Carroll, Richard L. (1920-2017)

https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:8581#/kaltura_audio

Biographical Information: Richard L. Carroll was born on October 19, 1920 in Rosemount, Minnesota. He enlisted in the Army Air Force in September 1942 and served as a second lieutenant heavy-bomber pilot in Italy during the first half of 1944. On July 2, 1944, while flying his fifteenth mission, Carroll’s airplane had engine trouble and they were forced to eject over Hungary. While parachuting to the ground, Carroll was shot by a Hungarian civilian and became a prisoner of war in Budapest prior to being transported to Germany. After returning to the United States in June of 1945, Carroll married and retired from military service. Though originally he was not expected to survive more than a few days from his wound, Carroll would live the rest of his life with the bullet still lodged in his heart. Carroll and his wife Martha had three daughters: Barbara, Maureen, and Jane. He died on December 21, 2017 and is buried in Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.

Transcript Summary: Richard L. Carroll described his experiences as a pilot in World War II, both as a soldier and prisoner of war. He enlisted in the Army Air Force as a pilot in September 1942 and graduated from Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, as a second lieutenant pilot in January 1944. From there, Carroll was assigned to the 459th heavy bomb group stationed in Cerignola, Italy. He flew fifteen bombing missions over various European countries, including Yugoslavia and Poland. During his fifteenth mission while flying over Budapest, Hungary, Carroll was forced to eject from his aircraft and parachuted safely to the ground, where he was promptly shot by a Hungarian farmer. The bullet had entered through his right lung and lodged itself in the muscle of his heart. Believed to not survive more than a few days from his wound, Carroll had been given the last rites and made comfortable, but a lowering of his fever from 104 to 101 degrees prompted his transportation to Budapest. He struggled through various complications such as having a collapsed lung and a blood clot in his left leg. Eventually, after receiving a blood transfusion from another American prisoner at the hospital, Carroll’s condition improved. Due to the Soviet Union advancing towards Hungary, Carroll and the other prisoners of war were transferred to a camp in Germany. They were liberated in May 1945 by Soviet troops, but were held as bargaining chips until their transfer to American custody in June 1945. After the war, the bullet in Carroll’s heart put him on disability and forced him to retire from military service.

Interview by Daniel Lewis