John Henry Ross (June 8, 1918 – August 9, 2013) was a decorated

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

pilot who flew 96 missions for the

22nd Reconnaissance Squadron The 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron was a part of the Eighth Air Force 7th Photographic Group that was activated in 1942 and based at Mount Farm England between 1943 and 1945. Peterson Field The unit was constituted by general ord ...

as part of the

7th Reconnaissance Group The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

in the

8th Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...

. Ross flew the

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

as a photo-recon pilot out of

RAF Mount Farm Royal Air Force Station Mount Farm or more simply RAF Mount Farm is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Dorchester, Oxfordshire, England. History USAAF use Mount Farm was originally a satellite airfield for the RAF Photograp ...

in England during the war. He received 11 medals and 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Ross' missions, which were integral to

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

victory at the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

are detailed in the book, ''Eyes of the Eighth: A Story of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, 1942-1945''. On three separate missions, Ross' plane was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean and the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. He also flew reconnaissance for

Operation Aphrodite Aphrodite and Anvil were the World War II code names of United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy operations to use Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated PB4Y bombers as precision-guided munitions against bunkers and other har ...

missions, which utilized radio-controlled bombers as PGM. Additional to reconnaissance missions to plot bombing runs, he also flew missions to photograph damage assessment. One of his photographs of the

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...

still standing amongst the rubble is credited to Ross in several books.

Background

Born in

Coleman, Oklahoma Coleman is a small unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Johnston County, Oklahoma, Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The town was previously known as Ego, which was the name assigned to the post offic ...

, Ross owned and operated a restaurant in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Ross died in 2013 in Florida at the age of 95.

Documentary film

Ross is the subject of a documentary film being produced by Michael Hemschoot and

Sean Bridgers Sean MacKenzie Bridgers (born March 15, 1968) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer, known for his role as Johnny Burns on the HBO series '' Deadwood'' and on the SundanceTV original series ''Rectify'' as Trey Willis. Additional to ma ...

Worker Studio Worker Studio is an American animation and visual effects company based in Centennial, Colorado, founded in 2009 by Michael "Ffish" Hemschoot. The company has provided visual effects for a number of short films including Angela Bettis, Angela Bet ...

and Travelin' Productions, titled ''John Ross: American'', which began production in 2011. The filmmakers are utilizing animation to recreate stories from Ross' life, including his missions flown during World War II and as a child hopping freight trains during the

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...

. During filming in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

the film crew followed Ross to the

AMVETS American Veterans (AMVETS) is a non-partisan, volunteer-led organization formed by World War II veterans of the United States military. It advocates for its members as well as for causes that its members deem helpful to the nation at large. The g ...

National Convention, where a trailer for the film featuring animation was premiered and Ross received an Honorary Lifetime Membership in the organization. The filmmakers conducted a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo to raise partial funds for production. During the campaign, actors such as

Jim Beaver James Norman Beaver Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American actor, writer, and film historian. He is most familiar to worldwide audiences as Bobby Singer in ''Supernatural''. He also played Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series '' ...

and

Garret Dillahunt Garret Lee Dillahunt (born November 24, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in television, including the roles Burt Chance on the Fox sitcom ''Raising Hope'', for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Aw ...

, who were cast-members with Bridgers on the show '' Deadwood'' made contributions. Writer, director and actor

Larry Fessenden Laurence T. Fessenden (born March 23, 1963) is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits inclu ...

, actress

Tara Karsian Tara Karsian (born August 5, 1965) is an American actress and writer. She is the daughter of actress Pat Carroll. Life and career Karsian is the daughter of actress Pat Carroll and Lee Karsian, and the sister of casting director Kerry Karsian. Sh ...

, the family of guitarist Wymond Miles of

The Fresh & Onlys The Fresh & Onlys are an American rock band. They were formed in San Francisco, California, United States, in 2008 by Tim Cohen of Black Fiction, bassist Shayde Sartin and guitarist Wymond Miles. A year later they recruited drummer Kyle Gibson. ...

, as well as media theorist, author and documentary filmmaker,

Douglas Rushkoff Douglas Mark Rushkoff (born February 18, 1961) is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture and his advocacy of open sourc ...

also made contributions.

References

External links

* 1918 births 2013 deaths People from Johnston County, Oklahoma Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II {{Oklahoma-stub