Jasper's Jokers were formed in Walla Walla, Washington as Combat Crew #379. They took their name from their Pilot and Commanding Officer, Lt. Jasper D. Skinner. The other members of the crew were Thomas E. Anderson, Co-Pilot; Paul R. Schoeffler, Navigator; Elmer J. Schwane, Bombardier; James H. West, Top Gunner; Kenneth E. Meier, Engineer; Jerome N. Manchel, Radio Operator/Waist Gunner; Frank W. Baur, Armorer/Gunner; Robert E. Arraj, Nose Gunner, and Horace E. Skinner, Tail Gunner.
One sobering fact—the crews that graduated from Walla Walla immediately before and after Jasper's Jokers—Combat Crew #378 and Combat Crew #380—did not survive the war.
Click here to hear "Jasper's Jokers":
© 2019 Electric Quilt Music. All rights reserved.