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THE UNIT
Joseph A. MollerThere are many qualities and characteristics which a good combat
leader must possess: a certain amount of raw guts, knowledge and understanding of mission
objectives, display of confidence, professional ability, and an oral capability of
communications. In addition to these, and outstanding combat leader must also possess
commitment, appreciation and the respect of his men. He must disregard self-interest and
well-being. He must have the ability to outperform his assigned personnel, and have the
faculty of "hanging in there" when the pressure is really on. Joseph A. Moller
is the one individual whom I have encountered in my sixty plus years, who has all of these
distinguishing qualities - and all of them to an outstanding degree.
I think that those of us who came in contact with Colonel Moller the week in which he
assumed command of the 390th Bomb Group knew we were to have the great pleasure of serving
with a truly great gentleman and an extremely able combat leader. Over the forty years
which I had the good fortune to remain in contact with Colonel Joe, my original beliefs
and initial opinions of him have grown stronger on each encounter.
Perhaps his greatest attribute in getting us to work with him was his ability to make us
realize that each of us was important to him as an individual - and that we were
individuals he had chosen as personal friends.
Shortly after he came to the Group (I was the Group Operations Officer at the time and a
Major), during a discussion in his office, he addressed me as "Sir." I was some
years his junior and was startled by his use of the title. I made some rather bogy remark
concerning his use of the term to a junior member of his staff. "Dutch," he
said, "It didn't cost me one cent to say it, and perhaps it made you feel better and
a little more at ease, didn't it?" You bet it did. Within weeks of his arrival at the
390th, because of his friendly mannerisms and our great respect for him, we began to refer
to him as "Uncle Joe."
Joe was born, the second child of Vennette, who graduated from Wellesley College, and Carl
N. Moller, an Episcopalian minister, in St. Louis, Mo. He family moved shortly thereafter
to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where Joe and his older sister spent the next twelve years. Later
the Mollers moved to New York City when his father was given a Church there.
As he grew up, he participated in the usual sports, worked a paper route earning enough
money to buy a one way ticket to Montana, where he found work on a large cattle ranch,
first as chore boy and later as a full ranch hand on a ranch near Hobson.
Joseph Moller started his illustrious aviation career early in life He soloed in one hour
and twenty minutes - and having flown with him many times, I'm sure he probably started
instrument work in one hour and thirty minutes - a real professional pilot. One summer he
barnstormed, receiving fifteen percent of each ten dollar ride fee with which he
maintained himself and the plane. He pushed his luck a little, won eighteen hundred
dollars in a crap game, gave up barnstorming and entered Sibley College of Engineering,
Cornell University, where he worked his way through school, graduating as a Mechanical
Engineer. During his last year in college, he became a building construction
superintendent of one of the larger hotel buildings in New York City at that time.
Joe then moved in research and sales operations with the Pure Oil Company. Through his
efforts, Pure was the first of the petroleum companies to have their own mechanical
laboratory which, under his guidance, made several significant contributions, in
conjunction with similar laboratories operated by the automotive companies, in the field
of fuels and lubricants over some of which he acquired certain rights. There was no
commercial one hundred octane gasoline. However, some was made for research purposes.
Wright Field technicians were experimenting with it at that time. Joe remembered tying
down a drum of hundred octane gasoline behind his pilot's seat in his airplane and
delivering it to the Wright Field boys on more than one occasion.
In addition to his research and development work, he found time in conjunction with a
partner in each venture, to own an airplane and a sail plane and he also sailed and raced
a series of fine sail yachts. He and his crew place or won some twenty-four of the last
thirty races he entered.
Among the earlier aircraft that "Uncle Joe" owned or flew were: a JN-4, with
both the OX-5 and the Hispano engines the early four-place Waco, the open cockpit
two-place Waco (for aerobatics), the two-place, low-wing Ryan, the early and the later
gull-wing Stinson, a Howard, a stagger-wing Beechcraft, a Cessna 165, and, of course, a
two-place Schweitzer soaring plane.
As seemed to be usual with the early pilots, he had the customary problems with weather,
engine failure and too small gas tanks. For example, he recalls once evening in the Spring
of 1940, he was caught in an non-forecast freezing precipitation with all the commercial
airports closed due to low ceilings in the Chicago-Ft. Wayne-South Bend area. Closed or
not, he broke out of the low clouds headed for the runway, finalizing his approach and
landing with nearly full throttle because of the ice load he was carrying. He ran out of
fuel as he attempted to taxi.
Major Moller, a Reserve Officer, came on duty in early 1942. After his initial assignment
as A-4 of the Troop Carrier Command under Colonel (later Major General) Fred Borum, he
transferred to the Martin B-26 program at McDill Field under Brig. General (later Major
General) James E. Parker, with full intentions flying the B-26 type aircraft in combat in
the European Theater. He earned his "Unlimited B-26 Pilot's certificate" in
1943.
However, there is a complete story (almost book length) as to how "Uncle Joe"
managed a combat assignment with the 95th Bomb Group, where Lt. Col. Dave McKnight checked
him out as a B-17 first pilot. Dave McKnight later told Ian Hawkins, one of our English
friends, that Colonel Joe Moller was the best pilot he had ever checked out in a B-17.
One evening, after had had flown a practice formation mission, he remarked to Dave
McKnight, why by then had become a good friend, that he was being told to fly almost too
close to his element leader. Dave's answer: "When you see the bandits coming in, you
will fly in closer than you flew today." Somewhat later in combat, Joe said he found
how right Dave was since "he was flying much closer and glad to be there."
Colonel Moller flew as a line-type pilot from his second mission through his thirteenth
mission, flying nearly every position in the formation, which enabled him not only to
learn the techniques of formation flying in various slots, but also to evaluate the role
of formation leader as it affected the formation itself.
While still flying with the 95th, Joe flew in various leadership slots up to and including
Group Leader, ad even more importantly, as Wing Leader. In his next eighteen missions from
Horeham, he led the 95th Group nine times, the 13th Wing six times, the Third Division
twice, and the Eighth Air Force once.
As Commander of the 390th, "Uncle Joe" led our Group on three missions, the 13th
Wing on six missions, the Third Division on six, and the Eighth Air Force on three
missions. Of course, on all of the missions our Group was the Lead Group. In all, Col.
Moller flew 49 missions (he flew others as a GI pilot) and led more heavy bombers in
combat than any other senior officer. On the occasion during which the bombers of the 8th
Air Force, the 9th Air Force and the RAF were combined into one gigantic task force,
Colonel Moller was the combat leader for this entire task force.
In addition his quality performance as combat leader, Colonel Moller applied lessons
learned and observed. For instance, by analysis, he noted that crews with less than seven
or eight missions suffered the greatest loss ratios during the deeper penetrations. Thus
he had us schedule those crews for more shallow efforts until their experience factor was
increased. Note only did this operational directive improve our bombing accuracy (best in
the 8th) but resulted in the 390th having the lowest losses per mission flown/bombs
dropped.
At one time I asked "Uncle Joe" what effect the recognition of our great respect
for him had upon him as an individual. His response was, "It made me mighty humble,
perhaps generating greater caution on my part."
It has been my very great fortune to have known "Uncle Joe," to have served
under him and to have woked with him, and now to share the memories of the men and the
activities of the 390th, the 13th Wing, the 3rd Division, and the 8th Air Force during
those memorable days.
His love of the 390th people was very pronounced to me during the war when I overhead a
telephone conversation between Colonel Moller and the Commanding Officer of the Third Air
Division. It was evident that the General had just informed Joe that he intended to move
Joe up as the 13th Combat Wing Command. Joe said, "I want to stay here and fight with
the men of this outfit (the 390th)." In my opinion "Uncle Joe's"
determination to remain with his men probably cost him his star.
His magnificent contributions made deep and lasting impressions on all of his assigned
personnel. His willingness, his professional abilities, and his dedication demonstrated
his outstanding leadership. Throughout his life he has given freely of his time, energy
and talents to the Country he loved so dearly. He did it quietly but effectively - by
example.