HEARD FAMILY HEROES -- Hewell Heard

James Hewell Heard was born Jan. 7, 1922 in Alexandria, La. and died Sept. 12, 2003 in Hodge, La.  He was the son of Francis Hewell Heard and Bessie Laura Welch; the husband of Helen Mary Ellen Wingert; and the father of James Hewell Heard, Jr., Michael Francis Heard, and Robin Elizabeth Heard. He was the oldest grandson of James Addison Heard and his wife Clora Frances Nolen. Hewell was considered a "hero" in a family that sent a dozen sons and grandsons to fight in WWI and WWII.  This story is written by his son James "Jimmy" Hewell Heard, Jr. 

HEWELL HEARD'S MILITARY CAREER

       

       

Hewell Heard at LA Tech

 Hewell Heard was an engineering student in his Junior year at La.Polytechnic Institute when the U. S. entered into WWII. At the end of the semester he enlisted in the Army Air Corp. After Basic training he was accepted into Pilot Training. He completed primary flight training and soloed. About this time he was told that if he continued pilot training he might miss the war. If he went to navigation school, he was sure to see action. He decided to leave pilot training and attend navigation school at Randolph Field in Texas.

        After completing navigation school, he was ordered to Rapid City, S. D and was assigned to a B-17 crew. His fiance, Helen Wingert traveled by train to Rapid City and they were married.

        He was assigned to the James D. Taylor crew and they were given a new B-17 to deliver to England, They flew to Greenland, then Ireland, and then England. They were assigned to the 95th Bomb Group, 336 Squadron based in Horham. The 95th was the first BG to bomb Berlin.

        He went to sleep that night thinking he would look over the base and the town the next day. Instead he was awakened at 4 AM and told to put on his flying clothes since he was flying that day, He got dressed and went to briefing thinking a mistake had been made. At briefing he was told he was replacing a navigator who had appendicitis.

        So he joined the J. L. Walker crew on a mission to Rahmel, Germany. They continued flying east to Poltava, Russia. The next day they bombed a target at Trzebinia, Germany and returned to Poltava. The next day they bombed a target in Poland and flew on to Foggia, Italy. Four days later they bombed an airfield in France and returned to Horham. Each leg of this shuttle mission counted as a mission. He rejoined the Taylor crew who were still waiting for a B-17. He had 4 missions completed while the rest of the crew had none. At this time 25 missions completed a combat tour. A few months later this was changed to 35.

        His 21st mission was to Mantz, Germany. On the return trip the airplane was hit by flak in the No. 2 engine. Oil pressure was lost and the pilot was unable to feather the prop. The engine caught fire and the pilot ordered all enlisted men to bail out. He told Hewell and the bombardier that he saw a possible site for a crash landing about 20 miles ahead and they needed to drop the ball turret from the airplane. The bombardier went forward to destroy the bombsight. Hewell looked out and saw the fire had gotten much worse. The pilot rang the bailout alarm and Hewell stepped to the rear door and jumped. He landed okay in a French farmyard. A young girl brought him a glass of wine. He learned that he was behind the German lines. Members of the French resistance hid him. Several days later, they dressed him in a nun's habit and he walked through the German lines until he ran into the American infantry. They put him on a truck to Paris. He returned to Horham a few days later.

        The entire crew returned safely on October 16, 1944. They continued to fly missions 

        On the morning that he left on that 21st mission, a ground crew member approached him and handed him a twenty pound note to repay a loan. Hewell told him to keep it until he returned but the man said he might lose it in a poker game and put it in a zipper leg pocket on Hewell's flight suit where it was quickly forgotten. He had given the French family his parachute and all the money in his escape kit in appreciation for their help. He arrived in Paris on a Sunday and none of the American offices were open. He was hungry and broke so he started walking. He saw an American officer at a sidewalk cafe having wine and cheese . He introduced himself and told himhis story. The man told him to sit down, have some wine and cheese and they would figure out what to do next. Then Hewell remembered the twenty pound note in his pocket. They called the waiter over and asked if he could convert it to French currency. He said that he could not but knew where he could do it. He returned a short time later and handed Hewell a big wad of French currency. He went to a hotel, cleaned up, ate a big meal, and visited several bars and then went to bed. When he returned to England, he went to the currency exchange to exchange the French money for British. They gave him twenty-two pounds.

        Hewell flew his thirty-fifth mission on January 23, 1945 and was immediately shipped back to the states. The pilot had given a package to deliver to his wife in Lynchburg, Virginia. When he arrived there, Mrs. Taylor told him that the J.D. Taylor plane had been shot down on its 34th mission. No survivors were reported. A few months later the Red Cross reported that the entire crew was in POW camps and later liberated.

        Hewell was posted to Selman field in Monroe, Louisiana where he was a navigation instructor. When the war ended, he stayed in the Air Force Reserves until he retired with the rank of Major.