Liberator Down: The Lady Be Good....

By

Scott Schwartz

Hatton’s flight engineer was Technical Sergeant Harold Ripslinger.  Ripslinger doubled as a gunner, and his home town was Saginaw, Michigan.  Like co-pilot Toner, Ripslinger was an enthusiastic Catholic.  Twenty-two years years-old when he was posted to Hatton’s crew, Ripslinger was an athletic, determined young man.  He was eager to go overseas, and he badly wanted his first combat mission to be successful. 

    

 Technical Sergeant Robert LaMotte was Hatton’s radio operator, and he was also a gunner.  Twenty five years-old at the time of the  Lady Be Good’s disappearance, LaMotte was another Catholic, and he had six siblings.  La Motte graduated high school in 1936 and worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps prior to the United States’ entry into World War Two.