Eugene Emond

Eugene Patrick EmondBorn; January 11 1921 in New York City, NYDeath; January 28, 1989 in Pittsburgh, PA

Eugene Patrick Emond was born and raised in the working class section of New York City on Fort Washington Avenue. Eugene 'Gene' Emond attened DeWitt Clinton High School, Bronx New York City, New York. Gene is the son of Eugene Emond and Mary McTague. Gene is best known for being one of the youngest Lieutenants (pilot) of the World War flagship B-17 Flying Fortress called "Man O War II Horsepower LTD." Later in life he had a 47 year career as an Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

WWII

Like so many other people at the time of WWII, Gene enlisted in the Army. He applied and was later trained as a pilot of the famous bomber of that time called a B-17 (Flying Fortress). After training Gene was shipped to England to fly in the 91st Bomber Group (also known as "Heavy Bombers") in Bassingbourn.

Gene was assigned to a B-17 entitled "Man O War II Horsepower LTD." This was the second of three Flying Fortresses to carry the name of the famous racehorse Man-O-War. The first of the three Man-O-War airships crashed in the village of Opijen, Holland. Gene's crew had a successful run while in England since they lost no crew to the war effort.

During Gene's first combat mission he flew as a tail gunner in the lead group. His role was to inform the lead pilot of the condition of the formation and enemy fighters. Gene then flew as the co-pilot of the next few missions and then as pilot (the left seat) for the rest of his tour.

Gene finished his tour around the middle of 1944 and was rotated back home to a base in Florida. When the war ended Gene elected to stay in what was then the Army Air Corps and was in the Phillipines in June of 1946. During this time Gene and his wife Alice welcomed their first baby "Eugene Edward".

Gene earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 Air Medals but missed out on a purple heart when a piece if shrapnel pierced his flying boot but missed his foot. Gene would later mention that he spent all of D-Day flying over Germany strategic locations dropping bombs. Gene saw one of the first German jets when a ME-262 flew through his formation over Germany.

Gene completed over 34 missions while leading Man O War II. He is considered to be one of the youngest Lieutenants to pilot a Fortress. After his allotment of missions Gene was later offered to become a lead air trainer in Florida. After a short stint training next generation pilots Gene decided to return to his job as a "runner" at the New York Federal Reserve.

Gene returned from the war to settle in New York with his wife Alice (Whalen) and newborn son Eugene. Later on, they welcomed 4 other children (Randall George, Elizabeth Jane, Gary Michael and Douglas William) and moved to Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Emond Families (French Canadian Surname) - it was a common trait for people with the Emond surname to name their first born with an "E" starting in the first name. Very common names used at the time included Eugene, Emery, and Edward. Interestingly it is rare that the first born Emond males where named exactly like their fathers; distinguishing between father and son using different middle names.

Summary of War Record, Eugene Patrick Emond, 12-5-43 to 5-14-47

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Gene's career at the New York Federal Reserve (New York Fed) spanned 47 years. The first half of his career was spent as a Bank Examiner traveling throughout New York State. His extroverted personality was noticed during the early part of his career as he was often asked to 'host' or sometimes 'roast' senior bank official functions. These exposures lead Gene to other opportunities within the Federal Reserve System. His post Bank Examination positions included being the first Officer in Charge of Operations and Technology, Officer in Charge of the Discount Window, Lead Trainer for Bank Examiners and Senior Officer in Charge of Special Projects. Other notible Federal Reserve Officers at that time included Mr. Fred Frey, Mr. Edward Kipsthul and Mr. Benjamin Rafanello.

One of the special projects included assisting in the refinancing of the troubled Lockheed Company with investment banks (1970's). Also Gene was influential in establishing a more formal relationship between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. He was also called upon to manage several special projects for the New York board.

Other notable Gene Emond information:

- Grew up during the depression and he and his buddies would hang out at a funeral polar (common at that time) called Sheehy's - Brother-in-law was notable surgeon Dr. William Whalen who later became President of St. Vincint's Hospital, New York City - His Brother Lawrence (Larry) became Chief Court Clerk for the New York Supreme Court (Bronx) - Life long Yankee fan - After his passing, reference was made to a letter addressed to Gene from George Schultz (Secretary of the Treasury) thanking him for his work on the Lockheed "bailout" in 1970's - for his effort and rememberance, Gene named his boat (Boston whaler) "Tri Star" which was the code name for the Lockeed L1011 - Cathy Minehan (ex president of the Boston Federal Reserve) worked for Gene at the New York Federal Reserve - prior to being named president of the Boston Federal Reserve Cathy would marry Gerry Gorrigan (ex President of the New York Federal Reserve and once was Gene's boss) - For a number of years after his war service he would take his family to airports on the weekends in New York and watch plans take off and land, - often taking a large number of pictures of planes Gene could look up in the sky and identify the destiny of airplanes (having often knowing the schedules of the major commerical airlines at the time) - After the war he did not like to fly commercially, since he would often remark that he was not at the controls

Gene's wife Alice passed on in 1972. At that time three of his children had already married and Gene was left to raise his two remaining sons.

Information regarding the verification re: Eugene Emond comes from: - www.91stbombgroup.com volunteers - http://www.basher82.nl/Data/Opijnen/may42004.htm - http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nscpbret/cem20.html (crew number 1 info) - interview with Mr. Bernard Crowe (retired patent Lawyer, Union Carbide) - interview with Mr. Douglas Emond (son) - interview with Mr. Edward Kipsthul (retired Federal Reserve Officer, New York) - discharge papers of Eugene P. Emond, WWII (will be posted at later date) - Photo of Eugene and crew in front of Man O War II ( will be posted at a later date) - Microfiche review of actual bomb raids by Man 0 War II, piloted by Eugene Emond - submitted by volunteers of 91st Bomb group - review of family genology - reference made to Dr. William Whalen, Alice Whalen and Lawrence Emond - trust2deal () 18:20, 8 September 2008 (UTC)...