United States. A Purple Heart & POW Medal Group to Sgt Richard Longo, Shot Down Over Ratten Vienna 1944, sent to Stalag Luft.

United States. Purple Heart, multi-piece construction, bronze gilt and purple, green, white and red enamels, 34mm (w) x 47mm (h- inclusive of horizontally pierced integral suspension ball), reverse engraved “RICHARD A. LONGO” on original ribbon with brooch pinback, enamels intact, slight contact wear on obverse, small puncture mark on obverse gilt edge, near extremely fine condition, accompanied by its’ ribbon bar, 35mm (w) x 10mm (h), brooch pinback, slightly worn, very fine condition, and its’ enamel lapel ribbon bar with button hole, 16mm (w) x 3mm (h), very fine condition; American Campaign Medal, bronze, 32mm, on original ribbon with brooch pinback, light contact marks, near extremely fine condition; European-African-Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal, bronze, 32mm, on original ribbon with brooch pinback, extremely fine condition; American Defense Medal, bronze, 32mm, on original ribbon with brooch pinback, light contact marks, near extremely fine condition; World War II Victory Medal, bronze, 36mm, on original ribbon with brooch pinback, light contact to obverse, very fine condition; Army Good Conduct Medal, bronze, 31mm, reverse engraved “RICHARD A. LONGO”, on original ribbon with brooch pinback, light contact, very fine condition; American Prisoner of War Medal, bronze, 30mm, on original ribbon with brooch pinback, dark patina around edges, extremely fine condition; Aerial Gunner Wings, two-piece construction, sterling silver,  marked "STERLING" on the reverse, 22.5 mm x 75.5 mm, horizontal pinback, surface contact, very fine condition; US Aircorps Technician Badge with MECHANIC Bar, silver, 34mm (w) x 50mm (h- include Mechanic Bar and bottom suspension loop), reverse of badge embossed “STERLING”, reverse of the MECHANIC Bar embossed “D22”, horizontal brooch pinback, contract wear to obverse, very fine condition; Army Air Corps Badge, blue, yellow, white and red embroidery, 61mm, slightly worn, very fine condition; 15th Air Force Badge, blue, yellow, white and red embroidery, 68mm, extremely fine condition; Air Corps Propeller Wing Pin, bronze, 25mm, reverse stamped, single screwback pin, obverse contact, near very fine condition; U.S Uniform Collar Disc, brass, 25mm, pins reinforced into disc on reverse, reverse stamped “G-I” and “CN”, bearing two vertical pins with tie tac backs, contact wear to obverse, near very fine condition; Name Plate, white metal, 52mm (w) x 9mm (h), engraved “R. A. LONGO”, reverse engraved “MFG BY REEVES CO. ATTLEBORO MASS, horizontal pin on reverse, very fine condition; American Legion Lapel Pin, bronze gilt and blue enamel, 15mm, reverse embossed “PAT. DE. 54296”, single screwback pin on reverse, extremely fine condition; Caterpillar Club Pin, silver and black enamel, 29mm (w) x 10mm (h), reverse embossed “MACO BOCH N.Y. STERLING”, single horizontal pin on reverse, dark patina, very fine condition.

Accompanied by “This is the Army” pamphlet from the 1943 All-Soldier Musical Show, a black and white photograph of his crew, the Switlik Parachute Company correspondence regarding the Caterpillar Club, photocopies of his training and discharge certificates, photocopies of the MACR (Missing Aircraft Report) 7135, an AAAF photo booklet dated January 16, 1945 and several documents regarding Longo’s involvement in the Air Force.

Footnote: Richard August Longo attempted to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942, but was denied as the United States was also at war with a common enemy. By April 3, 1943, he had joined the US Airforce, and had been on flying status for sixty days (completing 35 hours) and could competently pilot an aircraft from zero to eighty horsepower. Longo took a course in Airplane Mechanics from the Army Air Force Technical Training Command and was awarded his certificate on September 23, 1943. He completed his training at the 232nd Combat Crew Training School in Dalhart Texas on April 29, 1944. He was later assigned to the 301st BG, 419th Squadron.

On July 26, 1944, Longo departed Lucera, Italy with a mission to bomb an Engine Assembly Plant in Neudorf, Austria. The crew of nine consisted of the Pilot, James Lilligren; Co-Pilot Vernon Thompson; Navigator, John Stener; Bomb Gunner, Johnie Tracer; Radio Opr Gunner, Charles Allison; Lwr Trt Gunner, Jesse Brenneman; Waist Gunner, Ira Lewis; Trail Gunner, Herbert Herring; and Waist Gunner, Edwin Bishop.  Shortly after entering the Austrian Border, around 1105 hrs, the plane was attacked by enemy FW-90s, ME-109s and ME-210s, firing 20mm cannons and 50 caliber machine guns. The tail section was shot off, and the nose caught on fire. Four of the ten crew bailed out, including Lilligren, Lewis, Allison and Longo.

The plane and crew were considered missing in action, and statements were taken from witnesses who last saw aircraft # 42-31625. Paul E. Gerhert, 2nd Lt. and Bombardier on #186 stated the plane was “flying 2-3 position of the low-left squadron. At 1105 hours, after the plane had been attacked by enemy fighters I noticed that the right wing had two large holes about two-thirds of the way out. The complete rudder and almost all of the vertical stabilizer were shot completely off. The left wing was burning at #2 engine. The plane went into a spin to the left, and before it left my line of vision I saw two (2) chutes come out of the waist of the plane. The exact coordinates were 47’ 50’ N. - 15’ 50’ E. The weather at this time was solid undercast, with alta stratus clouds built up on all sides of the formation.” John Cato, the engineer on plane #902 stated that he “saw three (3) chutes for sure and maybe four (4) come out of the plane before I lost sight of it.”

They landed near a church outside of Ratten and were captured by authorities. The killed crew members were buried in the local cemetery and exhumed after the war. They were sent to Stalag Luft, Barth in Germany, a POW camp that imprisoned roughly 9,000 Allied airmen (the majority American). The camp was liberated on April 30, 1945 by the Russians, and the American soldiers were sent to Camp Lucky Strife in France before being shipped home.

Following his arrival back to the United States, Longo completed a Casualty Questionnaire regarding the loss of the aircraft. For his life-saving jump and deployment of his parachute, he was added to the roster of members of the Caterpillar Club and provided with an insignia pin. On September 10, 1945, Longo was awarded a purple heart for his wounds received in action against the enemy over Austria. He was honorably discharged from the military two days later, at the Separation Center in Indiana. Following the war, he joined the Air Circus and performed parachute jumps.