Chris Ivanoff Jr.

Their Story

Chris Ivanoff Jr was born on February 5, 1924, in Davenport, Iowa, to Chris and Mary Ivanoff.^[1] On May 28, 1942, while employed at Kay Furniture Co., Ivanoff enlisted in the Army Air Corps. By February of the following year, he had been promoted to staff sergeant, after completing training at the Wendover Aerial Gunnery and Fire Control School in Utah and additional training at the California Flyers School in Santa Monica. At this time, Ivanoff also became an aerial engineer after receiving his wings.^[2]

In June, Ivanoff was assigned to the 562^nd Squadron of the 388^th Bomb Group, nicknamed “Wolf Pack,” serial number 42-3289. This group flew a B-17 Flying Fortress, a heavy bomber aircraft, often used for daytime raids against Germany. In this group, Ivanoff served as the waist gunner.^[3] The main responsibility of the waist gunner, was to protect the B-17 from enemy fire. Each aircraft has two waist gunners, who would stand by open windows and fire machine guns at the enemy.^[4]

On September 6, 1943, the Wolf Pack flew their B-17 over Stuttgart, Germany. Unfortunately, the aircraft was shot down, killing several men, while the others were captured and taken to a German POW camp in Austria. Chris Ivanoff was one of these men; he remained in the camp for twenty months.^[5] In May 1945, Ivanoff was liberated from the camp, and he was discharged from the army soon after. For his service, Ivanoff was awarded the A1 (Prisoner of War) Medal and a Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained when his B-17 was shot down.

After his retirement from the Air Corp, Ivanoff became the sales manager at the Franc Furniture Store in Rock Island, which had purchased Kay’s Furniture Co. in 1950: the same company Ivanoff had worked for before he enlisted.^[6] It is said that Ivanoff loved golf, bowling, go-kart racing, cooking, playing cards, and gardening. He was also very proud to be a veteran. On December 17, 2001, Ivanoff passed away at Illini Hospital in Silvis, Illinois. He was survived by his wife, Nellie Ivanoff, four sons, one daughter, six grandchildren, and three sisters.^[7]