Robert D Knapp

Brigadier General Robert Duane Knapp;

Robert D. Knapp was born in December 1897 in Moreland, Ga. He attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute, and during World War I he served as a private first class in the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, from Oct. 2, 1917, until March 9, 1918, when he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Aviation Section, Signal Reserve. He remained on continuous active duty and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Air Service in the Regular Army on July 1, 1920.

As an enlisted man he served with a detachment of flying cadets at Rich Field, Waco, Texas. Upon being commissioned he transferred to Ellington Field, Texas, as a flying instructor, and in August 1918 joined the 92nd Squadron at Ford Junction Airdrome, Sussex, England. In November 1918 he returned to the United States for duty with the 1st Provincial Wing, Long Island, N.Y. He was then ordered to the Panama Canal Zone for service with the 7th Aero Squadron at France Field from February until July 1919, when he returned to the United States and proceeded to El Paso, Texas, for duty with the 96th Aero Squadron as post exchange officer. He subsequently moved to Camp Stephen D. Little, Nogales, Ariz., as squadron adjutant and exchange officer.
57th Bomb Wing Commander;  From October 1940 until July 1941, he served at Langley Field, Va., as executive officer, 2nd Wing, General Headquarters Air Force, and commanding officer, 38th Bombardment Group, successively. He then moved to Jackson Army Air Base, Miss., in command of the 38th Bombardment Group. He was assigned to command the 21st Bombardment Group at that same station in February 1942. From July until September 1942 he was stationed in Columbia, S.C., with the III Bomber Command, and then became group commander, 321st Bombardment Group, at Walterboro, S.C., until December 1943. He commanded the 12th Bomber Command from December 1943 to September 1944, and the 57th Bombardment Wing from 1944 to 1945.

Barbi Ennis Connolly PRINCESSBARBI_B25@msn.com