Masters of the air and land

Ominously nicknamed the “Bloody 100th,” the bombardment group of the U.S. Army’s Eighth Air Force gained a reputation during World War II as a jinxed unit, suffering a staggering number of casualties as they flew dangerous missions to destroy targets inside German-occupied Europe.

At first, the Air Force’s bomber crews had to fly 25 missions to earn the right to rotate home. Because of heavy losses, leadership increased the number to 30. Overall, two-thirds of the men in the Eighth Air Force could expect to be killed in action, wounded or captured by the enemy.

Two Missouri Bootheel farm boys were among the lucky ones who survived.

Kenneth Lemmons and his older brother, Cleatus Glenn (C.G.) Lemmons, were both members of the Eighth Air Force, stationed in England during the war. Ken was a mechanic and crew chief with the 100th Bombardment Group, putting to use skills he had learned growing up on the family’s farm. C.G. served as a pilot in the 613th squadron of the 401st Bombardment Group, assigned to a Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress.”

“There’s a lot of lessons to be learned from the guys who went through all that,” said Ross Lemmons, C.G.’s grandson and Ken’s great-nephew. “They were tough. They really were.”

Today, Ross and his brother, Logan, are carrying on the family’s farming tradition. They raise rice, soybeans and corn along with a newly added rotation of cotton on about 3,000 acres, including the homeplace established by their great-grandparents, Arch and Hassel Lemmons, in Bell City, Mo., about 20 miles northwest of Sikeston. The Lemmons family relocated there from northeast Arkansas just as World War II began.

Ken volunteered for the Army Air Force on Dec. 15, 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and two weeks before he turned 19. He became one of the first crew chiefs to be assigned to the 100th bomb group and served with the 351st Squadron as ground chief from 1943 until 1945.

C.G. enlisted about a year after his brother. He initially wanted to join the Army infantry, hoping for a chance to work with horses. Ken convinced him to join the Army Air Force as an airplane mechanic, too, but an outstanding test score steered C.G.’s military career in a different direction.

“Evidently, he scored really well on an aptitude test he took during training, and they wanted him to become a pilot,” Logan said. “He didn’t think he could do it, but our grandmother, who he had met while stationed in Florida, convinced him that he could. So, he learned to be a pilot. For a kid growing up in the Great Depression with only an eighth-grade education, that had to be pretty cool.”

“But I also wonder,” he added, “if our grandfather had known what he’d go through, would he still have signed up for it?”

C.G. flew 31 missions from May 30, 1944, to Aug. 30, 1944, aboard his B-17 christened the “Homing Pigeon.” Earning the nickname, “Lucky Lem,” he completed those missions without major incident and never lost a crewman. His grandsons say that accomplishment meant more to him than his commendations and medals, which include the Air Force’s Distinguished Flying Cross.

“All he wanted to do was get home to our grandmother,” Ross said.

That’s exactly what he did after his last mission in 1944, reuniting with his young bride, Marjorie, with whom he would raise three children, including Logan’s and Ross’ father, Glenn. The three generations of Lemmons men would go on to farm together until C.G.’s death in 2005.

“There’s no doubt he could have had a good career as a pilot, and he originally said he was going to college on the G.I. Bill after he finished his tour,” Logan said. “But all he really wanted to do was farm. He told people he had ‘dirt in his veins.’”

Logan and Ross have inherited that same passion, both returning to the farm full time after earning agribusiness degrees. In the emotional aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9-11, Ross nearly followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by joining the military. The elder Lemmons—known as “Grande” (grand-ee) to his grandsons—discouraged that plan with a poignant reminder of the toll of war.

“I was ready to enlist, but Grande talked me out of it,” Ross said. “He told me my place was here on the farm. He said, ‘I’m responsible for killing enough people for our family.’”

The harrowing experiences and heroic actions of the 100th Bombardment Group resurfaced in the public eye earlier this year as the subject of “Masters of the Air,” a miniseries created for Apple TV+ and based on the 2007 book of the same name. The nine-episode event followed the airmen and ground crews as they experienced the intensity of war, the tight-knit friendships that formed and the sheer terror of combat conducted 25,000 feet in the air.

The show was a followup to 2001’s “Band of Brothers” and 2010’s “The Pacific,” a pair of acclaimed World War II series developed by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The duo returned for “Masters of the Air” as executive producers. The project began in 2021 with filming in England but was delayed several times by COVID-19 restrictions. It finally premiered on Jan. 26, 2024.

Ken Lemmons was featured in “Masters of the Air” as one of the recurring characters. His role as the 100th group’s ground chief was played by Raff Law, son of 
Oscar-nominated actor Jude Law.

“We heard rumblings about the series pre-COVID when some of the development staff contacted Kenneth’s son, Dan, to get some information, so we knew it was in the works for quite a while,” Ross said. “Dan and his sister, Michelle, were even invited to the premiere in L.A. They got to meet Raff Law. Seeing the story come to life was kind of surreal for all of us.”

While C.G. himself was not depicted in the series, his grandsons said watching the portrayals of fellow pilots helped them imagine the perils that their grandfather rarely talked about.

“That show made me cry several times, just thinking about what Grande, Uncle Ken and their crews went through,” Ross said. “It’s something we can’t even comprehend today.”

The “Bloody 100th” flew their first combat mission in June 1943 and its last in April 1945. During those 22 months, they were credited with 8,630 missions with the terrible loss of 732 airmen and 177 aircraft. C.G’s 401st group flew missions from November 1943 until June 1945 and had the best bombing accuracy record among all the Eighth Air Force’s B-17 units.

Among other notable actions, the Eighth Air Force aided ground troops during D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge and supplied aid packages to liberated towns that were devastated by the war.

Every mission was an emotionally daunting experience, fraught with dangers such as German anti-aircraft fire known as flak, which could punch through the thin metal of the B-17s. 

“I was kind of a history buff, anyway, and I would watch any program I could find on the Eighth Air Force and B-17s knowing our family’s connection to them,” Ross said. “I would ask Grande questions, but most of the time, he wouldn’t answer me, or he’d change the subject. But one time, after watching one of these shows, I asked ‘What was the scariest part? Was it the flak?’ He said, ‘No. The scariest part was when the flak stopped, because that’s when you knew the fighters were coming up after you.’ The Germans weren’t going to shoot when their own fighter planes were in the air. And that was depicted in the show.”

After his service, Ken eventually moved to Rockford, Ill., and used his mechanical and engineering skills to start his own business, North American Clutch and Driveline, a manufacturer of agricultural and industrial clutches and power take-off assemblies. Ken died Dec. 17, 2004, at the age of 81, and his company is still operated by his family. C.G. died a little over a month later on Jan. 26, 2005. He was 84 and farmed nearly to the end. Both brothers were buried with military honors.

“How we wish they could have seen ‘Masters of the Air,’” Ross said. “Grande would have gotten a kick out of seeing Uncle Ken portrayed, and we would have loved to hear what they’d have to say about how it compared to the real experience. With so many of their generation gone now, it’s important to have their stories brought to life so others can learn just how special these guys really were.” 

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