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THERaGGEDIRREGULaR
Vol. 45 No. 4 91st Bombardment Group (H) October 2012
322nd BS 323rd BS Supporting Units 324th BS 401st BS
91st BGMA Reunion Banquet Message fromCharles E. “Chuck” Yeager, Brig Gen USAF (ret.)
Frankly,myfirstmission in which Ishotdown anenemyaircraft,thebombersultimatelyprotectedme.Duetostinkin’weatherforthefirstdaylightraidonBerlin,IwasoneoftwoP-51’sescortingthebombers.Ididn’tgettherecallmessage.
From Bassingbourn,Englandsite,themenofthe91stBombGroup(H),participatedaspartofthe8thAirForceinTheEuropeanTheaterofOperations(ETO)duringWorldWarII.AfterformingandtraininginTampa,FloridaandWallaWalla,WashingtonU.S.A.theyarrivedintheETOinSeptember1942,supportedby2,000groundpersonnel.
The91stlist197B-17’swhiledestroying420ofAdolfHitler’sGermanaircraft.Lostwere1,010combatcrewman(899killed)and 111 missing in action and more than 960 crewmenbecameprisonersofwar.
And,I’llmaintain my Veep’sView opinion on encouragingthosewhohavebeenAssociateMembers for three years toapply to the Board for FullMembership.We did have aquestion during the BusinessMeetingaboutMemberswhosespouse is nota memberbutwishestohelp.TheBoardisstilldiscussing this and Iwanttorecognizethosewhohavebeenhelping for many years, butnever became an Associatebecause their spouse was.SomespousessolvedtheissuebysigningupasanAssociatethemselvesfor$10,whichalsohelpswithourfunding.
The Board recognizesthe greatvalue oftheWeb and the Ring incommunicatingwiththepublicanddisseminatinginformationamongstmembers.WeintendtocontinuesupportofthesevenuesandmakepermanentpositionsintheBy-Laws(withJimSheppardandMikeBanta’sadviceofcourse)similartothePXposition.
Ambassador presents honor to SonnierbyNicholasPersac.OriginallyprintedinTheDailyAdvertiser,June29,2012
LorceySonniersatonabicycleseatin1943,buthe wasn'triding down the oak-shadedstreetsinhishometownofLeroy.Hesatonthatbicycle seatin the back ofa B-17 "FlyingFortress"duringthemorethan30missionsheenduredasatailgunnerinWorldWarII.
He satatthe head table in OurLady ofPerpetualHelp'scommunityroom --thesametableasFrancoisDelattre,theAmbassadorofFrance to the United States,who came toAcadiana to presentSonnierwith France'shighestdistinction,thetitleofChevalierdelalegiond'honneur,orFrenchKnightintheorderoftheLegionofHonor,forhisroleinhelpingliberateFrancefromNazicontrol.
"Mypositionwastheworstoneontheaircraft,"said Sonnier,who was born in 1924."Thelongestmissionwaseighthoursand20minuteswhenwewenttoBerlin,andIwenttheretwoorthreetimes.IwasonlyayoungboywhenIenteredtheservice,andIgrew upafterthat.I'vebeenamaneversince."
"TheFrenchpeoplewillneverforgetwhatyoudidtofreeourcountryandEuropefrom Nazioppression,"Delattresaid."Thepositionoftailgunnerisaverydangerousandrough one,and you survivedmorethan 30 extremelydangerousmissions,anactofbraverythatearnedyoutheDistinguishedFlyingCrossandthishonortoday."
DelattresaidthetitleofChevalierdelalegiond'honneuris"France'shighestawardandoneofthemostcovetedinthe world."Napoleon Bonaparte created the award in1802"toacknowledge servicesrenderedtoFrancebypersonsofgreatmeritandaccomplishments."
On Thursday,Delattre also metwith membersoftheFrancophone community and the Council for theDevelopment of French in Louisiana, toured theBicentennialExhibition atLafayette Science Museum,mingledwithFrenchcitizensresidinginAcadianaandattended both a lecture on GeneralLafayette's shipHermioneandagalaattheUniversityofLouisianaatLafayettetoraisemoneyforstudyscholarshipsinFrance.
Sonnierservedinthe322ndSquadron,91stBombGroup,EighthAirForceinCambridge,EnglandinFebruary1943andthenservedasatail-gunneronaB-17bomberfromMarch to August1944.He foughton airdefense inNormandy,France during D-Day events.During sixmonths,Sonnierparticipatedinmorethan30missionsinFranceandinGermany,garneringhim the"DistinguishedFlyingCross"andothermedalsfromtheU.S.
"On behalfofmy country,your example gives usinspirationforthefuture,"DelattresaidtoSonnier."Wearetryingthebestwecantoproveourselvesworthyofyourlegacyinoursharedvalues."
Two91st–erscametogether,eachhavinglivedover66yearsinthesmallstateofVermont,eachwithouttheknowledge ofthe otherbeing from the 91stBombGroup.TheoccasiontookplaceinBristol,VTattheannualdinnerhostedbytheAmericanLegionPost#19honoringformerprisonersofwar.
JosephBentzel(center)looksuponthewreckageoftheB-17FlyingFortressheflewduringWorldWarII.Theaircraft,whichisknownastheChowhound,crashedinNormandyduringtheliberationofFrance,killingseveralofBentzel'scolleagues.Hewasanengineerandthetopturretgunnerontheaircraft.BothLt.Col.DennisDuffy(left)andLt.Col.JonathanBradley(right),playedkeyrolesinretrievingtheChowhound’sremainsaftertheyspentmore than 50 yearsin a French farmer'sbarn.BentzelvisitedthewreckagehereJune9,andsaiditwasdifficulttoseetheaircraftinitscurrentconditionafterseeingitflysomanysuccessfulmissionsinhisyouth.
(U.S.AirForcephotobyShawnJ.Jones)
October 2012 THERaGGEDIRREGULaR Page 5
The Mustang P-51Jake Howland’s response to Chuck Yeager’s message.
Firstofall,abitofhistory.
DuringWorldWarIIthe91stBombGroupbecameoperationalon November7,1942.During the next2-1/2years,onehundredninetysevenB-17swereMIAandlostmorethan1,010meninthelineofduty(899KIA,111MIAand960asPOWs).Ourwartimelossesweregreaterthananyotherbombgroupintheentire8thAirForce.
91st BGMA 2012 Reunion Business Meeting Minutes - September 15, 2012TheBusinessmeetingwascalledtoorderat9:10am byPresidentJim Sheppard.Therewere28inattendance,including 11 WWIIveterans.Aftera shortintroductionwelcoming everyone,the meeting was turned overtoSecretary/TreasurerJodyKelly.
Jody reviewed the 2010 Business meeting.New FullMembers voted in by the Board ;Larry Ruth,JanetLarocco,GordyAlton,LowellGetz,ChuckEgender,BobStriegelandGeorgeBruckert.
TherefollowedaTreasurerreportoftheamountsinthevariousaccountsin 2010.Nextcame a reportofthenumbersofvariousmembersinvariouscategories.Jodyreportedonthecostsofthewebsiteatthetime.GaryreportedonthereductionofcostsoftheR.I.MickreportedontheBy-Lawserratacorrections.Jim spoketoMemorialsandDonations.Themotionwasmadetoacceptthe2010minutesasread,seconded,andpassed.
Jodynextreportedonthecurrentbalancesinthe91stBGMAaccounts:Checking$39,443,PayPal$512,Putnam$7,429.Note -Checking accountincludes $6,057 inreunionfundsthathavenotbeenspent.Totaltreasuryfundsnetofreunionfunds$41,363.JodynextreportedthatthesebalanceswerethisgoodbecauseofdonationsasduesandPXsalesaredown.SpecificacknowledgementwenttoGaryHall,whohaddonated$3,000andgottenacompanymatchofasimilaramount.GaryandRochellealsodonatedsubstantiallytotheEuropetrip.ThereareotherrecentdonationsbyJakeHowlandandothers,notedintheR.I.eachissue.Thewebsitehasalsogenerateddonations. Membership totals 598 members in thefollowingcategories:165LifeMembers,136FullMembersfora totalof301 91stBomb Group Veterans,183AssociateLife,84AssociateMembers,18AssociateFullMembersand12PublicRelationsmembers. Aquestionfrom theflooraskedaboutthenumberofLifeandFullMembers.Thereissometimesconfusioninthisregards–amembercanbeaFullorAssociateMember,andcanbeanannual-payingoraLifeMember.OnedoesnothavetobeaLifeMembertobeaFullMember.Themotionwasmade to acceptthe 2012 Treasurer’sReportasread,seconded,andpassed.
Questionfrom theFloor:CanwechangethewaitingtimeforanAssociatetobecomeaFullfrom 3yearsto1year?TheBy-Lawswerewrittentoencouragealong-standingcommitmenttothe91stBGMA,hencethe3-yeartimeframe.ThedifficultyisingettingAssociateMembersingood standing to become FullMembers.The seconddifficultyisthatgenerallyaspousedidnotsignupforaseparatemembershipinthepast,soisnotanAssociateandisunabletobecomeaFullMember.
Janetreported thata database ofPOWs has beendeveloped asa PDF file.Thishasbeen lotsofworkbecauseoferrorsanddifferentsourcesofinformation.ShehasreconciledthesewithoriginalMACRandcleansedupthedatabaseasmuchaspossible.Janetisalsomakinga“Yearbook”ofphotosof91stCrewmen.Lastly,JanetismakingacomprehensiveindexofHaavelarbook“RaggedIrregularsofBassingbourn”.Jim reinforcedthemessagethatthewebsiteiscollectingallthesereportsanddata–inthecaseofthePOW databaseasa.PDFfile.
Gary reported on the Ragged Irregular quarterlynewsletter.Significantcostsavingshavebeenrealizedbyemailing electronic versions ratherthan hardcopy.HecontinuestoworkcloselywithFedExtogeta50% discountonthehardcopymailings.Usedtosend800hardcopiesout,butnowsends400bymailand100byemail.
Jim thenmentionedthatthe91stBGMAcanonlysurviveifwecangetmorehelpfrom Membersinthefuture.ThemoreMembersengage,themorewecandotofurtherthememoryofthe91stBG.Specifically;weneedassistanceontheDatabases,thePX andorderingonline,andtheSecretaryposition.HeaskedMicktothepodium.MickthankedJim forhispastserviceandespeciallyforthehandling ofarrangements forthe 2012 Reunion,thenwithheldfurthercommentsforlater.
Jim made a tribute to Vince Hemmings and had adiscussionofthewreath-layingandservicebythevariousassociationsinEngland,France,andTheNetherlands.IvoDe Jong-Margarten and Eric Domincus-Opijen &Ardennes.Jim opened the floorto questionsfrom theaudience.
Jody:Regarding the PX – can we getsome searchoptimizationonthewebsitesothatourPXsalesontheInternetimprove?Jim respondedbygivinganexampleofhowweraisedmoneyyearsagoforthebanneratthe8thAFmuseum inSavannahvia“advertising“ontheRingandthenreiteratedtheneedfor“advertising”.
Question from the Floor:Heard the TowerMuseum isclosing? Mick:No,the building hasbeen listed and isundertherunningoftheTowerFoundation.Jody:WhataboutthePropMemorialGarden?Mick:shouldstaywhereitisunlessthesituationchanges.MelDart:IsthereaseparateaccesstotheMuseum?Mick:reportedontheseparateaccess.ChrisandAmyhavedoneanoutstandingjobontheTower,onmovingtheendangeredmetalsignsofthe323rdand441stSub-Depot,andacquiringaWWIINissanHut.ItwasproposedtosetupaSkypemeetingwithChrisandAmyat13:00thatday(whichdidhappen).
Conrad:Expressedappreciationattheworkofthenon-veteransfortheirvolunteering.He also mentioned theTowerMuseum whichhasimprovedalotovertheyears.
Asquestionsfrom thefloorwereatanend,Jim proposedclosingthemeeting.Mickmadeapoint-of-orderthattheresultsoftheelectionhadnotyetbeenreported.LarryRuth,headofNominatingCommittee,reportedtheresults:MickHanouasPresident,JodyKellyasVicePresident,Tom FreerassecondVP,GaryHallasRIeditor,JanetLorrocco as Historian. The position of Secretary /Treasurerwasunfilled.Themotionwasmadetoaccepttheresults,secondedandpassed.
Mick,asnewPresident,thankedJim forhisworkonthisReunion and his pastyears serving asPresident.Hethanked the 91stBGMA membersfortheirvotesandexpressedthehopethathemeetstheirconfidence.Thereareanumberofkeyareastomaintainattentionto:theWeb, the Ring, the Tower Museum Bassingbourn,Memorials,theChino91stBG display,AssociateandFullMembers,theSecretary/Treasurerposition.
DiscussionthenproceededtothenextReunion(West)–suggestedpossiblyinSanFranciscoinconjunctionwithflying B-17 and B-24.HalJohnson asked abouttherelationshipwiththeCollingsFoundation;Mickrespondedthatitisstillgoodandtherearenoplansofthem makinganychangesto909.DonFreeraskedaboutthepopulationof91stersacrossthecountry.Mick:roughly40% west,20% central,and40% east;wecanverifythiswithananalysisofthezipcodesofmembers.LarryRuth:whatabouttimeofyear–fallishardtogetkidsoffschool.Mick:hopesthathavingitoverMemorialDay,inconjunctionwiththeCollingsFoundationstopwillmakeiteasier–overalongweekendandaftersomeschoolsareout.DonFreer:suggestyouasktheNextGenerationwhenagoodtimeforthem is.GeorgeBruckert:FocusonyoungerpeopleusingFacebook. We can also engage re-enactmentorganizations.TedSkawienski:makesuretoplacePressReleasesinnewspapers,USAFmagazines,8thAF,etc.
Vince waspartofa smallgroup ofenthusiastswhocreatedtheEastAnglianAviationSocietyin1965.TheEAASvolunteersworkedwiththeImperialWarMuseumandtheCambridgeshireCountyCounciltocreatetheDuxfordAviationMuseum.TheEAASthenbeganworkon the Prop Memorial and Tower Museum atBassingbourn.VincebecamethesecondcuratoroftheTowerMuseum in1978.HealsofoundtimetobethechairmanoftheShuttleworthVeteranAeroplaneSocietyatOldWardennearBiggleswadeforanumberofyears.
Hejoinedhiswifeof58years,VirginiaMaySkidmore,inheaven.Survivors:Children,Carla(BillIson)Finlay,Charles (Trisha)Skidmore,Susan (Ken)Chamberlain,Scott(Carol)Skidmore,and Gale (Rick)Winningham;10grandchildren;and5great-grandchildren.
John R Waldron 323rd Age 87BlueBell,PA,August17,2012
Bob is survived by his wife Elizabeth;daughters:Sr.ElizabethSSJ,Maureen;son:Dr.JohnR.WaldronJr.(Kathleen);3grandchildren;and3greatgrandchildren.
Linwood “Lin” F Wright 323rd Age 85NewSharon,ME,May17,2011
LinenlistedintheAviationCadetsandgraduatedabomberpilot.HearrivedinBassingbournlate1944,flyingmissionsas a co-pilot. After VE Day, heparticipatedintheevacuationofAlliedPOWs.AfterleavingEngland,LinferriedbombershometotheMidwest.DuringthismissionhemetPatriciaAnnBlakeandwassoonmarried.
George H “Dutch” Odenwaller 323rd Age 87Hillsdale,NJ,September1,2012
Reportedbyhisbrother-in-lawJohnKrummGeorge served with the 91stBombGroup as a B-17 ballturretgunner,flying26successfulmissions.Hewasatalented commercialprototype artisanformostofhislifeandwasactiveintheVFW,the Aviation HallofFame andMuseum ofN.J.,andtheMetropolitanSportsSquadron(modelairplanes).
EdwardworkedfortheArmySecurityAgencyandtheAirForce SecurityService beforejoining the new NationalSecurityAgencyin1952.Heleftin1961tojointheStateDepartment,wherehebecamealiaisontotheCIA.
ReportedbyRandyMartzExpressing an earlyinterestin flying,Lorentookhisfirstplanerideattheageofthirteen.Aftergraduatinghighschoolhe entered an airplane mechanicscourseandthenworkedasamechanicforaflighttrainingschooltopayforflightlessonsand earned hisprivate pilot’slicense.
LorenenlistedintheArmyAirCorpon1November1941and was in primary training when PearlHarborwasbombed.InitiallyassignedasaflightinstructorforB-24’s,hevolunteeredforcombatdutyoverseasin1943.WhileonalayoverinMobile,ALforrepairstotheB-17hewaspilotingtoEngland,Lorenmethisfuturewifeof69years,MaryRuthKing.Afteraoneweekcourtship,theyweremarriedonMarch19th,1943.Loren’sflightcrew namedtheB-17“Mary Ruth – Memories of Mobile”inhonorofthewedding.
Lorenflew31successfulmissionsincludingtwoonD-Day.Afterthe warhe returned to Montana to workfortheBureauofReclamation,butreturnedtoactivedutyintheAirForceatthestartoftheKoreanWar.StationedinJapanandKoreauntiltheendoftheKoreanWar,LorentransferredtoOkinawawherehewasre-unitedwithhisfamilyuntil1957whentheyreturnedtotheUnitedStates.LorenretiredaMajorintheUSAirForceReservesandin1974heretiredfromtheArmyCorpofEngineers.
LorenwasprecededindeathbyhiswifeMaryRuthRoll.HeissurvivedbyhisthreechildrenJudyFlugstad,GlennRoll,and Karen Larson;6 grandchildren and 3 greatgrandchildren.
Page 12 THERaGGEDIRREGULaR October 2012
Page 12 THERaGGEDIRREGULaR October 2012Folded Wings: Neil A Daniels 401st Age 92
He waspredeceased byhiswife,Jan,in2009.Heissurvived by his children Kris,Carol(Keith)and Todd(Annamarie); four grandchildren; and two greatgrandchildren.
James D Fletcher 401st Age 93SunCityWest,AZ,July24,2012
ReportedbyhisdaughtersJim,like mostofhiscontemporaries,answeredthecalltodefendhiscountryduringWorldWarII,servingintheArmyAirCorps.Before he leftto fly 32combatmissionsoverEurope asco-pilotintheB-17,hemarriedRuthLouiseManthe,hisbrideof58yearsuntilherpassingin2001.