Missing name added to Wall of Remembrance

Printed on the north wall of the second floor lobby in Washington County’s Courthouse is a list of names, written there in remembrance of local young men who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the country during wars fought from World War 1 through the Vietnam War.

 Nobody knows why, but the name of one Washington County son who lost his life in World War II has been missing from the list since the memorial was added to the courthouse wall, that of Thomas Clyde Booth.

 Getting wind of Booth’s inadvertent omission from the wall, retired Weiser police officer and current chairman of the Washington County Veterans group, Steve Fenske put his detective skills to work this spring and uncovered the remarkable story of a young man who gave his all.

 Born July 19, 1919 in Rockford, Idaho, to Charles and Catherine Martin Booth, Thomas was the third youngest in a family of nine children. Washington County property deed records indicate the family had relocated to Weiser at least in the early 1930s, if not before. 

 According to 1944 news clippings from the Signal American’s archives Booth was reported to have gone missing during an air raid, and state that prior to his entering military service he had worked in the Clyde Wilson garage.

 In the mid to late 1930s, Booth joined the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, which was stationed near Mann Creek before he was drafted into the Army Air Corps in 1942.

 Staff Sergeant Booth first served with the 381st Bomb Group in Africa before being assigned to the 389th Bomb Group/567 Bomb Squadron/2nd Air Division 8th USAAF at Hethel, England. Booth filled many roles onboard the B-24 Liberator Bomber (bombardier, nose gunner and tail gunner) Flak Magnet, nicknamed Black Jack.

 In Romania, the Ploiesti’s oil fields became known as “Hitler’s gas station,” making it a high priority target for the Allies. In the summer of 1943, a war plan was developed to attack the oil fields in an attempt to cripple Romania’s oil industry and Hitler’s war effort in particular.

 On Aug. 1, 1943, five bombardment groups from the 98th, 376th, 44th, 93rd, and 389th, consisting of 178 bombers, were scheduled to set out on a 2,400-mile round trip mission from Benghazi, Libya. The 389th was tasked to join the 9th Air Force Bomb Group in support of Operation Tidal Wave. The Bombardment Group suffered three casualties following take off, and 10 planes returned to base with mechanical problems, leaving only 165 aircraft to complete the mission.

 The Fleet Group experienced a series of problems from navigational errors to having to maintain radio silence between the aircraft, making it nearly impossible to stay together. Of the 165 bombers that had set out on the mission, only 80 returned, Booth being among those who made it back.

 He was later transferred back to Hethel, where he carried out 18 bombing missions over Germany and Nazi occupied France.

 The 389th was tasked to take out an oil refinery near the town of Campina, and the mission was a success. Having come through Operation Tidal Wave, the Flak Magnet Black Jack was shot down by a German fighter plane on April 10, 1944, in a bombing raid over Orleans, France, killing seven members of its crew, including SSgt. Booth. 

 In 1965, the people of Boissy-Maugis, France erected a memorial plate to the Flak Magnet Crew that crashed in their village in 1944, which includes Booth. The crew members listed with Booth are Lt. Stuart L. Neal, Lt. Jimmie K. Coots, 1st Sgt. William E. Blanton, 1st Sgt. Vernon E. Smith, Jr., SSgt. Harold G. Josewski, and SSgt. Rawland Campbell.  

 His sister, Margaret Carnefix was quoted in the May 1, 1944 issue of the Weiser American as saying her brother’s last letter, dated March 29, indicated he had only “two more missions to go” before he would return home on furlough.

 Among the decorations Booth had been awarded were the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf cluster, and the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, and is recognized as an Idaho Gold Star Veteran.