A Distinguised Flying Cross Recipient's Mission Scrapbook

Clyde A.E. Snyder Jr.

Clyde A.E. Snyder III shares his father’s WWII experiences and scrapbook.

My father, Clyde A.E. Snyder Jr. was born on July 3, 1924 in his parents’ house at 2204 Herbertsville Road, Point Pleasant, New Jersey. His father, Clyde A. E. Snyder Sr. worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Point Pleasant. The family moved to Point Pleasant from Pottsville, PA in 1907 after having been summer residents since 1903. Clyde Jr. graduated from Point Pleasant Beach High School in June, 1942 and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He attended bombardier school at Ellington Field, Texas and flew 35 missions over Germany from Horam, England. He kept a record of each mission: target, map, photo, bombs dropped, and any associated newspaper articles. On 3 of the missions (#5, 18, and 21), they didn’t make it back to England. When I pressed Dad about these experiences, he talked about going down with the plane. According to his accounts, he refused to bail out and attempted to land the B-17. He mentioned “crawling on my belly for two days in France” assuming he was behind enemy lines, but in reality he wasn’t. He also said the worst thing about not getting back to England was that your locker was immediately emptied if you didn’t return with the rest of the mission. On mission #31, he volunteered to replace a navigator with a different crew. For that mission, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Returning from Mission #34, there’s a small newspaper item describing how they barely made it back on 2 engines. After the war, Dad returned to Point Pleasant, owned and operated Circle Esso Station in Wall Township and eventually went back to the Postal Service and retired as Postmaster in 1985. He passed away on July 25, 1989.