Son of WWII 305th Bombardment Group flight engineer honors his father’s memory and the CAN DO Wing.

Rodney Jester, the son of Tech. Sgt. Edward Jester from the World War II 305th Bombardment Group, poses for a picture along with his wife, Sadie, over a display representing artifacts from his father’s wartime service inside the 305th Air Mobility Wing headquarters, on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Nov. 18, 2021. Jester donated his father’s belongings to the 305th AMW to preserve his legacy and wartime service with the CAN DO Group. This included his original A-2 Leather Flight Jacket adorned with his 29 combat missions and locations, images through his wartime USAAF service and later attendance at 305th BG reunions, and period artwork that Tech. Sgt. Jester created to pass the time between missions. Tech. Sgt. Jester attended two years of art school before being inducted into the Army here at Ft. Dix in October 1942. After training as a Flight Engineer and top turret gunner in the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, he deployed to England on the S.S. Queen Mary and was assigned to the 366th Bombardment Squadron of the 305th Bomb Group at Chelveston, England as a combat replacement in November 1943. He flew 29 combat missions with the 305th over Nazi Germany and occupied Europe – without receiving a scratch! After his combat tour, he rotated back to the U.S. and retrained in the Boeing B-29 Superfortress when the war ended. Like many of that generation, he quietly resumed civilian life, raised a family with his wife Doris of 61 years and attended 305th BG reunions in his later years. He passed away in May 2002. (U.S. Air Force photo by Daniel Barney)