Hardin Field McChesney Jr. was born on November 2, 1921, in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. He was the son of Hardin Field McChesney Sr. and Eugene Emile McCulloch McChesney. He was married to Marilyn Jane Linton McChesney. He initially volunteered for service after Pearl Harbor but was turned away before being drafted in 1943. He first trained as an infantryman before transferring to the Army Air Corps, where he qualified as a radio operator and aerial gunner. Assigned to a B-17 crew in 1944, he deployed to England later that year. He flew ten missions before his aircraft was lost. He served in the 369th Bomber Squadron, 306th Bomb Group, Heavy, as a Sergeant and Radio Operator of B-17 #42-97185 during World War II.

On February 14, 1945, B-17 #42-97185 was assigned to bomb the marshalling yards at Dresden, Germany. After releasing its bombs, the aircraft was attacked by German FW-190 fighters, sustaining heavy damage to the right wing and fuselage. During the attack, three crew members were wounded, forcing the bomber out of formation. Realizing the aircraft could not return to England, the pilot attempted to reach Czechoslovakia and land behind Russian lines, but as fires spread in the fuselage and one engine, he ordered the crew to bail out. The pilot was the last to abandon the aircraft, setting it on a course to avoid populated areas before it crashed near Hřídelec, Czechoslovakia. While the rest of the crew successfully parachuted out, eight were captured as prisoners of war, and Sgt. Lubojacky was the only fatality.

Sgt McChesney landed in enemy-controlled territory, where he was captured after being confronted by hostile civilians and a German soldier. He was held briefly in a local jail before being transported to Frankfurt for interrogation, and later moved with other prisoners as German forces retreated ahead of advancing Allied troops. He eventually arrived at a camp in Würzburg, Bavaria, where he was liberated by American forces on April 29, 1945. After the war, Field returned to the United States, completed his college education, and began a career as a newspaper reporter before transitioning into public relations work for the federal government. He later spent two decades working with the Veterans Administration before retiring. He died on December 2, 2019, and donated his remains to the University of Kentucky Medical School. He has a memorial in The Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, ww2history.org, americanarchive.iwm.org.uk