Plume, Henry "Hank" B-17 Co-Pilot

Henry "Hank" Plume grew up in the south of Texas. Plume enlisted into service at the age of 21 and choose to serve in the Army Air Corps. In Salt Lake City, Plume took classification tests and was assigned to aircraft mechanic school. After completing this training, Plume decided he wanted to take the Aviation Cadet Exam and was accepted into the cadet program. After completing his pilot's training, Plume was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska and assigned as the co-pilot for crew #34, 569th squadron, 390th Bomb Group. After completing their phase training, the crew flew to Scotland to begin their deployment. They were assigned to the air base at Framlingham, England. Plume completed 14 combat missions between 11/10/44 and 12/31/44. But on his 15th mission on 1/2/45 Plume was shot down and forced to bail out. During his interview Plume provides an excellent description of his time as a POW in a German Stalag. He is very articulate in describing his experience. Plume was eventually liberated in May 1945 by Russian forces.