Stories of Honor: Montana City veteran Jim Hahn served with 106th Cavalry Group in World War II

Aug. 17--HELENA -- All three of the Hahn brothers, of Montana City, served in World War II. Willard Hahn was a bombardier with the 100th Bomb Group, and was killed in action. Dave Hahn was an Army Air Force aerial photographer, while Jim Hahn was a radio operator with the 106th Cavalry Group.

Jim, 96, is the last surviving brother, and was recently interviewed from his home at Hunter's Pointe in Helena.

Hahn was born in 1924, and attended grade school in both Montana City and Clancy. When a series of earthquakes hit the area in 1935, he remembers watching the bricks tumbling down from the Clancy school bell tower.

After graduating from Clancy -- there were four students in his eighth grade class -- Hahn attended Jefferson County High in Boulder. He played some basketball for the Panthers, but when he was expelled from class for not paying attention, he finished his senior year at Helena High.

"I was interested in taking a journalism class there and possibly continuing in the field," he told the Boulder Courier in 1999.

However, after graduating from Helena High in 1943, he began pre-engineering courses at Carroll College. Then in December 1944, he was drafted into the U.S. Army.

He completed training at Fort Knox, and shipped overseas on an old British cruise liner, where Hahn saw World War I soldiers' names and dates scratched in the bulkheads. He was assigned to the 106th Cavalry Group, with the Mechanized Reconnaissance forces, which Hahn described as the army's first mechanical cavalry unit.

As a radio operator with Troop C, 121st Squadron, Hahn rode in an armored car across southern France, Germany and parts of Austria, traveling ahead of the ground troops to scope out danger. He recalled arriving at the Siegfried Line at the French/German border and seeing "dead GIs stacked all around."

Another disturbing memory was the sight of the devastation the enemy cavalry horses suffered.

In Germany, Hahn's outfit was not directly involved with the concentration camps. He did, however, see numerous "DPs," or displaced persons, who had lost their homes in the war.

Prior to deploying overseas while at Fort Knox, Jim had learned of his brother Willard's death.

2nd Lt. Willard Hahn was a bombardier with the Eighth Army's storied 100th Bomb Group, 349th Squadron. Called the "Bloody Hundredth" because of the heavy casualties it sustained, the group was immortalized in the 1949 movie "Twelve O'Clock High."

During 2nd Lt. Hahn's very first mission on May 24, 1944, their B-17 bomber was shot down over Germany. Six of the nine crewmembers were KIA, with one of the survivors telling the story of Willard's heroics many years later.

Flying with no fighter protection, their bomber "was hit head-on by 40 FW 190s," killing the pilot and co-pilot instantly, while injuring several other crewmembers. In a 2000 letter, Sgt. Robert Black, a radio operator-gunner, described Willard's actions in the mayhem leading up to bailing out.

"I ... tried to call the pilot. No answer," Black wrote. "Finally our bombardier, Will Hahn, answered. 'Calm down, calm down. What's our situation back there?' I answered 'two guys badly injured, our vertical tail is gone. Heavy smoke in the bomb bay, both wings have large holes.'"

Bombardier Hahn responded, "I want to salvo the bombs, let me know when they're gone." After bombs away, Willard urged the crew, "5,000 feet! 5,000! Get out! Get out!"

Black then "called to the other four to get their chutes" and bail out. Willard Hahn was shot by Germans on the ground. His remains were later buried at Forrestvale Cemetery.

"In 1989, I located (Dave Hahn) in Helena, Montana," Black recounted. "I told him that Will had very likely saved my life and the lives of two others. He said he'd never thought of his brother being a hero. I do."

After Germany's surrender, Jim was stationed in Austria for the final six months of his service. Among the highlights of his service was the squadron's liberation of King Leopold of Belgium, who later wrote a letter commending the Americans for their efforts.

While serving in Austria, a civilian boy confiscated numerous enemy weaponry and artifacts for Hahn, which remain in his possession to this day. Among his collection is a Kar98k Mauser rifle, a 37M Hungarian semi-automatic pistol with a walnut handle, a Red Cross EM dagger Hewer with saw teeth, a Nazi flag and an Edelweiss Pin.

After his discharge -- having attained the rank of sergeant and earning battle stars for the Rhineland and Central Europe -- Hahn rode the train back to Helena, and recalled a vivid memory when he reached the Winston flats.

"I just remember that I was never so glad to see home," he said.

He was hired on with the Montana Highway Department, starting out as a draftsman. Hahn met his future wife, Connie Jo Everett, at the Nite Owl. They were married in 1948, and would go on to parent four children. Connie Hahn and brother Dave died in 2001 and 2010, respectively.

In 1951, Jim was called back into service at the start of the Korean War, in the Air Force Reserves. Stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base, he spent a year as a radioman aboard cargo planes flying to Alaska and Seattle, as part of the Military Air Transport Service.

"I remember the airport in Canada the pilots chasing the moose off the runway," he laughed.

After returning, Hahn quickly moved up the career ladder. He retired in 1982 after 33 years at the highway department, as the chief of the planning and research bureau.

Since then he has served Jefferson County in several capacities, and prior to moving to Hunter's Pointe, he stayed active working with horses, playing golf, and being part of a band entertaining senior citizen centers.

Curt Synness, a Navy veteran, can be reached at 406-594-2878 or email curt52synness@gmail.com. He's also on Twitter @curtsynness_IR

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