Lt. Bob D. Zehentner 8mm Color Film B-25, 12th Bomb Group Earthquakes

First Lieutenant Robert Zehentner of Dubuque, Iowa entered military service at the age of 23 with the U.S. Army Air Corps in the spring of 1942 as an aviation cadet and completed approximately a year of primary flight training at Thunderbird Field in Scottsdale, Arizona before ultimately being assigned as a bombardier/navigator.

Upon that assignment, he next attended bombardier school at Roswell Army Air Field, NM and graduated with Class 43-7 in May of 1943. After completing his operational training in South Carolina, Lt. Zehentner was assigned to the 380th Bomb Squadron of the 310th Bombardment Group (medium), the same bomb squadron represented by the Minnesota Wing’s B-25J, “Miss Mitchell”. The 310th was part of the 57th Bomb Wing of the 12th Air Force, assigned to the Mediterranean Theater of operations during WWII.

In January of 1944, with papers in hand, Zehentner shipped overseas and joined the squadron in Tunisia, North Africa. There, he would spend the next month completing combat training while flying coastal patrol missions on the B-25 in support of the Corsica and Italian campaigns against the Axis in the Mediterranean.

With combat training completed, Bob was reassigned to the 12th Bomb Group (M), nicknamed ‘The Earthquakers’, based in Southern Italy and attached to the 81st Bomb Squadron. He would remain with this unit throughout the war. The 12th BG was in the process of moving out of the Mediterranean Theater and was being reassigned to the 10th Air Force, where they would sail east to India to the China/Burma/India (C.B.I.) Theater in support of the British allies against the Japanese in Burma. It is here, that Lt. Zehentner would begin flying his combat missions.

In the spring and summer of 1944, Bob flew approximately 25 combat missions as bombardier. The group bombed communications installations, bridges, rail yards and other objectives as well as flying supplies to the beleaguered British forces at Imphal in India. During these missions, Lt. Zehentner would prove his abilities as an excellent bombardier/navigator and in July of 1944, he was assigned to the 12th BG Headquarters Staff and promoted to lead navigator for the 81st Squadron. In that capacity, he would accumulate an additional 49 combat missions for a total 74 combat missions flown before successfully completing his tour and rotating home in March of 1945.

Bob Zehentner continued proudly serving his country in the Air Force Reserves through the 1970’s and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 85.

Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal w/oak leaf cluster, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon w/bronze battle star, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with 3 bronze battle stars, Presidential Unit Citation, the China War Medal from the Chinese Nationalist Government and the Burma Star from the British Government.

​Thank you to the family of Bob Zehentner for sharing these videos with us.