NAME

TP

-

M#

SER

-

BLK

-

MF

SERIAL #

AF

BG

BS

SC

RCL/#

V#-P

PHOTO CREDITS

LITTLE DUMBO

B

-

24

D1

-

-

CO

7

11

26

~

~

00-3

VINCENT J. FRIDRICH

Walt Disney Character - Not D1-7-CO 41-23841 - Is a D1-25-CO or greater

Contributor - Jim Morvay
Shown with my Cousin, 2nd Lt. Vincent J. Fridrich (Co-Pilot). Vince was not crew on LITTLE DUMBO, but was only standing next to it for photos after his plane was lost due to a direct hit by a Japanese bomb. Vince was killed on Tarawa 4 Mar 44, during a check flight where he and three other Co-Pilots were upgrading to Pilot and getting their own planes. No one knew who was flying at the time, but a low pass was made about 100' over the runway followed by a sharp pull-up which resulted in a high speed stall and crash. All 11 aboard were killed. This narrative is from information I obtained from Bob Wills, who was to have been Flight Engineer on Vince's new crew.

Send e-mail or pics to B-24 Best Web Master along with your questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1997 B-24 Best Web. Published on Veterans Day 11/11/97. Last modified: 27-Mar-2021