Wallace Nathan "Wally" Emmer   USAAF   Captain Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star, DFC w 2 OLCs Air Medal w 24 OLCs From St. Louis Missouri. Known as "Bud" back home & "Wally" to his Squadron mates. Flew with the 353rd FS, 354th FG, 9th AF. Shot down 9 August 1944 & taken prisoner. Severely burned, he died in captivity 15 Feb 1945 while being transferred during a prisoner exchange. He is buried next to his brother Ray in Missouri   Ray Emmer "In 1948 his father purchased headstones for Bud and his younger brother Ray (killed by German mortar rounds just east of the Belgian border, to the west of Udenbreth, Germany, on 18 Nov which was Bud's birthday). Col. Stark's letter relates that Bud was standing next to an air raid siren just when it sounded a raid warning; Bud collapsed into the arms of fellow POW F/O Leonard Walker, RAAF." (source - 12 O'Clock High forum) Photo taken in front of his P-51B PEACEFUL PENGUIN in Feb. 1944 at Boxted Airfield, UK. He named his a/c after "a flightless bird" because he had so many mechanical problems.

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FIGHTER PLANES BLOODED

May 29, 1944 - Wallace Emmer of St. Louis, claimed three and a half Nazi planes, two 109's and a Focke-Wulf 190 and another Focke-Wulf shared yesterday. Captain Emmer now has 8 enemy planes to his credit. (Note - The half share is not in the official records -jf)

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Emmer's Score at 9 Destroyed

Jun 13, 1944 - In action yesterday, Wallace Emmer of St. Louis bagged one enemy aircraft to bring his total to 12 (9 destroyed).

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"Captain Wallace Emmer of 6304 Rosemary Drive, St. Louis, Mo., and 1st Lt. A.R. Madsen (right) of Chicago, stand by the nose of the P-51B Mustang fighter of the 9th AF which has a "rumble seat" behind the pilot. Lt. Madsen, combat cameraman, was the second man to fly in action over the front lines in the plane. The first was Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the ETO." (Read more about the flight with Ike, here)

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PILOTS CLAIM 12 NAZI TANKS
Fighter-Bombers Back Up U.S. Thrust West Of St. Lo

27 July 1944 - Thunderbolt fighter-bomber pilots providing armed reconnaissance for First Army armored columns plunging through the German line west of St. Lo today claimed to have destroyed 12 German tanks and to have damaged several others.
Wallace Emmer. of St. Louis, Mo., attacked a group of 35 Messerschmitt 109s near St. Sever forest, southwest of St. Lo. His take for the day was 2.5 destroyed, one shared with Lt. Carl Bickel. His unit claimed to have destroyed nine in all.

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Distinguished Service Cross

Captain (Air Corps) Wallace N. Emmer (ASN: 0-730422), United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a P-51 Fighter Airplane in the 353d Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, NINTH Air Force, in aerial combat against enemy forces on 26 July 1944, in the European Theater of Operations. On this day Captain Emmer destroyed two enemy aircraft and assisted in destruction of a third. Captain Emmer's unquestionable valor in aerial combat is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 9th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces. (source - Together We Served)

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Victories Include :

14 / 1 / 1

plus possibly 2.5 destroyed On The Ground

Dates/claims from the AFHRA website

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Thanks go out to

Thanks to Tripp Alyn for the photo and notes

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