Henry E. Erwin

Henry Eugene Erwin Sr. (May 8, 1921 – January 16, 2002) was a United States Army Air Forces airman and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II. He earned the award as a staff sergeant and radio operator aboard a B-29 Superfortress in the Asia-Pacific theater. During a 1945 bombing mission over Koriyama, Japan, a white phosphorus bomb prematurely ignited in his aircraft and seriously wounded him. As smoke filled the plane, he picked up the burning device and carried it through the aircraft to the cockpit where he tossed it out a window. Although he suffered severe burns, he successfully saved his plane and all crew members aboard by disposing of the incendiary/smoke-generating bomb. He is the first and only Boeing B-29 Superfortress crew member to receive the Medal of Honor.

Military service Erwin was born on May 8, 1921, in Adamsville, Alabama. Like many of his generation, he grew up in poverty and lost his father at an early age. However, he had a very strong religious faith, which he discussed on a History Channel documentary on Medal of Honor recipients in 1999. Erwin said, "I called on the Lord to help me and He has never let me down". Erwin joined the Army Reserve from nearby Bessemer on July 27, 1942.