Born Clifford Edwin Reid on 28 September 1918 near Fulbright in Red River County, Texas. Parents were Isaac Lynfield Reid (b. 1898) and Nettie Vivian Burnett (b. 1898).

Graduated from Fulbright High School on 27 May 1938. Attended Sam Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville, Texas during the summer of 1938. Transferred to East Texas State Teachers College in the fall of 1938.

He enlisted (ASN: 06951507) in the U.S. Army Air Corps on 18 November 1939 at Dallas, Texas.

He married Gladys Eugenia Nobles on 28 December 1940; the marriage license being registered in Paris, Lamar County, Texas.

Selected for the Aviation Cadet Program at Goodfellow Field near San Angelo, Texas on 3 November 1941. During pre-flight training, he was taught the mechanics and physics of flight, courses in mathematics, the hard sciences, deflection shooting, and thinking in three dimensions.

His first Flight Log entry was in a Fairchild PT-19A Trainer on 16 December 1942, with the Stamford Flying School, while assigned to 308th Army Air Forces Flying Training Detachment (AAFFTD), at Arledge Field near Stamford, Texas. On 1 January 1943, his first solo flight was also in a Fairchild PT-19A. He graduated from Primary flight training and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant (ASN: O-684048) on 9 April 1943.

His next phase of flight training was the Army Air Corps Pilot School for **Basic **(or, intermediate) flight training in a Vultee BT-13A twin-engine aircraft with the 32nd Flying Training Wing at Perrin Field near Sherman, Texas. He went on to log two-engine flight hours in Curtiss AT-9 Jeep, Beechcraft AT-10B Wichita, and Cessna AT-17B Bobcat aircraft.

On 26 June 1943, he graduated with Class 43-F from AAF Pilot School {Advanced 2-Engine) with the 873rd Two-Engine Flying Training Squadron (TEFTS) at Blackland Army Air Field near Waco, Texas.

On 18 September 1943, he was transferred to the 794th Bomb Squadron, 468th Bomb Group (H), per paragraph 3, Special Order 61, Hq, 331st 2-Engine Flying Training Group, Army Air Forces Technical Training Command (AAFWTTC), Smoky Hill Army Air Field near Salina, Kansas.

While there, he flew four-engine Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, and underwent B-29 aircraft transition and combat crew training at Pratt Army Air Field (AAF), Kansas.

In November 1944, he deployed to the Central Pacific Theatre of Operations and was assigned to 20th Air Force, XXI Bomber Command, 73rd Bomb Wing, 497th Bombardment Group (VH), 871st Bomb Squadron stationed at Isley Field on Saipan in the Mariana Islands.

Their deployment route of flight was from Pratt AAF to Kearney, Nebraska for out-processing, with a final aircraft check at Mather Field, California; then refueling stops at Hickam, Hawaii; and Kwajalein, and arrival at Isley Field.

On 24 Nov 1944, he flew as the co-pilot (with Capt. C. Reeves, pilot) aboard a Consolidated B-24J Liberator on a mission to ferry CBS correspondents from Saipan to Guam.

On 29-30 Nov 1944, he flew as the co-pilot aboard a Boeing B-29 on his first night raid to bombard the industrial area of Tokyo.

On 2 Dec 1944, he flew as the co-pilot on a Saipan local engineering test flight (no major maintenance discrepancies were noted).

On 8 Dec 1944, he flew as the co-pilot aboard a Boeing B-29 on a mission to bombard Japanese forces on the south and central air fields at Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands. They were accompanied by 28 Lockheed P-38 Lighting aircraft from the 531st Fighter Squadron.

On 13 Dec 1944 his crew took-off from Isley Field at 1909hrs aboard "Dixie Darling" on a XXI BC weather strike mission (WSM #23A), but returned at 0950hrs on 14 Dec 1944 with engine trouble and without hitting the target. Note: the B-29 was powered by four Wright R-3350 radial engines, which tended to overheat and catch fire.

On 16 Dec 1944, he flew as the co-pilot on a Saipan local engineering test flight (no major maintenance discrepancies were noted).

On Monday 18 December 1944, he flew in the right seat as a Pilot aboard a Boeing B-29 Superfortress nicknamed "Dixie Darling" (Serial #42-63413) Tail Code: A-Square-45.

It was one of 89 aircraft launched in a multi-group formation to bombard the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Company and Aircraft Engine Plants near Nagoya, Japan.

However approximately 80 nautical miles west of Iwo Jima, the "Dixie Darling" was last sighted leaving the formation at a geographic location of 24 degrees +33 minutes North and 139 degrees +50 minutes East. Weather at the time was under-cast with a ceiling of 10,000 feet and less than 3 miles of visibility at sea level.

His aircraft never returned to Saipan and was presumed to have been forced to ditch due to mechanical problems. A routine sea search failed to reveal any trace of the plane or survivors.

One year later, the aircrew status was changed from MIA to KIA on 19 Dec 1945.

NOTE: A-Square-45 The 497th BG, 871st Bomb Squadron aircraft were assigned tail code IDs: A-Square-41 thru A-Square-60. There were actually three B-29 aircraft assigned the A-SQ-45 tail code, at three different times:

Acft #1). s/n 42-63413 "Dixie Darlin" ditched Monday 18 December 1944; Walling aircrew lost.

Acft #2). s/n 42-24808 lost 25 Feb 1945; Barnes aircrew collided with Keith aircrew (A-SQ-44); both aircrews lost.

Acft #3). s/n 44-83985 survived the war; Cardone aircrew.

Clifford E Reid