(Bellingham, WA) Joe Moser, a furnace repair man in Northwest Washington for over 40 years, will receive his Distinguished Flying Cross medal from the US Air Force--64 years late. The presentation will be made by Col. Jeffrey Stephenson, the Wing Commander of McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washington in a medal presentation at the base on January 29. Moser earned the award for action on July 30, 1944 when leading his squadron on a dive bombing and strafing mission in Normandy. According to the recently discovered award citation, Moser destroyed two locomotives and ten freight cars, and damaged two anti-aircraft batteries allowing his squadron to complete its mission unimpeded. The lifelong Ferndale, Washington resident was shot down on August 13 and captured by the Germans while trying to escape with some French farmers. Joe and 167 othe Allied airmen who were caught with the French Resistance were treated not as POWs but as terrorists by Hitler and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp where they were scheduled for execution on October 24, 1944.
The Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the nation's highest honors, is awarded for "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight." The award was established in 1926 and presented to such luminaries as Charles Lindberg, former President George H. W. Bush, General Hap Arnold, General Jimmy Doolittle, Senators John McCain and John Glenn.
The award ceremony at McChord Air Force base includes a number of medals honoring currently serving members of the Air Force. But the presentation to Mr. Moser, who completed his service as a Captain with the Air Force Reserve, will be the final medal presented.
The fact that the medal was never presented and Mr. Moser had never received it was discovered while conducting research for Moser's recently released autobiography "A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald: The Joe Moser Story." Bellingham author Gerald Baron discovered the award of the medal in an unofficial history book of Moser's squadron. "Joe is a very quiet and humble man and doesn't like to draw attention to himself," said Baron, "But he knew of Order Number 109 of the Ninth Air Force, issued June 22, 1945 that said he was awarded this honor. He just never really pursued it." Baron, as well as Joe's daughters, made some attempts to research military records and go through elected officials but the search was unsuccessful. "A friend, Duane McNett, made contact with a person who works with his company, McNett Corporation," Baron reported. That somebody turned out to be a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Rick Arnold, who himself earned the Air Medal for his heroism in helping rescue people in the Pentagon after the 9/11 attacks. Chief Arnold, who led the Air Force's Survival, Escape and Evasion (SERE) training, went to work and contacted several Air Force offices holding archives and personnel records.
"It was amazing," said Baron. "This became a top priority mission for him. He said it was a 'once in a lifetime opportunity.'" Arnold confirmed that the award was ordered and dug until he found the actual Army Air Corp orders with the citation crediting Moser with the action leading to the award. When officials at McChord Air Force Base learned the story, they quickly arranged to make a special presentation to 86 year old Moser. Two special guests willl also be present for the ceremony. Two of Moser's three remaining squadron mates will be present to see their war-time buddy receive this honor. Alfred Mills, also a DFC recipient and Bob Milliken, the only ace of the 429th Squadron, 474th Fighter Group, will also be present to honor Moser. An ace is a fighter pilot who has shot down at least five enemy aircraft.
The book "A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald: The Joe Moser Story" details the experiences of Moser as a fighter pilot, his narrow escape from his burning plane, and the horrors of his capture, imprisonment, train ride to Buchenwald and the two months he spent in the concentration camp. He narrowly escaped death when the arms factory that was part of the camp was bombed by American B-17s and lost nearly 35 pounds in the two months he was in the camp reserved for Hitler's greatest political prisoners. More than 50,000 inmates died in Buchenwald. Moser and his group were rescued by the Luftwaffe who objected to treating prisoners of war in this way and were taken from the camp four days before their scheduled execution. He was sent to Stalag Luft III and placed in barracks 104, perhaps the most famous barracks of the war as it was under Moser's very camp stove that the tunnel for "the great escape" was dug just five months before he arrived. Moser barely survived the infamous 65 mile "death march" in 28 degrees below blizzard conditions, finally arrived in a hugely overcrowded POW camp in Moosburg from where he was liberated with 140,000 fellow prisoners.
He returned home to Bellingham, married his wife of 52 years, Jean, and raised five children, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Joe worked as a furnace installer and repairman for Andgar Corporation for over 40 years. After the war he never told his story, particularly the horrors of Buchenwald. His wife first discovered what had really happened when she read about it an article in the Lynden Tribune in the 1980s. The book was published locally with the support of Moser's cousin Frank Imhof, and is available on Amazon, at Village Books in Bellingham, and online at www.joemoserstory.com. Andgar Corporation is hosting a community recognition event and book signing for Joe Moser on Thursday, February 5 at the Mt Baker Rotary Building at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds in Lynden, starting at 5:30 p.m. The public is welcome to attend this event.
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