Walter J. Furlong, a highly decorated World War II bomber turret gunner who flew 40 missions and survived being shot down four times, died June 22 from complications from a stroke at Quail Run, a Parkville assisted-living facility.
The Perry Hall resident was 92.
The son of Walter B. Furlong, a typesetter, and Mary Teresa Furlong, a Hochschild Kohn saleswoman, Walter Joseph Furlong was born in Baltimore and raised on Ilchester Avenue in Waverly.
He was a 1942 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington, and was working as a Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. lineman when he decided to enlist in the Army Air Corps.
"His father, who had been in World War I and saw the horror of war, told him not to enlist and wait until he was drafted, so that's what he did," said a son, Stephen Furlong of Shrewsbury, Pa.
Drafted in 1943, Mr. Furlong received basic training at Fort Holabird, then went overseas to Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England, where he continued flight training.
He joined the 8th Air Force's 94th Bomber Group as a turret gunner and flew aboard Boeing B-17 Super Fortresses and Consolidate B-24 Liberator bombers.
While stationed at Bury St. Edmunds, his plane crashed into the English Channel and he spent half an hour in the chilled waters before being picked up.
He was then assigned in 1944 to the 15th Air Force's 94th Bomber Group in Lecce, Italy. He had to bail out twice in Italy after his plane was damaged by enemy fire. The first time, he parachuted into a potato field and injured his back.
The second time was even more dramatic. In August 1944, he was top turret gunner aboard "Ugly But Tough," a B-24 Liberator which an article in Stars and Stripes described as "no tougher than the men who manned her." The plane was approaching a target, an Austrian oil refinery, when it was hit by three bursts of flak.
"Burst one splintered its way through the 'greenhouse' killing the pilot almost instantly, shattered the flight instruments, blasted the automatic pilot, cut the rudder cables and tore a ragged gap in the fuselage," according to the Stars and Stripes account.
The bomber careened in a sharp dive, lost 8,000 feet, and was out of control. The co-pilot labored "with pedals that swung limply, instruments that were crippled beyond logic, trim tab cables that were severed and almost unmanageable ailerons that gave no response."
Somehow he was able to get the aircraft into a flyable position, but the plane had fallen 25,000 feet through formation and was now alone. The flight engineer had bailed out during the initial dive, and it was impossible to contact the lead ship or the fighter escort, reported Stars and Stripes.
As "Ugly But Tough" headed toward an island off the coast of Yugoslavia, co-pilot Lt. Gordon B. Cleveland came on the intercom and told the remaining crew, "We'll take her back to the mainland … when you see a clear place, bail out."
Mr. Furlong had stepped in as flight engineer, and advised that there was sufficient fuel to get to Italy if the plane could maintain altitude. "Then sit tight," said the co-pilot. "We'll sweat it out to Italy."
The heavily damaged plane cruised above the Adriatic Sea, and once it was over Italy, the order to bail out was given. Lt. Cleveland remained aboard with Mr. Furlong until the rest of the crew departed, then they dropped through the bomb-bay doors.
"Ugly But Tough" circled in its descent, and came within 50 feet of Mr. Furlong's parachute, tossing him around in its wake. He and Lt. Cleveland watched as the plane crashed to her final resting place.
Mr. Furlong was not as lucky on a 1945 bombing run that attacked an oil refinery in Moosbierbaum, Austria. He was among what was known as a "bastard crew" — surviving crewmen whose previous crew members from other planes had been killed.
While returning from the mission, the plane came under enemy fire.
"Flak came in the plane, hit the engineer and flew up inside Walter's helmet which caused a head wound," wrote his sister, Ann Burke, of Rodgers Forge, in an unpublished account of her brother's wartime service.
The B-24 lost two engines and Mr. Furlong and the co-pilot bailed out. As he rode his parachute down, Mr. Furlong could see his descent being monitored by German soldiers.
"He ran into the forest and was so tired that he rested and fell asleep," his son said. "He awoke to German soldiers standing over him."
Now a POW, he was sent to Stalg VII-A in Moosburg in southern Bavaria.
"The Germans took everything except his toothbrush and rosary," wrote his sister, who said POWS were fed a "watery barley soup with something that resembled grass and homemade black bread that had been made with sawdust."
Stalag VII-A was liberated by American Forces on April 29, 1945. Ironically, on May 8, the date of the German surrender, The Evening Sun carried a report that listed Mr. Furlong as missing in action.
On June 19, 1945, the newspaper reported the War Department had said he was one of 37 Marylanders who had been liberated.
Mr. Furlong had flown 40 missions — crews only had to fly 25 to qualify to come home — and participated in raids such as Operation Tidal Wave, which attacked oil fields in Ploesti, Romania, severally crippling German supplies.
He was discharged with the rank of master sergeant. His decorations included the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with three Clusters, air Force Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation and two Purple Hearts.
After the war, Mr. Furlong returned to Baltimore and his job at BGE, where he rose to become a crew foreman overseeing installation of service to new developments. He retired in 1986.
"He hardly ever talked about the war, but when his grandson had to do a book report, he opened up," his son said.
The longtime resident of Kendale Road in Parkville had been a member of the Yankee Rebels Drum and Bugle Corps Hamilton Post 20 and, during the 1970s and 1980, was a member of American Legion Post 183 in Parkville.
Funeral services for Mr. Furlong will be held at 11 a.m. July 8 at the Evans Funeral Home, 8800 Harford Road.
In addition to his son and sister, he is survived by his wife of 16 years, the former Joan Petrlik; another son, Neale Furlong of Ormond Beach, Fla.; four daughters, Cynthia Smith of Baltimore, Barbara Furlong of Savannah, Ga., Susan Looper of DeLand, Fla., and Joan Fridley of Mosinee, Wisc., another sister, Marie Wall of Connecticut; 12 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. An earlier marriage to the former Dorothy Herrlich ended in divorce.