With B-29
Cpl. Wendell Woodall, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Woodall of this city, is now serving as a left blister gunner on a Be-29 in the Mariannas. The former star Lynx athlete, who went into service last November, received his gunnery wings at Great Bend, Kans., and has been overseas about three weeks. His new address may be obtained from his parents.
Source: Webster City Freeman, March 19, 1945 (photo included)
Wendall Warren ‘Woody’ Woodall was born Mar. 17, 1925 to Harold Isaac and Evadna Zulema Woodall. He died May 24, 2015 in Monmouth, IL.
On November 23, 1943, Wendall reported for active duty in the Army Air Corps, receiving training to become a gunner on a B-29 bomber. The squadron he was assigned to operated in the Pacific Theatre, flying sorties to bomb Japan from various islands in the western Pacific. On one of their missions, the plane was so badly damaged that they 'limped back' as far as Iwo Jima, which had not yet been secured by the U.S. invasion forces. On only two of their four engines, and with several tires shot up, they safely landed on a shell-damaged runway. This effort earned the entire crew the "Distinguished Flying Cross". He was Honorably Discharged on January 15, 1946.
Source: ancestry.com; Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA
