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| Staff Sergeant Prosdocimo Della Betta served in the 392nd Bombardment Group in Europe. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88072891/prosdocimo-della_betta https://www.b24.net/aircraftListings.htm |
Prosdocimo "Dutch" Della Betta never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
His parents Olivo and Maria were both born in Italy. And while most Italian immigrants usually found a home in cities like New York and Chicago, the Della Bettas immigrated to Iowa in 1919 and Prosdocimo was born in Hocking on October 15, 1919. His father worked as a coal miner and later as a quarry laborer. Prosdocimo had three older brothers, a younger sister, and a younger brother. By 1940 Prosdocimo had completed four years of high school, was living at home, and working at a part time job that later turned into a construction job.
He was drafted into the army on February 5, 1943 and decided to volunteer to serve in the Army Air Forces. He became a staff sergeant in the 576th Bombardment Squadron, 392nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-24 Liberators. He was trained to be a radio operator. The 392nd BG arrived in England in 1943. Sgt. Della Betta joined at a later time, probably in December 1943. It operated out of Wendlingin East Anglia.
The target for March 15, 1944 was Brunswick, Germany. It was an overcast day and the bombers made it to target without encountering any enemy fighters. The only plane that failed to return from the mission was Della Betta's plane Pocatello Chief 42-99976 which was flying its 18th mission. After dropping its bombs it could not close its bomb bay doors and fell behind the rest of the returning Liberators. A German fighter found the lone bomber and shot it down at Riddenhausen-Ennepo. All crewmen perished in the crash.
His grave is at St. Mary's Cemetery in Albia, Iowa.
MALCOLM ROSS
On the same day that Dutch Della Betta was born in Iowa, Malcolm Ross was born in Illinois, growing up on farms. He got a physics degree from Purdue University in 1941.
In January 1943, Malcolm was commissioned an ensign in the US Naval Reserve. The Navy leveraged his background by training him as a meteorologist. He served in that role on the carrier USS Saratoga in 1944 and 1945.
After the war he decided to open an advertising agency in Pasadena, California, but he was called back to the service for the Korean War but stayed stateside. He got involved in the Navy's unmanned balloon program. During the 1950s he worked on many projects involving high altitude balloons. On May 4, 1961 he set the altitude record of 113,740 feet in an open gondola wearing only the Navy Mark IV full-pressure suit. This successful testing of the suit resulted in it being adapted for the Project Mercury astronauts. To this date, this open air altitude record has never been exceeded.
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Ross_(balloonist) |
Last year on this date I profiled Bronze Star hero Edward Joe, Americal Division who fought at Bougainville. You can read about Edward 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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