Warren William Wylie, Jr.

June 4, 1924 – November 17, 2018

From the 95th BG Memorials Foundation Facebook page:

With heavy hearts, the Memorials Foundation and the Heritage Association report that Warren Wylie of Albuquerque, NM, left formation on 17 November 2018 at age 94. Warren was a 335th waist gunner and former POW at Stalag 17-B. He passed away peacefully after a short illness.

Warren was born on 4 June 1924 in Springfield, Massachusetts. As his obituary reads, Warren was “preceded in death by his first wife Vera, second wife Mary, and son Bruce. He is survived by his daughter Connie, son-in-law Skip, son Phil, daughter-in-law Joann, stepson Stephen Mahony, daughter-in-law Ann, eleven grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandson, Jack. 

“During the depression, his family moved around looking for work. They settled in Albuquerque in 1937. One of Warren’s first jobs, as a teenager, was working at the first New Mexico State fair in 1938. When WWII started, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He became a gunner and ordnance armorer on the B-17 Flying Fortress. He married his first wife, Vera, and then within a year was deployed overseas. He was with the 8th Air Force, 95th Bomb Group, stationed in Horham, England. He arrived in England in June 1943, shortly after his nineteenth birthday. While flying his fifth mission, July 30th 1943, his plane was shot down over German occupied Holland. He bailed out and was captured upon landing. He spent the remaining part of the war in prison of war camps, mostly in Stalag 17B near Krems, Austria. It was a brutal, harsh experience for a young man. He formed many lifelong friendships with fellow prisoners. 

“After the war, he stayed in the Army Air Corps (later becoming the Air Force) for a few years. He and Vera had three children, Connie, Bruce, and Phil. After leaving the service, he went into the construction business where he remained until his retirement in 1986. He last worked for K. L. House Construction Company as an estimator. In 1969 he married his second wife Mary. His first wife Vera passed away a few years prior. 

“He was always an active person. He pitched softball in a local league, was a member of a bowling league, square dance caller and Vice President of a local square dance club. He was an avid bridge player, a game he picked up in the prison camp, and was excellent in throwing horseshoes. A “double ringer” was not much of a surprise. He owned a cabin in the Jemez Mountains and loved snowmobile riding. Summer or winter, the family would often spend their weekends in the mountains. Later in life, he was forced to slow down due to arthritis in both knees, but his mind remained sharp. Being in construction, he met many of Albuquerque’s leaders and businessmen, often telling interesting stories of Albuquerque’s past. Warren had a long and interesting life. He had many blessings and endured many hardships. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.