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| B-29 bombardier Ben Bloom served in the 468th Bombardment Group. http://theyweresoldiers.com/index.php/tag/capt-ornell-j-stauffer/ |
Ben was born on August 21, 1919 in Colorado. His parents Morris and Sadie were born in Romania and Russia, respectively. His father worked as the proprietor of a tailor shop. Ben had one older sister and one younger sister. In 1940 he had completed two years of college and was living at home and working as a grocer.
Ben enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in December 1941 and trained as a bombardier. He was assigned as a 2nd Lieutenant to the 794th Bombardment Squadron, 468th Bomb Group, of the 20th Air Force. The 468th BG was established in May 1943 at Smoky Hill Army Airfield, Kansas as a B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy Bombardment Group, and was one of the first operational B-29 groups deployed overseas into combat. The 468th initially deployed to India in March/April 1944 and then to Pengshan, China in May 1944. It flew its first combat mission on 5 June 1944 against railroad yards in Bangkok, Thailand. For its second combat mission, the group dispatched 75 B-29s to bomb the Imperial Iron & Steel Works in Yawata, Japan on 15/16 June 1944 – the opening of the B-29 phase of the Allied air offensive against Japan.
On 20 August 1944, the 468th flew its seventh combat mission, again striking Yawata, Japan. Lt. Bloom was flying as bombardier aboard B-29 42-6334, nicknamed “Calamity Sue”. During the bomb run, a Japanese Ki-45 interceptor rammed the lead bomber head on, causing it to disintegrate. A piece of flying wreckage struck the tail of “Calamity Sue”, shearing it off and causing the B-29 to spin out of control and crash. Five of the crewmembers were able to bail out, of which three were taken prisoner and two were killed on the ground. The rest, including 2nd Lt. Bloom, were killed in the crash.
Ben R. Bloom was initially buried in a grave near the crash site and was later reinterred in B’Nai Jacob Cemetery in Pueblo County, Colorado.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Pearl Harbor Fallen Lawrence Anderson of the USS Arizona. You can read about Lawrence here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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