Donald W. Meuten
 

Hello all,

I am interested in US aces operating in the second world war and Donald W. Meuten is one of them. Unfortunately there is no appropriate information about his promotion to 2nd Lt and also 1st Lt.
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Many thanks for the information.
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Best regards Zdenek Kocab

Re: Donald W. Meuten
 

According to Frank Olynyk's book, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. and rated as a pilot on 6-Feb-43. No date on when he was promoted to 1st. Lt.

Perhaps Frank can respond.

Re: Donald W. Meuten
 

Zdenek,

The problem with your requests for promotion dates is that a very high percentage of the pilots in the US services in WW2 enlisted in the Reserves of their respective service. Very few came from the Regular Army, Navy or USMC. As far as I am aware the Army, and later the Air Force, did not publish registers of officers in the Reserves, and so the dates of promotion cannot be tracked. If someone was able to transfer to the Regular service then they would appear in the published registers. Thus the only source of this information for Reservists is the individual himself, or the 201 file for the individual held in St Louis. 201 Files are not available to the general public, and for anyone in the Army in WW2, and the Air Force with names starting H-Z these records were destroyed in the fire at the Military Personnel Records Center in 1973 (the Center has posted a long article on the fire on its website). The Navy published Reserve Registers on Jan 1, 1943 and July 1, 1944, and possibly one in 1946 (which I do not have). USMC Lineal Lists show officers on active duty, and after the war most Reservists would have been active for two weeks in each year, except for those recalled during the Korean War. Thus, in practical terms, tracking down all the promotion dates is an impossible task.

Frank.

Re: Donald W. Meuten
 

Gentlemen,

How many air to air kills did Donald W. Meuten got that was over the Pacific?

Edward L. Hsiao

Re: Donald W. Meuten
 

He was credited with six victories. One each on November 15, 1943, February 6, 1944 and February 14, 1944, followed by three on March 12, 1944. All were claimed as a 1/Lt. This is from USAF Study #85 and Osprey P-40 Warhawk Aces of the Pacific.

Kent