Pat Hogan, Jr., 84, of Beaumont, died September 24, 2008 at the Clairmont. Born in Houston, Pat was a lifelong resident of the Beaumont area. He was a veteran of the United States Army Air Corp, fought in World War II and was a recipient of the Purple Heart.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Cynthia Hogan Watson and brother, James Hogan. He is survived by his wife, Betty Hogan of Beaumont; daughter, Susan Mosier and husband Dennis of Beaumont; son, Mike Hogan and wife Mary of Boerne; brother, Jerome Hogan; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A graveside service will be 11:00 a.m., Monday, September 29, 2008 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin. A gathering of family and friends will be 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday, September 28, 2008 at the Mortuary.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Anne Catholic Church, 2715 Calder, Beaumont, Texas 77704.
Richard Clarence “Pat” Hogan enlisted in the Army during World War II. He signed up thinking he would go in with his buddies, but they were quickly separated as the demand for soldiers spanned over two continents. Pat found his way to the 15th Army Air Corps, stationed in Italy where he would serve as a ball turret gunner, one of the most dangerous jobs in US military history. He served on an aircraft called the B-24 (Bomber, 2 tails, 4 engines) and the mission requirement had been doubled from 25 to 50. The ball turret is the glass semi-sphere attached to the underbelly of the plane, which is equipped with a machine gun. Anti-aircraft flack coming from land based guns was dangerous, and being an exposed target underneath the plane was death defying. Since his job was to shoot at moving fighter jets, one of the training tools was to shoot as much skeet as he desired. Being an avid outdoorsman and gun enthusiast, this suited Pat perfectly. The missions he flew were deep into the enemy territory (as deep as Berlin and Germany) and at the time, the P-51 mustang had not been released, so the crews only had fighter pilot accompaniment for the first part of the mission. After that, the big bombers were to hold their course and altitude until the objective was reached. They were “sitting ducks”. Since the pilot and captain of his crew, was anxious to get back home to get married, the crew volunteered for every mission possible. Typically crews take one year to fly these missions, but these guys did it in half the time. Thanks to Pat and his crew, many bridges, railroads, and factories were destroyed contributing to crippling the Axis forces and an Allied victory.
