Harrison, Bertram Cowgill.

Harrison, Bertram Cowgill, born 19-03-1917 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States, the third son of Benjamin George Harrison Sr (1886–1931) and his wife Ellen “Nellie”, born Cowgill Harrison ( 1891-1936) . Bertram marrie twice, Janet Fauntleroy born also Harrison (1915–1990) and Eugenia Pauline “Jean”, born Fischer Sundin (1914–2012, age 98)

His wife Janet died in 1990, and in 1994 Bertram married Eugenia, the widow of a classmate, Colonel Alvar Bertil “Red” Sundin. who died 02-07-1981 (age 66) in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina. They lived in Mt Pleasant, SC and Vinyard Haven, MA, moving back to Leesburg in 2004, and to Falcon’s Landing, Potomac Falls, Virginia in 2006.

Bertram attended the Riverside Military Academy from the age of ten, received an appointment and graduated from the U.S Military Academy at West Point

in 1938. Bertram entered the U.S. Army Air Corps and received his pilot wings at Kelly Field, Texas in 1939, the same year in which he married Janet Harrison of Leesburg, Virginia. After completing B-24 training and service in the China-Burma-India Theater, he was appointed deputy commander of the 460th Bomb Group at Kearns, Utah. The 460th was deployed to Spinazzola, Italy as the first operational group of the 55th Bomb Wing, 15th Air Force in January of 1944. Their first commander was General James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle.  Bertram assumed command of the Group in April, 1944 when Group Commander Colonel Robert Thomas Crowder age 32,was killed during a mission in Romania. Colonel Crowder was killed in action with his unit on 15-04-1944. Some research indicate that Colonel Crowder was severely injured and sent to hospital in Alexandria Egypt where Robert died. He completed 52 missions in the European Theater, including a mission to Zwolfaxing Airdrome in Austria on 26-07-1944, for which the 460th received the Distinguished Unit Citation. In June, 1944 he was named as deputy commander of the 55th Bomb Wing. During the war, he was awarded the Silver Star, four Distuinguished Flying Crosses, five Air Medals, the Legion of Merit and the Croix de Guerre .

Attending Command and General Staff School from October 1945 to February, 1946, Robert subsequently was appointed commander of the 320th Bomb Wing. He served in Germany as deputy commander and commander of the Munich Air Base and commander of the 60th Troop Carrier Group at Wiesbaden Air Base. He led the first units participating in the Berlin airlift in 1947 and 1948. Completing the Armed Forces Staff College in 1949, in 1950 he began a seven year tenure with the Strategic Air Command under General Curtis Emmerson “Iron Ass” LeMay, serving in various command positions in B-36 Wings at Fort Worth, Texas, Rapid City, SD, El Paso, Texas, and Loring, Maine. In 1957 he was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, later serving with the U.S. Air Force Inspector General at Norton AFB, California. In 1968 he was appointed as commander, Sixth Allied Tactical Air Force in Turkey before retiring from the Air Force at the rank of Lieutenant General n March, 1969. After retiring, the Harrisons made their home in Leesburg, Virginia.

Death and burial ground of Harrison, Bertram Cowgill.

Bertram Harrison died 17-12-2009 (age 92) in Fairfax County, Virginia, USA and is buried at the Union Cemetery, Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. 323 N King St, Leesburg, VA 20176.

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