When Ernest E. "Ernie" Warsaw was born on December 14, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois, his father, Philip, was 29 and his mother, Irene, was 26. He had one brother and one sister. At the age of 8 his family moved to Palestine where he lived until 1932 when the family returned to Chicago. He graduated from Wright Junior College and attended DePaul University Law School until the onset of WW2. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force as a cadet, graduated as 2nd Lieutenant in October 1942 and joined the 100th Bomb Group. Navigator of the B17F 'Picklepuss', S/N 42-30063, they led the 481th Squadron which was assigned to bomb the Messerschmitt factory at Regensburg, Germany. The mission plan was that after the bomb run, the group was to continue east and land in Africa. However, enroute to Regensburg they were attacked by a squadron of ME 109's. One of the German fighters took out one of the engines on Pickelpuss. The plane couldn't keep up with the group anymore and the crew decided to turn around and fly back to their base at Thorpe Abbots in England. After about 15 minutes of flying, they were intercepted by another squadron of ME 109's who managed to set the bomber on fire. Shortly thereafter the plane blew up. Shot down by enemy fighters (Hauptmann Von Bonin, Oberleutnant Barte and Leutnant Witzke), the aircraft crashed at Herbesthal Lontzen, 500 meters west of Schmalgraf, near Kelmis, west of Aachen, in Belgium on August 17, 1943. Warsaw was one of the four crew members who survived and spent almost two years as prisoners of war at POW camps in Germany. He had a record of 13 combat missions with the 8th Air Force.

Ernie was a POW in Germany for two years during which time he kept his buddies busy creating plays, building furniture, as well as keeping a journal of his experience. Upon his return to the U.S. he moved to Los Angeles where he graduated with a B.A. degree from UCLA. He began a lifelong career as a furniture manufacturer, first as a sales rep for L.A. Period Furniture Manufacturing then forming his own company, Revere Furniture and Lamp Manufacturing. In 1970, he started Sheffield Furniture Corporation which was his most successful venture lasting 30 years until he retired at age 80. He was former chairman of the Furniture Division of the United Jewish Fund, former chairman of the Furniture Division for Israel Bonds, Founder of the Los Angeles Music Center, Patron member Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Lifetime member of the Chancellor Associates of UCLA, former chairman of the Advisory Board for the College of Letters and Science at UCLA, Founder of the James West Center UCLA, a Founder of the Jewish Federation Building, Benefactor Wilshire Boulevard Temple, member Brentwood Country Club. He established the Warsaw Fellowship in Microbiology at UCLA and the Joseph L. Warsaw Memorial Scholarship Fund at Technion University in Israel.

He passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, May 19, 2012 at the age of 91 and is now buried in Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, Los Angeles County, California, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.ancestry.com, www.abmc.gov, http://www.warmuseums.net/Pages/belgium_me_detailed12.html, http://www.aircrewremembered.com/knox-robert.html, https://100thbg.com/index.php?option=com_bombgrp&view=personnel&Itemid=334&id=5404, Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2012