McGovern George Stanley - The wild blue: the men and boys who flew the B-24s over Germany

Thank you for downloading this Simon & Schuster eBook.

Join our mailing list and get updates on new releases, deals, bonus content and other great books from Simon & Schuster.

C LICK H ERE T O S IGN U P

or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com

CONTENTS

For Eleanor

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

SINCE THE PUBLICATION of the hardcover edition of The Wild Blue, more than a few folks have asked me how I could get it written so quickly. This made me realize that the one person I forgot to acknowledge was my son, Hugh. Hugh was there every step of the way on this book, from negotiating contracts to conducting most of the primary research, to editing the manuscript and suggesting great new material, to helping with the publicity. This book would not have been possible without him and is better because of him. So I now tell people who ask that he does not work for me, Hugh works with me, as my partner. We would like to thank all those who helped us with this book.

Horace W. Lanford, former commanding officer of the 741st Bomb Squadron, deserves special mention because he allowed us to use a copy of his self-published history of the 741st, which contains a wealth of information. He also provided us with many contacts to veterans. We owe a great deal to Mr. Lanford.

We would also like to thank Francis J. Lashinsky and Gus Wendt of the 455th Bomb Group Association. Without their assistance and the assistance of other members of the board, we would not have been able to tell this tale. We gained a great deal of information from the associations newsletter, The Cerignola Connection.

We also owe thanks to George and Michele Welsh and their staff at the International B-24 Liberator Club. The Welshes have been preserving the history and celebrating the accomplishments of the B-24 and the World War II Army Air Forces for many years. Their enthusiasm for their topic and willingness to share their knowledge with all and sundry is an inspiration. The International B-24 Liberator Club publishes a journal, The Briefing. The clubs address is 15817 Bernardo Center Drive, Suite 102, Box 124, San Diego, CA 92127, b24club@pacbell.net.

Almost all the photographs for this book come from the private collections of veterans or their families. We would like to thank the following veterans for sharing their photographs with us and the world: Alex Boggio, Russell Clark, Harold Cook, Carroll W. Cooper, C. E. Ben Franklin, Jim Gordon, John Greenman, Kenneth Higgins, Joseph Maloney, William McAfee, J. S. McCullough, Dan McGeary, George McGovern, Leo Mercer, Anthony J. Picardi, Richard D. Rogers, John Skelton, Darrell Snook, Jim VanNostrand, Gus Wendt, and Matija Zganjnar.

We would like to thank the following for their help in locating photographs and/or oral histories: the Airmen Memorial Museum and its curator, Sean Muskimins; Miles Todd of the San Diego Air and Space Museum; Ben Franklin of the Fifteenth Air Force Association; Tom Gerzel of the March Field Museum Foundation; Air Force historian Fred Johnsen; and Rob Hoskins of the 461st Bomb Group Association.

Thanks also to Charles Watry, an Air Force career man, who flew everything from transports in World War II to Mach 2 jet fighters in Vietnam. Colonel Watry provided us with invaluable technical advice for the book, whether it dealt with training procedures, plane instrumentation, navigation, armament, and all of the other details that accompany a subject of this scope and complexity.

We offer our thanks to Judy Edelhoff, an American on Ambassador George S. McGoverns staff at the United Nations in Italy. She helped us in many ways, most especially by organizing a trip to Cerignola for the ambassador and us. With her help, we met and interviewed Italians who remembered the airmen of the Fifteenth Air Force. She also introduced us to the mayor of Cerignola, Dr. Francesco Musto, and his assistant, Luigi Pelligrino.

We would like to thank Messrs. Musto and Pelligrino, who arranged for us to visit the old air bases, and for their help in connecting us with members of the community who remember the Americans. We would like to thank the following Italians for allowing us to interview them about their experiences: Michele Barcole, Mario Carpocefala, Gionanna Pistachio Colucci, and Francesco Musto.

The following associations made meaningful contributions and have our thanks:

741st Squadron Association

376th Bomb Group Association

450th Bomb Group Association

455th Bomb Group, the Vulgar Vultures

456th Bomb Group Association

461st Bomb Group Association

449th Bomb Group Association

483rd Bomb Group Association

2nd Air Division Association

Fifteenth Air Force Association

We would like to thank the following veterans and their family members for donating memoirs, collections of letters, diaries, and photographs for our research. We also appreciate those who allowed us to record their memories as an oral history. This book could not have been done without their assistance.

Kenneth Apple

Art Applin

Ken Applin

Alfred Asch

H. Homer and Louise G. Aschmann

Cecil Grant Ash

Dick Ashbury

William Ashlock

Charles R. Ayers

Albert J. Bakun

Clyde G. Ball

Robert K. Barmore

William V. Barnes

Robert E. Basala

Donald Bauer

Stuart A. Bemis

Andy J. Benedict

Sheldon B. Benscoter

Gene V. Benson

Alfred Berger

Casimir E. Bialas

Charles B. Black

Bill Blocker

Maurice M. Bloom, Jr.

Alex Boggio

Kenneth P. Bondy

Linda Boyd

Walter E. Brady

Douglas Brown

Stuart C. Brown

Marie H. Bruce

Helen M. Bruce-Ireland (daughter)

Sterling Bryant

Stanley Buck

Ormond Buffington

Leon O. Burke

Henry Burkle

Jay Calkins

Clifton Callahan

Roger Caple

Robert S. Capps

John Carey

Linda Carry

John W. Carson

Guy Robert Bob Champney

Terri Champney (daughter of Bob)

F. C. Hap Chandler

William Chapin

Morris Clark

L. P. Clemens

J. Walton Colvin

Harold E. Cook

Carroll W. Cooper

Howard Robert Cooper

John Copeland

Anthony Corsello

Lensworth Cottrell, Jr.

James E. Counsilman

Marjorie S. Counsilman (wife)

Mary J. Crawford (widow of Benjamin)

Bill Crim

Richard Laurens Critz

Bruce H. Cumming

George M. Curio

Paul Daugherty

Robert A. Davis

Kevin Day

Robert W. Day

George Defenbaugh

Robert DeGroat

Paul H. Ditchett

Joseph Dolinsky

John R. Dominey

Rene DuFour

Robert F. Emick

Richard J. Ennis

William Feder, Sr.

Russ Felzer

Paul L. Fergot

Donald A. Fischer

Thomas K. Follis

J. B. Foote

Donald C. Foster

Walter Fox

Robert Frank

C. E. Ben Franklin

Kenneth Fuller

Roland Geiger

Tom Gerzel

Lamar H. Good

Alvin Goodman

Jim A. Gordon

Carl Graziano

John W. Greenman

Robert E. Greenquist

Walter Greenwell

C. Philip Gressani

William O. Gustafson

Paul Hallman, Sr.

William F. Hallstead III

Rob Hammer

Norman M. Hardy

Bill Haskins

C. Haynes