Captain Perry Denny Pickett was a Bombardier with the 310th Bombardment Group; 381st Bombardment Squadron; Stationed in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, (MTO).

His Hometown was Fort Worth, Texas.

Tuesday, 23 February 1943

381st BS Mission Summary: (Ops Order ---/mission ---) Group Mission # 51:

SEA SEARCH

Group Mission # 51 Flight 6 B-25’s

Sqdrn. Mission # 33 Escort 18 P-38’s

Take Off 14:00 Bomb Load: (6 x 500)

Target 15:15 Bombs Dropped: 2 (4 x 500). 4000#

Down 17:45

Total Time: 3 Hrs. 45 Min.

Weather: Visibility 6 to 10 miles.

Remarks: Thirteen Seibel Ferries loaded with trucks, boxes and barrels were attacked at

37D 42’ N-33D 00’ E. These large barges are well armed with machine guns and A/A.

Five were sunk and several others damaged. They were escorted by two ME-109’s and

two Macchi 200’s.

The flak from all 13 barges was concentrated upon our first element; which

included the 2 381st A/C, and all three B-25’s crash landed into the sea.

One crew was observed to have succeeded in climbing out on the wing

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381st BS: Extracts from Missing Air Crew Report # ?: (MACR not available)

A/C No. 41-13102 “GREEN EYES” (Pancho under CP window) (MACR-?

shot down by AAA) (A)

P Eddy, Leonard A., Capt - MIA, POW, RMC

CP Hawkins, Frank B. “Pancho”, 2Lt - MIA, POW, RMC

N Katzenbach, Nicholas D. “Katz”, 1Lt - MIA

B Pickett, Perry D., Capt - MIA, POW, RMC

E None

R Taylor, Milo K., S/Sgt - MIA, POW, RMC

G Schave, Henry Lloyd, S/Sgt - MIA, POW, RMC

F Ferguson, Ivan Leonard, Maj, Commander (observer) - MIA, POW, RMC

381st BS: War Diary of: Hawkins, Frank B. “Pancho”, 2Lt, pilot

“(Log 2:30 hours) Hit 22 ship convoy. My ship “Green Eyes” (41-13102) shot down.

Also two other kites.”

Wednesday, 24 February 1943

381st BS: War Diary of: Hawkins, Frank B. “Pancho”, 2Lt, pilot

“Captured 4:30 PM. the 24th of Feb. 1943.

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Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX)

Midland, Texas

Monday, August 25, 2003

Judge Perry Denny Pickett, 87 of Midland, Texas

Perry D. Pickett, retired Midland jurist, dies at 87

Judge Perry D. Pickett, Midland's mayor in the early 1950s and a retired Texas district-court judge who was admired for his courage and honor and was popular for his humor, died Saturday evening in Midland while on an outing with his family and friends.

Pickett was 87.

"He had an excellent instinct for justice," said Pat Baskin, a senior Texas district judge, who in 1981 had succeeded Pickett as presiding judge of the 142nd Texas Judicial District Court for Midland County.

Pickett had presided over that court for 26 years -- since the mid-1950s.

"He was just downright fascinating. People were drawn to him as though by a magnet," Baskin said. "He was very dignified."

Memorial services for Pickett will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity in Midland with the Rev. Mark Cannaday, rector, officiating. Memorials may be sent to the Pickett Family Trust, Permian Basin Area Foundation, P.O. Box 10424, Midland, Texas 70902 or to the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity.

Pickett, who had moved to Midland with his wife, Valerie, in 1949 following his service with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in Europe in World War II and his law-school studies at The University of Texas, was appointed to the judgeship in 1954 by Texas Gov. Allan Shivers. He subsequently was elected and re-elected to the judgeship until his retirement from the bench in Midland at age 64 in the early 1980s.

However, he served as a senior judge in taking circuit-court appointments in major cases from then until 1990 when he retired.

"He was a very fascinating personality," Baskin said of Pickett whose humor, such as that reflected in his caricatures and scribblings, and his refreshing demeanor seemed to make courthouse business less onerous and more comfortable.

"He was, by nature, a dignified man without being pompous," Baskin said. "People felt comfortable practicing law before him."

Perry Denny Pickett was born on March 3, 1916, in Smithfield, Texas, to Perry Emmett and Har Dean Pickett. In 1934, he graduated from The Masonic Home and School in Fort Worth and played football for the school's championship varsity football team.

He attended The University of Texas from 1934 to 1938 and, following World War II, from 1946 to 1949 and earned a doctor of jurisprudence.

In World War II, Pickett was a B-25 bombardier whose Africa-based aircraft was shot down over the Mediterranean Ocean in 1942.

Pickett was captured by enemy forces and was a German prisoner-of-war (POW) in Italy for year. While he was held captive on a POW train bound for Germany, Pickett escaped and lived behind enemy lines in the mountains of Italy until end of the war.

In Midland in 1983, some 40 years after Pickett was a POW in Italy, he and a fellow POW, an English barrister named Geoffrey Nops, recounted their wartime experiences, especially their captivity, which, Nops said, "makes you realize how fortunate you are …" "… To be free," Pickett said.

At the POW camp, where there was a mix of British and American fighter pilots and bomber crew members, "The American Air Corps was marvelous -- marvelous, splendid men," said the Briton, who was a gunnery officer in the war.

And Pickett "was always very well liked by the British," Nops said. "It was his natural charm."

Back home after the war, Pickett had married Mary Valerie Frobese in Austin in 1947.

In Midland, Pickett was mayor from 1951 to 1953 and had hosted comedian Bob Hope's visit to Midland during his term as mayor.

Pickett had served two terms as president of the Buffalo Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America and was chairman of the State Bar of Texas Committee on Law Enforcement in 1976. Pickett had co-authored a "Bench Book for Trial Judges in Texas" and served as presiding judge for the Seventh Judicial District. He was active in civic-committee work for the City of Midland, the State Bar of Texas and the judiciary.

Pickett was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity and had served on the church Vestry and as a delegate to diocese conventions. He was a Mason.

One of his "greatest joys" was portraying Santa Claus for more than 20 Christmas seasons for children of friends and for service organizations for children.

Pickett is survived by his wife, Valerie; a son, Perry Denny Pickett Jr. and his wife, Jan, of Granger; two grandsons, Ty and Nathan Pickett; three great-grandsons; a brother, Leon W. Pickett of Fort Worth; a niece, Sara McGarrahan of Fort Worth, and a nephew, Robert G. Pickett of Midland.

He was preceded in death by a son, The Rev. Joseph R. Pickett, two sisters and a brother.

Jack Swallow, the Permian Basin Area Foundation president who has known Pickett for 38 years, said that his friend was "one of the most gentle men I ever knew. As opposed to gentleman, he was a gentle man.

"He had a great sense of humor, and everybody knows him for his sense of humor," Swallow said.

His sister, Jan, is married to Pickett's son, Perry Denny Pickett Jr.

Rosenelle Cherry, who was the Midland County clerk for 48 years, said that she and Pickett "had a wonderful relationship" in the courthouse. "Of course, we went to the same church."

Ms. Cherry said she had "a lot of confidence in and respect" for Pickett.

"If I ever had a problem, I felt like I could share it with him" toward resolving the difficulty, she said.

Judge John Hyde, who presides over the 238th Texas Judicial District Court for Midland County, said Perry Pickett was a very honorable man, and he was a fine jurist.

"He had a heart and a true sense of justice," Hyde said. "He was and shall remain an institution in this community."

Veteran Midland lawyer Ted Kerr characterized Pickett as a "very good judge.

"He had an excellent sense of where the right and wrong was in every case," Kerr said. "He was interested in justice really being done in the true sense of the word. He was a very courageous judge. There were a lot of times when he would make decisions that were not popular but were the right thing to do. And he stuck with it. I was always comfortable being in his court -- not because I was going to win but because I thought that out of that sense of right and wrong that the correct result was going to be reached. He was a great gentleman."

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Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX)

Midland, Texas

Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Perry D Pickett, 87, of Midland, Texas

Midland mourns loss of Judge Perry Pickett

Midland and Texas lost one of their great men of law on Saturday when Judge Perry D. Pickett, 87, passed away. We will miss him.

Memorial services for Pickett will be held at 1 p.m. today in the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity in Midland with the Rev. Mark Cannaday, rector, officiating. Memorials may be sent to the Pickett Family Trust, Permian Basin Area Foundation, P.O. Box 10424, Midland, 70902 or to the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity.

Pickett served his nation, state and community well and we owe him a great deal of thanks for that service.

Pickett presided as judge of the 142nd Texas Judicial District Court for Midland County for 26 years until he retired and was succeeded by Pat Baskin, a senior Texas district judge, in 1981. He was also a former mayor of Midland.

He moved to Midland with his wife, Valerie, in 1949 following his service with the United States Army Air Force in Europe in World War II and his law-school studies at The University of Texas. He was appointed to the judgeship in 1954 by Texas Gov. Allan Shivers. He subsequently was elected and re-elected to the judgeship until his retirement from the bench in Midland at age 64.

This gentle giant didn't always tread on gentle grounds, leading an extraordinarily interesting life filled with ups and downs which always spoke volumes of his natural-born honor.

In 1934, he graduated from The Masonic Home and School in Fort Worth and played football for the school's championship varsity football team.

He attended The University of Texas from 1934 to 1938 and, following World War II, from 1946 to 1949 and earned a doctor of jurisprudence.

In World War II, Pickett was a B-25 bombardier whose Africa-based aircraft was shot down over the Mediterranean Ocean in 1942. Pickett was captured by enemy forces and was a German prisoner-of-war (POW) in Italy for a year. While he was held captive on a POW train bound for Germany, Pickett escaped and lived behind enemy lines in the mountains of Italy until end of the war.

But in Midland, Pickett will be remembered for his civic duties. He was mayor from 1951 to 1953. He served two terms as president of the Buffalo Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America and was chairman of the State Bar of Texas Committee on Law Enforcement in 1976 and served as presiding judge for the Seventh Judicial District. He was active in civic-committee work for the City of Midland, the State Bar of Texas and the judiciary.

In addition, Pickett was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity and had served on the church Vestry and as a delegate to diocese conventions. He was a Mason.

Judge Pickett brought honor and a high form of justice to Midland. Today we mourn that loss.