Colonel Budd John Peaslee
Duty: Commanding Officer
Dates Active: January 2, 1943 to September 6, 1943
Embedded Files
Col. Budd Peaslee (left) and Gladwin C. Hill of the Associated Press | Courtesy of Robert Bletscher
Colonel Budd John Peaslee was one of the first to be assigned to the 384th Bomb Group. On January 2, 1943, he was appointed group commander of the 384th Bomb Group, and he assumed command on May 29, 1943.
Peaslee was proud to be a part of the 384th Bomb Group, and said of the group, "This group already has been first in a lot of things, and it is going to continue to be first."
Peaslee had the utmost faith in the men of the 384th and also said of them, "The B-17 and the .50-caliber gun will win the war with the right men behind them. And we have them!" Peaslee had originally trained as a fighter pilot, but he really believed in the bombers and the men who flew them.
Peaslee was a well-respected man, and never asked anything of his men that he wouldn't ask of himself. Before leading any of his men into combat, Peaslee flew as an observer on a combat mission with the 303rd Bomb Group to get a sense of what combat missions were like. Many other leaders of the 384th also flew their first combat mission with the 303rd Bomb Group.
Later, Peaslee would be credited with 7 more combat missions during his time with the 384th. He served as Commander and lead squadron leader on the 384th's very first mission to the General Motors Factory in Antwerp, Belgium. Peaslee also earned combat credit for flying missions in various other roles, including commander, observer, and pilot of the aircraft, Ruthless.
In 1944, the 384th aircraft, Peaslee’s Payoff was named after him. This aircraft was assigned to 83 missions, and earned combat credit for 67 of them. Peaslee’s Payoff ended up crashing on a training mission in Suffolk, UK. No crewmembers were injured.
Peaslee's distinguished flight career began at the age of eight years old when he saw his first airplane at the California Rodeo. He went home and got to work building his own airplane. That day, Peaslee discovered his love of flying, and began his life as he knew it.
After graduating from high school, Peaslee attended the University of Nevada where he played football, but later had to drop out due to an injury. After that, Peaslee joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. He attended flying school in San Antonio, Texas, and had a good friend and flight instructor there by the name of James H. Doolittle, who would go on to lead the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo.
Back, L-to-R: Maj. Selden McMillin (OBS/LWG), 2nd Lt. Gordon Hankinson (CP), 1st Lt. James H. Foister (N), 2nd Lt. David Wilmot (N), 1st Lt. Charles D. Bonnett (B), Col. Budd J. Peaslee (P). Front, L-to-R: S/Sgt. William Shelton (RWG), S/Sgt. William Ralston (TT), S/Sgt. Clyde Savage (BT), S/Sgt. Roy Griffith (RO), S/Sgt. Julius McNutt (TG).
Aircraft: Ruthless B-17F 42-30043 SO*V | Courtesy of Quentin Bland
Peaslee's Payoff | Courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group research website, 384thbombgroup.com
Peaslee earned his wings at the age of 24, and commissioned a Second Lieutenant. He was not only a skilled pilot, but also earned achievements as an expert bombardier, expert aerial gunner, and an expert celestial and dead reckoning navigator. In the years following, Peaslee also attended Air Corps Technical Armament School and later Air Corps Tactical School.
Peaslee first flew as a Federal Air Mail pilot. Later, he flew with the Nineteenth Bomb Group and was part of the first bomber flight to Hawaii. In 1940, Peaslee was commanding a bomb group to Alaska when his wife of 12 years, Nattie, was tragically killed in a car wreck. He was relieved of this assignment to care for his young children, Carolyn, age 3, and Richard, age 5 at the time.
In 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Peaslee was re-assigned to duty and joined the Fourth Air Support Command. There, he served as a liaison between the Sacramento Air Depot and the Fourth Air Force. From there, he was assigned to the Second Air Force, where he trained bomber crews in Salina, Kansas, and eventually Peaslee was assigned Commander of the newly-designated 384th Bomb Group.
Col. Peaslee, 1st Air Division, in front of his P-51, Carolyn Ann, 31 July 1944 | Courtesy of National Archives
Peaslee was transferred from the 384th Bomb Group in September of 1943, and reassigned to the 1st Air Division, 40th Combat Wing, 8th Air Force as Chief of Staff.
From there, Colonel Peaslee initiated and led the First Scouting Force. He introduced the idea to his old friend, General James H. Doolittle, who was now an Eighth Air Force Commander. General Doolittle approved the idea, and the Scouting Force was born. Doolittle authorized Peaslee to organize and lead it. The Scouting Force put bomber pilots in P-51 Mustangs. They would fly ahead of bombers and report back on weather conditions, smoke screens, and enemy activity. Peaslee was proud of his Scouts and he said they had “inestimable value" in helping bombardment campaigns.
Soon after that, Peaslee would take part in the Schweinfurt Raid’s “Black Thursday” mission, on October 14, 1943. Peaslee was still serving as Chief of Staff of the 1st Air Division, 40th Bomb Wing, and also as Air Commander for the entire 8th Air Force. He led the 1st Air Division as Mission Commander. (The 1st Air Division consisted of the 92nd, 305th, and 306th Bomb Groups. Many other bomb groups were involved in the Schweinfurt Mission, but these three fell under Colonel Peaslee’s direct leadership since he was their mission commander.) Peaslee flew in the co-pilot’s seat of the lead aircraft, which was from the 92nd Bomb Group. The co-pilot would fly in the tail gunner’s position when there was a mission commander on board.
It is important to note that the 305th Bomb Group had not made it into formation yet, and they were eight minutes late lining up in formation. Operating procedures required that three bomb groups head up in formation together at this point in the war because German fighters had taken on the new tactic of attacking Allied aircraft from the front. Peaslee made the decision for the formation and mission to continue without the 305th Bomb Group. Later, the 305th Bomb Group caught up with Peaslee and the rest of the formation, and they flew in the group’s low squadron. Their mission for the day was to bomb ball-bearing plants in Schweinfurt, Germany. Over 60 B-17s and 600 men were lost on the Schweinfurt Mission. This mission also made the Eighth Air Force realize the importance of fighter plane escorts, and this was later implemented because of this.
After the war, Peaslee served as Head of the All-Weather Flying Program for the Pentagon, where he met his wife, Evelyn, who was a secretary there. Later, Peaslee served as Senior Air instructor for the California Air National Guard, and later, he was appointed Head of the Far East Air Force Section in Taiwan. In 1953, Colonel Peaslee retired from the Air Force after sustaining a back injury.
For his military service, Peaslee was the recipient of the Legion of Merit, five Air Medals, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, the French Croix de Guerre, the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation, and the Silver Star for his leadership on the Schweinfurt Mission.
After retiring from the Air Force, Peaslee worked as the Salinas Airport Commissioner, and later, the Salinas Airport Manager.
In 1964, Peaslee wrote a book called Heritage of Valor: The Eighth Air Force in World War II and various other stories for magazines.
In 1967, Peaslee wrote an article about the Schweinfurt mission, titled “The World’s Greatest Air Battle.”
In 1968, Peaslee helped found the 384th Bomb Group, Inc., which we now know today as the 384th Bomb Group Heritage Association. Later, in 1973, he also helped found The Schweinfurt Memorial Association.
Colonel Peaslee never forgot the men he served with. He remembered them all, and cared deeply for each of them, especially those who were lost in combat.
Peaslee went on to have 3 children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He lived to be 80 years old, and he lies in rest in his home state of California.
Colonel Budd Peaslee helped "keep the show on the road," and he is not forgotten.
Budd Peaslee at the original 384th Bomb Group Memorial | Courtesy of Quentin Bland
Information and photos courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group Heritage Association research website, 384thBombGroup.com, the Plane News (April 1943), Find a Grave, "The Second Schweinfurt Mission–Bomber Command’s Darkest Day" by Jim O'Connell (Fairchild Air Force Base), "Schweinfurt - The Battle Within the Battle for the U.S. 8th Air Force" by Capt. David Reichert (USAF), and "Budd Peaslee – Part 8" by Cindy Bryan and the Arrowhead Club.
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