I still haven't been able to verify what dates my great uncle was with the 703rd Bomber Squadron, but I do know he enlisted in the Army on May 16, 1942 at Patterson Field (Wright-Patterson AFB) and that the 703rd wasn't established until April 1, 1943. Depending on when he was assigned to that squadron there's a good chance he might have served directly under actor James 'Jimmy' Stewart as he was made the squadron's Operations Officer in August of 1943 and three weeks later was promoted to Squadron Commander - a position which he held until January of 1944 at which time he became Deputy Commander of the 2nd Bomb Wing. Stewart stayed with the 2nd and 20th Bomb Wings through the remainder of the war and routinely "unofficially" flew out on missions with them.

The plane he went down in wasn't put into service until Jan 29, 1945 so I don't know if he didn't get to Europe until then or if he was part of the crew on another plane before that or what. Found a historical group for the 445th Bomber Group which the 703rd was a part of so I'm hoping I can get some more information from them in the near future.