Rod Funston Sr.

World War II

Dad didn't talk too much about the war, but on a few occaisons, when asked, he would tell me a bit about it. He enlisted in the Army Air Force (before the Airforce became it's own branch of the military) and learned to fly in small trainer planes up to the huge B-24 Bomber, for which he gained his instructor certification that he kept in his wallet all his life. Thankfully, he entered the war flying the ubiquitous C-47, or "Sky Train", rather than the B-24 which had a horrific battle record with many lost. The C-47 was un-armed and vulnerable as his group towed gliders and dropped paratroopers over Europe, where his plane was hit by flack losing the side door and had to crash land. I remember when I would visit his office in New York City as a child he had a model of a C-47 on his desk with the side door missing, similar to the picture below.

He was too late for D-Day, but arrived in Europe soon after and, according to his Discharge, he flew 55 combat missions. He told me he flew in the relief the US Army at Bastogne (Battle of the Bulge) and at the crossing of the Rhine. Below are some links about the 440th. "The Story of the 440th Troop Carrier Group" is a digital library version of a published book and if you search for "Funston", you will find his name listed. He was awarded the Presidential Citation with cluster, Air Medal and cluster, Middle Eastern Theater of War ribbons with three battle stars, and the American Theater ribbon for patrol duty.

My recollection of what he told me over the years was that he was shot down over the Rhine and crash landed in Holland. He was not injured in flight, but when he jumped out of the plane after landing he hurt his back and had to be hospitalized. He was sent to the 121st General Hospital near Paris and after 6 weeks was transfered to another hospital in Paris to be treated by an orthopedic specialist. He returned home on the hospital ship USS Wisteria and after a short leave returned to an Army hospital in the states for further treament for spinal injury. I remember he had a huge back brace that he wore for some time. I tried on myself once and it was almost as big as I was.

Links to 440th History