Jack Edward Pinion, the son of Charles and Lillian Pinion, was born on March 17, 1918, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1936, as a catcher straight out of high school, he was signed by the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class A1 Southern Association. Pinion was released to the Sanford Lookouts of the Class D Florida State League in late April, where he played 25 games and batted .178. In 1937, he split the season between the Goldsboro Goldbugs of the Class D Coastal Plain League (14 games and batted .133) and the Jeanerette Blues of the Class D Evangeline League (11 games and batted .194). In 1938, he was with the Greeneville Burley Cubs of the Class D Appalachian League, where he played 59 games and batted .242. Aged 21, Pinion found his stride with Greeneville in 1939. In 106 games he batted .312 (tied for best on the club) and drove in 55.
In 1940, Pinion found his power. As well as playing 12 games for the Portsmouth Cubs of the Class B Piedmont League and 32 games with Greeneville, Pinion hit a team high 12 home runs in 66 games with the Tarboro Cubs of the Coastal Plain League, batting .307 with 55 RBIs.
The future for Pinion’s baseball career looked bright, but military service beckoned in May 1941, and the 23-year-old served with the Army Air Corps, stationed at MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida. In August 1941, he played for the MacDill Field Fliers baseball team in the NBC Semi-Pro World Series at Wichita, Kansas.
In 1942, Pinion was on active duty and joined the 330th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group in England. On December 7, 1942, Staff Sergeant Pinion’s squadron, along with the 328th and 409th squadrons, left their base at Alconbury, England, on the long flight to Tafarouri Aerodrome, outside Oran in Algeria, North Africa. The 93rd was sent for temporary duty to supplement the newly formed Twelfth Air Force, which had been recently activated in North Africa under the command of General James “Jimmy” Doolittle. Pinion’s crew, flying a Consolidated B-24D Liberator bomber named the “Blastin’ Bastard”, was lost when they crashed into a mountain while attempting to land at Tafarouri Aerodrome. All on board were killed. Personnel at the base had not been alerted that the B-24s were coming in and no plans had been made to light up the runway. Gasoline flares were then lit and the rest of the group landed safely.
Jack Pinion’s body was returned to the United States in 1948, and rests at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
http://www.baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/biographies/pinion-jack.html
Crew members
T/Sgt James E. Davis
M/Sgt Harold J. Hanna
T/Sgt Samuel S. McNeeley
S/Sgt William J. Magle
Sgt Kenneth R. Pastrof
S/Sgt Jack E. Pinion
S/Sgt Samuel F. Powell
Captain Richard Sanders
1st Lt Robert Allen Johnson
1st Lt Leo A. Donze
2nd Lt Iceal W. Alford, Jr.
2nd Lt Ralph J. Lynch
S/Sgt Vernon C. Bray
M/Sgt Oscar S. Olsen
The Chattanooga Daily Times, 26 May 1943
Mr. and Mrs. Jack E. Pinion Sr., 1403 Duncan Avenue, have received the Air Medal and the Purple Heart Medal awarded their son, Jack Jr., who was killed several months ago in action in the North African theater of war. The official statement accompanying the award of the Air Medal that the citation was made for “meritorious service beyond the call of duty” and for having participated in five bomber combat missions over enemy territory. A personal letter to Mrs. Pinion from Gen. George C. Marshall, chief of staff, stated in part: “I wish to extend heartfelt sympathy on the death of your son, who was killed in action. Jack E. Pinion was a gallant soldier of the United States Army whose name is now indelibly recorded on the rolls of our nation’s honored dead. As time passes, I hope that you will derive some consolation in the realization that your son gave his life so that others might live as free men. Again my deepest sympathy to you and other members of the family.”
A third medal, the Gold Star Medal, was awarded by the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, an organization of which Pinion was a member.
- Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Date of birth: 17 March 1918
- Date of death: 7 December 1942
- County: Hamilton
- Hometown: Chattanooga
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 330th Bomber Squadron, 93rd Bomber Group, Heavy
- Theater: North Africa
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Purple Heart, Air Medal
- Burial/Memorial Location: Chattanooga National Cemetery, Chattanooga, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar X, Middle Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Jack E. Pinion
Image Gallery
Click a thumbnail below to view at full size.
