WEST PLAINS, MO: At the 99th Birthday Celebration of Mr. Norman “Joe” Spears, he was awarded with the prestigious Missouri State Society Daughters of the American Revolution (MSSDAR) Patriot of the Month Certificate by the Ozark Spring, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Ozark Spring, NSDAR) in recognition of his outstanding patriotic service and dedication to his country.
If you grew up in West Plains or the surrounding community, Mr. Joe Spears and his story are a familiar one of community service, business entrepreneurship, and honorable military service commitment. He was born on November 23, 1924, in West Plains, Missouri, the only child of Wayne and Bertie Spears. He graduated as a Zizzer from West Plains High School in 1941 with the Best Citizen Award.
Mr. Spears entered the U. S. Army Air Force (which later became the U. S. Air Force) at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri by “volunteering for induction” on August 18, 1943. He completed his military training at Amarillo, Texas; Tempe, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada and Avon, Florida. He received his wings in July 1944 and was deployed overseas in January 1945.
Joe was assigned to the Italy 15th Air Force, Foggia, Italy as a B-17 waist gunner. The B-17 was a fast and high-flying plane for a bomber of its era. He said “the plane would fly so high that the temperature could reach -40 degrees Fahrenheit. If you did not wear silk gloves and you touched something at that temperature, your skin would stick to it.” Joe’s primary duty was defending the aircraft against the enemy with a .50 caliber machine gun and was credited with 20 “successful missions” (i.e., missions during which a bomb was dropped—if a bomb was not dropped, it did not count).
On one of his missions, an enemy anti-aircraft bomb went completely through one of the wings, and six of his plane’s 500-lb bombs did not respond to controls and release. As a result, Joe and another airman had to take their shoes off (the space was so small to get into otherwise) to enter the bomb bay to manually release the bombs.
Mr. Spears was awarded the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Good Conduct Medal, five Medals showing different places where he had served in Europe, and the ETO (Eastern Theater Offensive) Ribbon.
For his meritorious service, Norman J. Spears, Staff Sergeant 419th Bombardment Squadron 301st Bombardment Group, received an Honorable Discharge on November 1, 1945, at Santa Ana, California.
Joe has always been proud of his military service. After honorable discharge, he returned to his hometown of West Plains, Missouri, where he and his wife Gwendolyn (Gwen) had one daughter and one son who both became attorneys. They have twin granddaughters of which they are immensely proud.
