S/Sgt.

Henry Joseph Kolinek

Tail Gunner

544th Bomb Squadron

384th Bombardment Group (Heavy)

Serial Nr. 38559493

Completed tour

Combat missions credited - 35

Retired Staff Sergeant Henry Joseph “HJ” Kolinek is one of the last surviving members of the 384th Bomb Group. This past July, he celebrated his 100th birthday, a momentous occasion that marked a full century of his incredible life.

Kolinek’s story began on the 28th July 1925 when he was born in Green, Texas, just outside of Kenedy, Texas. His father, a World War I Infantry veteran, and cotton ginner by trade, passed on to him the values of service, hard work, and gratitude. 

Kolinek was four years old when the Great Depression began in 1929. He said of its effect on him, “As a boy, I didn’t get to spend any money, but it didn’t really hit me because we got everything that we needed.”

For fun, he would go with his family who lived nearby, to hunt game. He spoke of this, saying, “I had a .22 rifle and I would go through the brush looking for squirrels to shoot and skin and put over a fire and eat. And also, in the 30s, we’d do trapping and take the hides and sell skunk and possum hides for 50 cents a hide. I tell you what I did one day. I don’t know how I did it, but I caught a skunk. A skunk has to raise its tail vertical to spray. Well, holding this skunk by the tail, he couldn’t spray me, and I took it home and showed my parents, and we killed it and skinned it there.”

For education, Kolinek attended a humble three-room schoolhouse in Green, Texas from first through seventh grade, and later Kenedy High School, where he graduated in 1942 at the age of 17 because there were only eleven grades to graduate at the time.

After graduating from high school, Kolinek attended college at Texas A&M University. He struggled academically and said of his time there, “I made it through halfway, and I passed English with a D and failed all of the other courses, so they sent me back to Kenedy to take math courses. I made the mistake, and I don’t know why, of [majoring in chemical engineering]. My brother [Ellison Kerwin Kolinek, born 27th October 1934] ended up being a chemical engineer at A&M. When I went back [to A&M] after some time back in Kenedy school, I enrolled again, and in high school, I did not learn how to conjugate verbs. Well, a German course required conjugation, so I failed German. I switched to agricultural administration, which is where I should have been in the very beginning, because that’s what I ended up using in my banking career.”

In 1943, Kolinek turned 18 and he had to put his education on hold due to being drafted into the US Army Air Forces (USAAF). He reported to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Kolinek recalled, “One of the things that I remember there was that they said if you follow instructions, you’ll stay out of trouble.”

Later, he attended basic training in Wichita Falls, Texas and eventually gunnery school in Kingman, Arizona. Next, Kolinek went to Rapid City, South Dakota, where he met one of his crewmates, Sgt. L.G. Airhart, top turret gunner, and they began training with a crew.

Recalling the advice he was given early on in training to always follow the rules, Kolinek said, “On one of the training missions, the pilot said, when we get on the ground, you draw out of the radio operator’s escape hatch and get out on the wing. Well, on our way back in, as soon as our wheels touched the ground, I followed what the pilot said. We were running down the runway at about 50 or 60 miles an hour and I got up and crawled out of the opening, and was walking on the wing next to the co-pilot. He saw me, and he told me to get down so that they wouldn’t see me on the wings. We were on the side opposite of the control tower, and they couldn’t see me, but I followed the pilot’s instructions as soon as we got on the ground. He didn’t say to wait until we stop.”

On 2nd August 1944, Kolinek was assigned to the 544th Bombardment Squadron of the 384th Bomb Group, per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #155, and assigned to the 2 Lt. Raymond John Gabel crew in Rapid City, South Dakota. Four days later, on 6th August 1944, Kolinek was promoted to Sergeant. Sgt. Kolinek said, “After that, we went to Harrington, Kansas, took a train to New Jersey and got on a boat, and it took us two weeks to go from New Jersey to England.” On 1st October 1944, Sgt. Kolinek was promoted to Staff Sergeant.

While serving with the 384th Bomb Group, S/Sgt. Kolinek flew 37 missions, 35 of which earned him combat credit. He was a tail gunner for all of those missions, except for one, where he served as a waist gunner. Kolinek said of his temporary role as a waist gunner, “I did not like it; it was too open. I preferred the small space in the tail.”

S/Sgt. Kolinek and his crew flew combat missions over France, Belgium, and Germany. He said of earning combat credit, “When you took off and landed having gone to the target, you got credit for that mission.”

Kolinek said of his position in the tail gun, “I had two 50-caliber machine guns in the tail, and all the guns were fixed on the aircraft. Any work that had to be done was done by the ground crew that was responsible for the guns and ammunition. I never had to fire the guns because we were never attacked by German fighter planes. We never ran into any German fighters, but we did encounter a lot of flak. One of our navigators, (2 Lt. Richard Leroy Lovegren), was killed on one of our runs.”

Miraculously, throughout the course of all 37 of his missions, S/Sgt. Kolinek and his crew were never directly fired at by German airmen. He attributed this to his faith and belief in God, saying, “I trusted God to take care of us, and I think that He did, in as much as that we were never attacked by German fighter planes.”

Kolinek provided insight on the typical seating arrangement for gunners on a B-17, saying, “On a flight, we were instructed to sit with our back to the radio operator’s cabinet until we got off the ground, and we were able to stay in the waist until we got to 15,000 feet when we needed to get on oxygen. I would crawl back into my tail position at that time. At the end of the mission, when we got back to 15,000 feet, I was able to get out of the tail and get back into the waist position until we landed, and we were instructed to sit with our back to the radio operator’s cabinet.”

On the return from one mission, S/Sgt. Kolinek and his crew had an eventful wheels-up landing on the B-17 #43-38542. He recalled this event saying, “The wheels-up landing [happened after an] all-day mission. We took off in the dark, we made our bomb run, and we came back in the dark. We were number three in the landing, and they said, number two, go around. Our pilot thought we were number two, so they raised the wheels and the pilot asked me to go back to the tail with the light. I did that, and we got into the prop wash of the plane that was ahead of us that went around, and our pilot and co-pilot didn’t have the time to check the wheels to see if they were down or up. As we got over the end of the runway, they told us that the wheels were up. By that time, the props had already hit the concrete, and so they shut the engines off. We were going down the concrete runway, and the ball turret was getting hot. It went into the oxygen line and it caught on fire. I was at the side door deciding whether or not I should stay or jump out. I decided I would stay. When we came to a stop, we all exited the plane and the fire got put out. The only damage that was done was to the ball turret and to the flaps that were down. Other than that, everything was fine.”

On 7th January 1945, S/Sgt. Kolinek flew his final mission aboard B-17 #42-97986. Their target that day was an enemy strong point in Blankenheim, Germany. The completion of a successful and safe mission brought Kolinek's 35-mission tour to a close. After the war, Kolinek returned back to school at Texas A&M University and earned a degree in agricultural economics, graduating in 1948.

In 1947, he married his beloved wife, Dorothy, and together they raised a family. They have a daughter, Marsha Kolinek Duniven, who is married to Dennis Duniven. Marsha and Dennis have two daughters, Cara Michelle Duniven, and Crista Duniven Kuhn who is married to Ben Kuhn. Crista and Ben have two daughters, Emma Rose Kuhn and Ila Kay Kuhn.

After graduating, Kolinek went to work at Union Carbide for fifteen years, and later, First Nichols National Bank, where he worked for thirty-seven years. There, he served in various roles, including vice-president, president, and eventually chairman of the board, retiring at the age of eighty.

In September of 2019, at the age of ninety-four, Kolinek was the 154th veteran to take part in the 384th Bomb Group Heritage Association's wing panel project, which allowed 384th veterans to sign their name on a skin panel from the wing of a B-17G, forever etching their name in history. The panel is permanently on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum located at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah.

Later that month, Kolinek also returned to England for the first time after the war for the 384th Bomb Group Heritage Association’s Junket XI, where 384th veterans and their families visited historical sites and Grafton Underwood. During his visit, Kolinek honoured the 544th Bomb Squadron by laying a memorial wreath at the 384th Bomb Group Memorial. He also got to spend time with his fellow 384th veterans, S/Sgt. Leonard Estrin (Ball turret gunner, 546th Bomb Squadron) and 1Lt. Henry Chester Sienkiewicz (Bombardier, 545th Bomb Squadron). Additionally, Kolinek visited the 100th Bomb Group Museum, the American Cemetery at Madingley, and the Eagle Pub in Cambridge, where he signed his name on the wall. Also on his travel tour was the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, where the B-17, Sally B, was on display, and Kolinek returned to the tail gun for the first time in seventy-four years. 

Kolinek returned to England once more in 2023. While there, he visited the 384th Bomb Group Museum. He also manned the tail gun once again; this time, on the B-17, Memphis Belle, which was on display at the Duxford Air Show.

On 8th June 2023, an American flag was flown over the United States Capitol in Kolinek’s honour. The Kenedy Rotary Club and American Legion Post 415 presented it to him along with a challenge coin and certificate of authenticity that read, “This flag is from the United States of America. This is to certify that the accompanying flag flew over the US Capitol on 8th June 2023 at the request of the Honorable Monica de la Cruz. This flag was flown for H.J. Kolinek.” 

For his 100th birthday in July, Kolinek was honoured with forty-nine cards from members of the 384th Bomb Group Heritage Association and Museum, which arrived from seventeen different states and three countries. Among the senders were two from his fellow WWII veterans.

This August, shortly after celebrating his 100th birthday, Kolinek was again honoured by his local U.S. Congress representative, Monica De La Cruz, who presented him with a portrait and official Congressional record.

Today, Kolinek enjoys spending time on his ranch, riding his tractor, being with his family, and watching Texas A&M Aggie football. He continues to serve his community and is active in his church. He remains active in public service as a rotarian, member of the city council, member of the chamber of commerce, and board member for the Karnes County Airport.

When asked what he’d like people to remember about the men of the 384th Bomb Group, Kolinek said, “We were asked to do a job, and we did it to the best of our abilities.”

From his humble beginnings, to his time in the service, and throughout his life as an honest, hardworking family man, Mr. Kolinek has built a legacy embodying the values of service, integrity, and devotion to others. His humility reminds us that his true reward was simply a duty well done.

Information courtesy of Henry J. Kolinek, Marsha Kolinek Duniven, 384th Bomb Group Heritage Association, and Crestwood.

Research and interviews courtesy of Mikayla Leech on behalf of the 384th Bombardment Group Museum. Our sincere thanks to Marsha and Henry for allowing the opportunity for these interviews.

With kind thanks to the 384th Bomb Group website (384thbombgroup.com) for permission in using material from their records in the making of this story. It holds a wealth of information, documents and photographs of their activities during World War 2.