Who is Harry Myers and what is his full background and military service record?
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Executive summary
Harry C. Myers is documented in multiple veteran oral-history and archival records as a First Lieutenant navigator in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II who flew B-24 missions across the European and Mediterranean Theaters, completed “over 30” bombing missions, and received the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters [1] [2]. His postwar career included work as a commercial and cargo airline navigator with American Airlines and the Flying Tiger Line; an extended oral-history interview and a Library of Congress collection preserve his biography and service locations [3] [1] [2].
1. Who the records identify: a veteran and navigator with a long arc
Archival descriptions and a veteran oral-history identify Harry C. Myers as a First Lieutenant in the Army Air Forces who served as a B‑24 navigator during World War II and later had ties to the Korean War era; his service locations are listed as Atlantic City, Mississippi, Seymour Johnson Field (NC), Carlisle (PA), Nashville (TN), North Africa, Italy, France, Germany and the European Theater [1]. The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey holds a two‑part interview with Myers that includes family members and a homemade scrapbook of photos and letters [3].
2. Combat record and decorations: what sources say
Multiple sources say Myers flew long‑range bombing missions from Italy into central and eastern Europe and that he completed more than 30 bombing missions, earning the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters for his service [2] [1]. The 98th Bomb Group site (which collects and transcribes documents) reports military award documents and acknowledges the assembled records are not necessarily complete, urging additional documentation where available [4].
3. Training, units and theaters: itinerary from enlistment to Europe
Myers’s Library of Congress/Veterans History Project entry summarizes his service path: stateside training and assignments in New Jersey, Mississippi and North Carolina and then overseas operations across North Africa, Italy and into France and Germany — a trajectory consistent with B‑24 crews operating from Italian bases against targets across southern and central Europe [1]. The oral history recounts his travel from Newark through Atlantic City and New England before “flying around the world,” and describes the shock of military life balanced by camaraderie [3].
4. Postwar life and civilian aviation career
After WWII, Myers was reportedly offered promotions with an agreement to remain in the active reserve but declined; he joined American Airlines commercially, left in 1950, then returned to aviation as a navigator with the Flying Tiger Line — America’s first cargo airline — and later participated in Coast Guard Auxiliary navigation instruction and veterans’ organizations [3] [2]. His obituary and Flying Tiger Line Pilots Association notice note his longevity, community roles and that he died in December 2021 at age 100 [2].
5. Sources, gaps and cautions about completeness
Primary public sources for Myers’s full service record available in this set are an oral-history hosted by the NJ Militia Museum (two videotapes and family material), a Library of Congress Veterans History Project entry/collection summary, a 98th Bomb Group researchers’ page built from copied documents, and a Flying Tiger Line association obituary [3] [1] [4] [2]. The 98th Bomb Group site explicitly warns that its servicemen’s records are incomplete and should not be construed as a full record [4]. Available sources do not mention full personnel files, exact enlistment/discharge dates, service number, mission logs, squadron assignment numbers, or full award citations beyond the Air Medal clusters; those details are not provided in the current reporting [4] [1].
6. Competing perspectives and verification steps
The narrative in veterans’ projects and veterans’‑association obituaries is consistent: Myers was a B‑24 navigator with multiple missions and Air Medal decorations [1] [2]. The 98th Bomb Group resource aggregates documents but cautions incompleteness and invites additional records to fill gaps, signalling that community‑sourced reconstructions can contain omissions or errors without archival personnel files [4]. For definitive verification of service dates, unit/squadron numbers, and complete award citations, researchers should request official personnel files from the National Personnel Records Center or consult original unit mission reports and award paperwork; the record‑loss risk (e.g., 1973 NPRC fire) and the 98th group’s caveat mean original documents may need corroboration [4].
7. Final appraisal: what we can reliably say and what remains open
Reliable facts in the available reporting: Harry C. Myers served as a First Lieutenant navigator in the Army Air Forces during WWII, flew B‑24 bombing missions in the Mediterranean/European Theater, completed over 30 missions, received Air Medal clusters, preserved his story in a two‑part oral history and later worked for American Airlines and Flying Tiger Line [1] [2] [3]. Open items without coverage in these sources include his exact enlistment/discharge dates, full personnel file, specific squadron designation and detailed mission logs or full award paperwork — not found in current reporting [4] [1].
If you want, I can draft the exact FOIA/formal archive requests you’d need to seek his full military personnel file and award citations based on the repository cautions and the locations listed in these sources [4] [1].