On July 4, 1942, Frank graduated from the navigation school at Turner Field with an appointment as a second lieutenant, US Army Air Forces. Following a short training course at the Army Air Forces Combat Crew School, Sebring, Florida, Frank was transferred to the 2nd Air Force Training Command and sent to Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho where he was assigned as B-17 navigator on Crew 31 of the newly formed 100th Bomb Group. Frank and his crew were with the 100th Bomb Group when it was sent to England in June, 1943 to become part of the United States Army Eighth Air Force. From his base at Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk, England, Frank flew twenty-one daylight combat missions with the Eighth Air Force. On his twenty first mission, he was shot down at Munster, Germany and was a prisoner of war until the end of the war nineteen months later. He holds the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, The Purple Heart, The U.S. Prisoner of War Medal, the Presidential Unit Cititation and the European Campaign Ribbon.
After his release from the army, Frank returned to Emory University and received a BA degree in 1948. He married his wife Ann and started a family. He and Ann were the parents of 4 children, Frank, Jr., Patricia, Liz and Kevin He was the resident representative for the Lockheed-Georgia Company in Saudi Arabia for a number of years and retired in 1987 as Vice President, Lockheed-Georgia International Services. In retirement, Frank was active within Veteran affairs, and served as a Trustee of the Mighty 8th Museum in Savannah, GA. Frank enjoyed playing clarinet, saxophone and flute in local Atlanta bands. Frank wrote his book Luck of the Draw; Reflections on the Air War in Europe, between the years of 1995-2000. Frank directed that all author royalties from the sales of his book be directed to the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum in Savannah, GA in memory of all that served in the Mighty 8th. Frank passed away on June 16, 2007. For all of us who came to know Frank at FNP Military Press we are so thankful that he decided to fly one more mission for the Mighty 8th.
