Secretary hereby issues a call for nominations for two (2) Directors of the Orders and Medals Society of America, Inc. to be elected at the Annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia in August 2015. The Director’s term will run from September 15, 2015 through September 14, 2018.

Please tender all nominations to the Secretary’s office at: Post Office Box 540, Claymont, DE 19703-0540. Any member in good standing and entitled to vote by mail may submit to the Secretary, in writing, nominations, provided only that no member may so nominate more the one (1) individual for any individual office.

Nominations must be received by the Secretary on or before March 1, 2015 in order to qualify. This early date is necessary to provide the Secretary sufficient time to contact and hear from each nominee (who must personally accept or decline the nomination to the specific office) and to prepare the ballots to be dispatch with the May-June issue of the Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America to all those members eligible to vote.

Please make your nominations early. Your timely action will give the Secretary a better opportunity to contact and hear from all nominees.

Thank you, Clyde L. Tinklepaugh, Jr. Secretary

OMSA members are asked to be on the lookout for a bag of primarily worldwide orders that were stolen from a momentarily unattended dealer’s cart in the hallway in front of the entrance to the bourse at the OMSA Convention on Friday morning, August 15, 2014. The items were a group of worldwide orders insignia from many countries of the world, primarily Europe, but with a smattering of Latin America, Africa and Asia. All were 4th and 5th class breast badges of

uniformly fine style being made mostly in the period c. 1890-1950, and all in very choice condition. Observed singly, all would appear as generic specimens of their type, but if seen as a group, would be quite distinctive. Should any member have any information about this theft or see such a group of medals, please contact Frank Draskovic at fdraskovic@hotmail.com for referral to law enforcement authorities.

IN THE NEWS

STOLEN MEDALS

Vol. 65, No. 6 (November-December 2014) 39

1st Lieutenant Howard E. Grimes (Figure 1), “White #2,” was a fighter pilot with 8th Air Force, based in England, flew his last mission over enemy territory to France, on a bombing run seeking targets of opportunity. A veteran pilot of more than 50 missions, he found a target - a well-defended target! Grimes lined up for his bomb run and the German defenses opened up with “light, intense flak.” White 2 took a direct hit and the P-51 Mustang burst into flames. Several written statements by witnesses describe the horrible crash. Lieutenant Grimes’ own plane had been out of commission from extensive damage and on that final mission, Grimes had been flying Lieutenant Warren Newberg’s plane, the “Victory Belle Stelle.” Howard Grimes was born in Unionport, Ohio on November 11. 1923 and graduated from Hopedale High School. He was then employed as a pipefitter only a few short months before the United States was plunged into world war on December 7, 1941. Howard must have been enraged by the sneak attack of Japanese forces at Pearl Harbor as he enlisted on December 10, 1941. His 201 file contains a letter signed by both parents, dated 1/14/1942, which would seem to indcate that he may have had issues with the entrance requirements. In any case, by July of 1942 Grimes was an Aviation Cadet at Foster Field, near Victoria, Texas. He was in the 12th Training School Squadron, and seemed to excel, passing his boards and becoming a rated Pilot,

effective March 20, 1943. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, United States Army Air Corps. His first assignment was at Westover Field, Massachusetts. It was there that Grimes qualified as a rifle marksman, having used the .30 caliber, M1903, Springfield rifle as noted in Special Order #123, September 15, 1943. Shortly after he went overseas.

Figure 2: Insignia of the 370th Fighter Squadron. Sent to England, he joined the 370th Fighter Squadron (Figure 2), 359th Fighter Group, 67th Fighter Wing, VIII Fighter Command in 8th Air Force. He transferred with his group to East Wretham Field (Figure 3), USAAF Station #133, on October 19, 1943 and began combat operations in mid-December, 1943, flying P-47 Thunderbolts but in April, 1944 made the transition to the new and greatly improved P-51 Mustangs (Figure 4) which had longer range and greater weapons capacity. Once converted, it is known that Lieutenant Grimes flew the P-51B. Missions usually consisted of flying escort for the bombers, B-17’s, and B-24’s, but also included weather-reconnaissance, dive-bombing, strafing and patroling.

DEATH OF A WWII FIGHTER PILOT

GARY SPENCER

Figure 1: 1st Lieutenant Howard E. Grimes

Figure 3: Aerial photograph of East Wretham Field.

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Figure 4: P-51 Mustang.

The aircraft of the 359th Fighter Group were identified by green bands around their tails and cowlings. Every serviceman needs an occasional opportunity to forget the war and blow off some steam. Grimes was no different than most combat veterans, and got a little too sauced while on a pass to Cambridge on November 15, 1943. Police and MP’s were summoned to the Garden House Hotel where Grimes and his “wingman” were found intoxicated. They were accompanied by two girls (in and of itself a violation of regulations) and after several complaints, the Inn Keeper went to the pilot’s room. At that point, the alcohol took over. The “Bobbies” wrote an impressive report, but after all the proceedings, Grimes got off the hook, but his “wingman” was court-martialed. (I wonder whatever became of it?) Final preparations were underway for Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of the European

mainland. There had always been a lot of sorties into enemy territory, and Grimes flew his share, as well. In VIII Fighter Command General Orders No. 9 dated February 14, 1944 he was awarded the Air Medal for accomplishing ten operational sorties over enemy occupied territory. Just a short while later, on February 23, 1944, he was awarded an Oak Leaf Cluster to his Air Medal in General Orders No. 12 for accomplishing ten additional missions. He would get two more Oak Leaf Clusters for the same reason, and then another (posthumously) for shooting down an enemy plane in aerial combat. Despite crash landing his P-47 Thunderbolt on March 8, 1944, a little over a month later, Grimes received his promotion to 1st Lieutenant in Special Order No. 103, HQ ETUSA and on April 19th he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for “accomplishing 50 fighter combat missions…” Not much is known about his activities from then until D-Day, the Allied invasion at Normandy. Lieutenant Grimes was awarded an Air Medal and Oak Leaf Cluster for shooting down two enemy planes on June 19, 1944. He shot down another the very next day, but the Oak Leaf Cluster for that was awarded much later. His squadron was involved in a lot of combat, as were all squadrons engaged in the support of the invasion forces.

On June 22, 1944, at 1530 hours, the worst happened. One eyewitness report stated that Grimes, “White 2” was going in for a bomb run behind enemy lines near Nanteuil

Figure 5: Statement concerning the death of Lieutenant Grimes written by Lieutenant Ambrose.