On the 2nd of November 00 I received the following inquiry on this site...

I have an A-2 flight jacket that was worn by a pilot during the war who flew in the 28th Composite Group. His name was Alex J. Katz and he won a DFC during the action in the Aleutians. I am trying to identify the squadron patch on the jacket. Can you help me out?
Thanks,
Jeff Stuart

I have the opportunity to access material from units assigned in Alaska during the war and knew that the 36th BS was one of the units of the 28th Composite Group and  that the 36th did not have an official patch. (As mentioned above I need verification that to patch above is indeed the "Unofficial" patch of the 36th BS").  I could not verify the patch but did find the following that verified and added to what Jeff knew about Captain Katz.

Note: The unit histories of many organization were micro filmed in the 1960's and 1970's when technology was not as sophisticated as today.  Many of the pages on the microfilm rolls are totally unreadable.  This information represents a sampling of the missions and time that the Captain (later Major) spent with the unit.

31 Jul 1942 - Katz, Gilliland and Gary with their combat crews were assigned to the squadron.

5 Aug 1942 - Ramputi flew patrol in the LB (30). Katz and Gary with other crew replacements joined from Elmendorf, fresh from the civilization of the states.

19 Oct 1942 - Katz, Speer and Brown flew an attack mission on Kiska.
 

31 Mar 1943 - Keiser, Lass, Lewis, Buschen, Katz, and Madison flew a mission to Kiska.
 

4 Feb 1943 - An attack was made by six heavies, six mediums, and ten peashooters.  Lunschen led the attack.  On his wing were Lass and Madison., all three  flying 17's.  The second element of 24's were flow by Ramputi, Katz, and Gilliland.  The flight enroute to the target was memorable for at the halfway point Ramputi left the formation with a broken fuel line. With him went his two wing men and all the peashooters.  It was not until Ramputi was forced to break radio silence to tell his followers that he ws leaving the formation that they turned and again headed toward toward Kiska.  In the meantime the first element accompanied by the two flights of medium bombers climbed to 4000 feet and approached the island from the north.  The attack was nicely timed as far as these ships were concerned for the mediums went across North Head, dropping their smoke bombs, about 30 seconds before the heavies attacked.  The heavies broke formation on signal from Laschen and diverged.  Their runs were well timed for they converged over the target.  Laschen dropped no bombs (rack failure) but Lass and Madison attacked the sub base and a new transport in the harbor, respectively.  Katz, who had flown wide open in an attempt to rejoin the main flight, followed Lass around the sub base about two minutes later.  Gilliland with the peashooters on his wing came up a few minutes later but the attack was over and he did not drop his bombs.  Five Zero's attacked the formation but did little damage.  Three of them were hit but none of them were seem to crash.

8 Feb 1943 - Ramputi led a flight (Gilliland, Katz, Hetrick, Wadlington) of B-24's to Kiska.  They bombed from the volcano through heavy broken clouds.  pilots reported that their bombs fell in the camp area.  AA fire was heavy but bursts were behind the flight.

10 Feb 1943 - Ramputi flew the wx (weather) mission, covering Kiska, on the 10th, but was unable to contact the base by radio to report favorable weather.  He returned to base and landed.  The combat flight had taken off about an hour before he landed and was led by Speer in a 24 with Lass and Madison flying 17's on his wing.  The second element of 24's were flow by Hetrick, Katz, and Gilliland.  The attack was made at 5000 feet in CAVU (Clean And Unlimited Visibility) weather using formation bombing tactics.  Madison, on the right wing of the first element made an individual run because he was unable to stay in formation with the 24.  The second element made an attack in formation.  The results of the raid were satisfactory; several buildings were destroyed in the main camp area and a fuel dump was destroyed.  Madison's ship was hit two or three times; none were in vital spots.

11 Feb 1943 - Gilliland flew the wx mission on the 11th but was forced to return short of Kiska by an active front, as was the attack flight flown by Ramputi, Stinson, Katz, and Lass. Two 17's failed to clear the ground because of engine trouble.

21 Feb 1943 - No operational flights were made.

22 Feb 1943 - Lewis flew the wx mission, reporting unfavorable wx around Kiska.  However, the attack flight, Ramputl, Katz, Gilliland, Lass, Wheller, Madison, took off but were forced to return to base because of bad weather north of Kiska and around the island itself.

23 Feb 1943 - Lewis flew the wx mission, reporting favorable weather.  The attack flight, Ramputl, Katz, Gilliland, Lass, Wheller, and Madison, left the ground at 0915. The heavies were soon accompanied by six mediums and eight peashooters.  Kiska was overcast and bombing was accomplished through the overcast in formation.  No results were observed.  The bomb load was usual; it conssted of thirty one hundred pound demos and five phosphorus incendiaries.

26/28 Feb 1943 - The squadron was relived during these days by the 404th and returned to Umnak.  Speer chauffered General Buckner to Elmendorf Field from longview.  The 36th was scheduled for a month's rest and training at Umnak.  This training was carried on when the weather permitted until March 24th.
 

1 May 1943 - The first heavy bomber formation to land "topship" on the new strip at Amchitka departed from Adak at 0700 under a low overcast.  Speer, Wernick, Brown, Katz, Lewis, Francine and Sweet flew low over the 36th's new, tent-studded area and buzzed it in the best p-shooter fashion as wondering dogfaces gaped wide-eyed and slack-jawed below.
    These same "Air Corps glammer boys" cursed and fumed shortly after landing as they struggled through mud and water to reach the tent area.  no roads to this area existed; the most direct route to the tents led through numerous small lakes, and so did most of the indirect routes.  We packed our barracks bags, V-4 bags, and footlockers on our backs, and settled down to life in the tents again.
    This same afternoon, Wernick, Brown, Francine, Lewis and Sweet flew our first combat mission from Amchitka to attack Attu.

3 May 1943 - Lass, Moore, Brown, Katz, Lewis, and Sweet took off to fly a combat mission to Attu.  They found a solid overcast at 3000' when they arrived there at 1830.  Returning by way of Kiska, they found all targets open there--although the remainder of the island was solidly socked in.  Lass, Lewis, and Moore bombed the runway at about 6000'.  Lass and Lewis reported good hits observed: Moore reported that his bombs were on the runway but in the midst of this run, a direct hit went through one of his right wing gas tanks, and he was forced to jettison the rest of his bombs.  Luckily, the shell did not explode in the tank.
    Brown and Sweet bombed gun batteries on the North Head; Sweet reported good hits on the "B" battery emplacement, having synchronized on its flashes.  Katz's racks hung up on his run over North Head, releasing only four bombs; he went on to Gertrude Cove and dribbled out four more, hits unobserved.
    This was another of our tough days. We bombed at medium altitudes - - between 5500' and 7500'; the targets were plainly visible, but - - so were we.  As McDonald says, "It's a question of who's synchronizing on who."  Certainly they synchronized on us, for five of our six planes were hit - - "repeatedly," as Mackie summed it up.  LLass picked u a three-foot hole in his left elevator: this burst also put a slight scratch over his tail gunner's eye - - Private Stall.  Lass was hit, in all four times, Moore twice - - he cut out his #3 engine after his gas tank was hit; Brown five times - - shrapnel came through into the flight deck beside Lavell, Brown's co-pilot, and Lavell reported that the Japanese shells now are stuffed with white cotton, which was sprayed over him; Lewis twice; and Katz once.

Capt Alex J. Katz, 0-417701
1.  Date or period, June 22, 1942 to April 19, 1943.
2.  Extraordinary Achievement
3.  Distinguished Flying Cross

1.  Date or period, July 28, 1942 to March 14, 1943.
2.  Extraordinary Achievements
3.  Distinguished Flying Cross

1.  Date or period, March 15, 1943 to May 31, 1943.
2.  Meritorious Achievements
3.  Air Medal

Note:  The first DFC information came from one section of the official history of the 36th and the 2nd DFC entry and the Air Medal entry came from another section of the history.  As the time frame for award of the DFC's over lap it is not know if the are for the same award or if they are for two different awards of the DFC.

Katz name was highlight by the web master.
 
 

21st         Shemya
36th        Elmendorf Field (26 May 41), Adak; detachment: Ladd Field
73rd        Elmendorf Field (30 Mar 41); detachment: Ladd Field
77th        Elmendorf Field (25 Jan 42-?), Attu (Casco Cove)
404th      Attu (Casco Cove), Shemya
406th      Elmendorf field, Kodiak