While he himself was at the US Military Academy, Milton met his future wife: Grace Elizabeth Bailey[2] (1920–2010); they married in 1942. The Miltons had three children (Patricia Morgan, Theodore Ross Milton Jr., and Barbara Bayley Milton), seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. T. R. Milton died on 24 August 2010, followed by Grace Elizabeth on 20 December; they were both interred at Arlington National Cemetery on 21 January 2011.[3]
The 351st Bomb Group's operations officer, on 12 August 1943, Major Milton found himself and Major Clark Gable aboard Ain't It Gruesome, a B-17F flown by Captain John B. Carraway. Milton was leading 330 B-17Fs and 329 Republic P-47 Thunderbolts out of the United Kingdom to attack the well-defended Nazisynthetic oil production facilities at Gelsenkirchen. The weather forced Milton to divert to bombing Bochum as a target of opportunity; the bombing was successful at the cost of 25 shot-down B-17s. Ain't It Gruesome itself was shot plenty, and Gable lost a boot heel to an unexploded 20-millimetre (0.79 in) shell. For his actions, Milton received a Silver Star.[2]
Five months later, Milton was commander of the 91st Bombardment Group and copilot of a B-17 over Nazi Germany when he was "painfully wounded" by an enemy interceptor. Milton refused aid and remained at his post through the mission's completion, and did not step down until every plane in the large formation had successfully landed at diversion airports. For this action, Milton received a Distinguished Service Cross.[1]
On 24 October 1944, Milton assumed command of the 384th Bomb Group and led bombing runs until 14 April 1945.[2]
^ abcdefghBoyne, Walter J. (October 2011). "Milton's Climb"(PDF). Air Force Magazine. pp. 79–82. Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020. In 1933, T. R. Milton enlisted as an Army private. Ten years later, the future four-star general was leading daring bombing raids against some of the toughest targets in Germany.
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