Between March of 1938 and September of 1939, Walter Stewart was serving in England as a missionary for the LDS Church. However, before he could complete his term of service, England declared war on Nazi Germany and all American missionaries were evacuated to the United States. After completing his mission in West Virgina, Mr. Stewart returned home and enrolled at the University of Utah. But war soon reached the United States, and so Stewart joined the United States Army Air Corps, where he served as a command pilot on a four engine, B-24 Liberator. Lieutenant Stewart dubbed his plane "Utah Man" (in honor of the fight song of the University of Utah).
In August 1943, the ship took part in the harrowing low-altitude bombing raid on the Ploesti, Romania oil fields held by the Third Reich. After the American commander's aircraft was shot down, Lt. Stewart took the lead, piloting "Utah Man" into the face of the Germans' bristling defenses. Flying at rooftop altitude, Utah Man survived heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire to drop the first bombs of that raid. Then, it limped 1,200 miles back across Yugoslavia and the Mediterranean to its home base in Benghazi, Libya. The trip took a grueling 14 hours at a maximum air speed of 125 miles an hour. Utah Man landed safely with its fuel tank leaking, one wing shredded, and its tail riddled by 372 bullet holes.
Of the 1,700 airmen and 178 bombers involved in that air raid, 310 were killed and 54 planes lost. The 185 men who survived being shot down were taken prisoner. Airmen involved in the Ploesti oil field raids earned the most decorations of any single wartime operation. For his role in the heroic raid, Lt. Stewart was supposed to recieve the Distinguished Service Cross - our nation's second highest military decoration. But, due to an error, the medal was mistakenly given to another pilot.
Five decades later, on a placid Saturday morning in 1995, the error was rectified and the saga of "Utah Man" came to a just conclusion. In a simple but moving ceremony at the University of Utah (his alma mater), Stewart, now a 77-year-old farmer from Benjamin, Utah, stood at ramrod attention while a senator, a general, and the president of the University spoke raptly and glowingly about his brave exploits in 1943. The Distinguished Service Cross was then proudly pinned to his chest. And later that day, Lt. Stewart was again honored as he stood at midfield in Rice Stadium prior to the Utah-Air Force game. The entire crowd rose to their feet in a grateful show of applause, as four Air Force jet fighters performed a low-level flyover in his honor. It was truly an appropriate salute for the hero who piloted "Utah Man."
© 2002 Meridian Magazine - © 1995 Continuum Magazine