Telegraph, dated May 22, 1943, informing Don Hutton's parents that their son was missing in action. / Denise Goolsby The Desert Sun
DON HUTTON
Age: 90
Born: Aug. 30, 1919
Hometown:Los Angeles
Residence: Atria Palm Desert
Military branch:U.S. Army Air Force; 8th Air Force; 92nd Bomb Group; 407th Bomb Squadron
Years served: 1941 - 1945
Rank: Master sergeant
Family: Wife Marjorie
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
Coming tomorrow
U.S. Army Air Force veteran Richard Mickens of Palm Springs.
LEARN MORE: Read about other Coachella Valley residents who served in World War II at www.mydesert.com/WWII
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U.S. Army Air Force veteran Don Hutton was shot down over Germany and spent more than two years in POW camps.
The B-17 gunner, who flew at least 20 missions, was knocked out of the sky during a bombing run over Kiel, Germany, in the spring of 1943.
“They shot the hell out of our plane,” he said. “I could tell we were on fire. The pilot rang the bailout bell.
“I looked out at 20,200 feet of nothingness. To jump out into that was scary. Just as I was debating whether I should jump, the number four engine was knocked out.”
There was no more time to think. Hutton jumped.
As he was floating down to the ground — and into enemy territory — the pilot of a Focke Wulf FW-190 German fighter plane approached.
“He came by and he waved and I waved back,” Hutton said.
“I came down in a tree,” he said
People in the village, watching Hutton parachute into the tree, ran over to the airman.
“They dragged me out of the tree and shoved me into a sidecar,” he said.
“An old lady started beating me with her umbrella. I couldn't blame them. It was terrible to be bombing innocent people.”
German soldiers eventually retrieved Hutton and took him to a prison camp — Stalag17B.
Hutton was imprisoned for two years and two months, eventually moving from Stalag 17B to Stalag VIIA, where the captives were liberated by Gen. George Patton's Third Army on April 29, 1945.
“They were pretty crude camps,” he said. “They didn't have much in the way of amenities.”
The food left much to be desired.
“They told us, ‘Don't toast the bread, there's too much wood pulp in it,'” Hutton said.
He tried to escape twice.
Once, he and some fellow POWs built a piece of exercise equipment Hutton called a “sidehorse.”
“We tried to tunnel out underneath it where you couldn't be seen,” he said. “We didn't make it.”
The part that was covering the digging operation came off and the men were exposed.
Another time he tried to get out through the fence, and got caught.
“We got in trouble every time,” he said. “One guard got real mad at me.
“Were we gutsy? No, we were dumb.”
Hutton couldn't remember what kind of punishment was doled out, but “I was never put in solitary confinement.”
After the war, Hutton attended USC, where he earned a degree in engineering.
He spent a good chunk of his career working for J. Paul Getty, the American industrialist who founded Getty Oil Company.
Getty's collection of art and antiquities laid the foundation for the creation of the J. Paul Getty Museum.
He was named the richest living American by Forbes Magazine in 1957.
At his death, Getty was said to be worth $2 billion.
Hutton said he lived with Getty at his 16th century Tudor home at Sutton Place in England while he was working overseas.
He also worked for Getty in locations including Saudi Arabia, Libya and Kuwait, he said.
“I went around to different countries drilling oil wells and laying pipelines,” Hutton said.
Hutton described his boss as “retiring.”
“You really didn't get to know J. Paul.”
