This is a sideview of the B-25 bomber model that recently was presented to the Indiana War Memorial Museum in downtown Indianapolis by two Southsiders, gunner Bob Pedigo and model builder Al Tucker.
| By Al Stilley Editor Southsider Bob Pedigo flew 30 missions over Germany and France during World War II as an 8th Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber-gunner and chief armorer, including flights over heavily-fortified Berlin and the D-Day invasion in 1944. “I had a front-row seat for World War II,” laughed Pedigo, who will turn 100 on October 20. “I was among the first to get there and among the first to make it back home.” Staff Sgt. Pedigo is the recipient of seven medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, an honor second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his service. He flew in the famed Silent Yocum (B-24J) and the King Thor (B-24) with the 453rd Bomber Group stationed in England. However, his heroism is not the full story. Nearly 78 years after flying those combat missions, Pedigo was able to relive his bomber flights with longtime friend Al Tucker of Whiteland in a special presentation Feb. 9 at the Indiana War Memorial Museum. Tucker, a civilian small-plane pilot, also has built several large-scale model military airplanes. His latest model is a B-25 with four electric motors, a wingspan of 78 inches and is six and one-half feet long. Pedigo has been honored in the 500 Festival Parade, riding and waving in a convertible with Tucker’s model bomber attached to the rear decklid. One wing has Pedigo’s signature and the other wing has the signature of lifelong Beech Grove community leader Bill Ciriello, 94, who served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Ciriello, founder of the Beech Grove Promoters Club, was deeply honored to add his signature. The model B-25 bomber will become part of the historical displays in the museum along with another artifact, yet to be presented. During breakfast last month at Denny’s in Greenwood, Pedigo wore a unique brown leather jacket with his name on the front and artwork of the B-24, also regarded as the All-American bomber for its numbers and longevity. He and a dozen living crewmembers were presented with the jackets several years ago as they flew in a refurbished B-24 honor flight. Today, Pedigo is the only living crewmember of the Silent Yocum. His commemorative leather jacket soon will be presented to the museum. He reminisced over breakfast about a chance meeting with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt while stationed in New York City and his war years of meeting a 16-year-old Queen Elizabeth and a flight crew briefing with Col. Jimmy Stewart, who could have been chauffeured due to his rank, but drove his own Jeep. Pedigo, 19, enlisted at Ft. Benjamin Harrison on Oct. 30, 1942. He was the youngest among a group in New York while making preparations for the Lukas-Harold plant (later Naval Avionics) to manufacture the Norden Bomb Sight. “It was 3:30 in the morning at Penn Station (subway), and it was near a vending machine,” Pedigo recalled of a very short meeting of the First Lady. “You couldn’t mistake her, back then she was able to be out and about by herself. We were near a vending machine and there wasn’t anyone around. She looked at me and introduced herself, ‘Hello, I’m Eleanor Roosevelt.”’ His meeting with Queen Elizabeth was much longer in England at the Old Buckenham Airfield, home for the 453rd Bomb Group in Norfolk. “She was on an official visit to the base because she had a big interest in the cartoon caricatures that were drawn on the bombers,” Pedigo recalled. “Of course most of them, we couldn’t show her because they weren’t considered appropriate. But the Silent Yocum character was from L’il Abner Comics and was okay with a colorful Pappy Yocum drawn with his hands covering his ears.” Pedigo’s British tale didn’t end seven decades ago. He received a letter from Windsor Castle on the occasion of his 98th birthday and for his “courageous service.” After returning to the U.S., Pedigo returned to work at the renamed Naval Avionics plant until he retired. He also was an advocate for Little League baseball and served on the board of directors of the Eastgate Family YMCA. He and his friends enjoy selected Mondays by listening to local “baritone troubadour” Steve Jeffris at Mikie’s Pub on the Southside. Pedigo has two sons, John and Timothy, also on the Southside with family that extends into a fifth generation. And he has a signed remembrance on the wing of a model of a World War II bomber recently presented to Brigadier General Stewart Goodwin, executive director of the Indiana War Memorial. |  (SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTO BY AL STILLEY) Ret. SSgt. Bob Pedigo, right, of the Southside and model builder and small-plane pilot Al Tucker of Whiteland pause after being interviewed at Denny’s at Main Street and I-465 in Greenwood. Pedigo flew 30 missions in the famed B-24 bomber in World War II over heavily fortified areas in Germany and France.  Bill Ciriello  (SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTO BY AL STILLEY) Retired World War II bomber pilot Bob Pedigo displays the artwork of the famed B-24 Liberator bomber on the back of a commemorative jacket. Several years ago, Pedigo and members of the “Silent Yocum” crew were able to fly in a refurbished B-24 and were presented with leather jackets.  (SUBMITTED PHOTO) Brigadier General Stewart Goodwin, middle, executive director of the Indiana War Memorial, accepts model of a B-25 bomber from model builder Al Tucker, left, and retired World War II bomber front gunner Bob Pedigo. Numerous artifacts are on display in the war memorial museum in downtown Indianapolis. |