Freedom’s Voice The Monthly Newsletter of the Military History Center 112 N. Main ST Broken Arrow, OK 74012 http://www.okmhc.org/

“Promoting Patriotism through the Preservation of Military History”

Volume 6, Number 4 April 2019

Patriot’s Day

Military History Center Patriot’s Day on April 19 is a civic holiday rather than a military one. It is an official state holiday in Massachusetts, Golf Tournament Connecticut, Maine and Wisconsin. It commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775, the opening Benefitting battles of the American Revolution – the day the “shot heard around the world” was fired on Lexington Green. Patriots Day is a day worth remembering by all Americans. Military History Center

Friday, May 10

Registrations are still available.

We also need more hole sponsors. Hole sponsorship is $200 and includes a sign placed at a hole.

For more information about sponsorships or donations, contact JeanE Bailie at 918-794-2712 or BG Tom Manci- no at 918-794-2712 or 918-277-2486.

Important Date Acton Minutemen and citizens marching from Acton to Concord June 15 – Flag Day Commemoration on Patriots Day 2012

The MHC will host its annual Flag Day Commemoration Observances and re-enactments of the battles occur an- on Saturday, June 15. The May newsletter will contain nually at Lexington Green, around 6:00 a.m. and at the Old detailed information. In the meantime, please mark your North Bridge at Concord around 9:00 a.m. In the early morn- calendars, and plan to attend this important, patriotic ing, mounted re-enactors with state police escorts retrace the event. Flag Day is the MHC’s signature event. midnight rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes calling out warnings all along the way.

Meet the Docents

Greg Baille

Gregory Lewis “Greg” Baille was born in Tulsa on March 8, 1947. He is a 1965 graduate of Will Rogers High School. He joined the Navy on February 27, 1966. Greg served in Re- serve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 28 (Seabees) as a construction mechanic, where he worked on construction Michael Tarman equipment. Beginning in May 1967, he served eighteen

months at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Michael Ray Tarman was born at Wichita, Kansas, on Au- Greg served twenty-two months in active service and ten gust 21, 1951. He graduated from Wichita’s Halstead High years in the Navy Reserve. He separated from the Navy in School in 1969. The joined the Air Force in January 1971. His February 1978. first posting was Hollomon AFB, New Mexico. In 1972, he After his Navy service, Greg worked for Burtek, Inc. a was deployed to Vietnam with the 366th Munitions Mainte- flight simulator manufacturing company, as an aircraft simu- nance Squadron, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing stationed at Da- lator project engineer. After a French company purchased nang. He served one twelve-month tour in Vietnam. Burtek, they lost their military contract and Greg was laid-off. During his twenty-year Air Force career, Michael served He secured a position with American Airlines and went on to overseas tours at Taegu, Korea and in Turkey. He served a twenty-one-year career as a facilities and auto mechanic. twelve years in bomb dump, three years as a military training Greg has been an MHC docent for four years. He lives in instructor and five years as a 1st Sergeant. His last posting Broken Arrow. was at Sheppard Air Force Base near Wichita Falls, Texas, st where he was 1 Sergeant of Sheppard AFB Regional Hospi- tal. 1SGT Tarman retired there on November 1, 1991. After returning to civilian life, Michael worked several years as a short-haul truck driver. He relocated to Tulsa in 2014 to be close to his daughter and grandchildren. He has been an MHC docent for more than two years. Michael cur- rently lives in Tulsa.

Insignia of Naval Construction Battalions – Seabees – derived from the first letters "C.B." from the words Construction Battalion.

Seventy-five Years Ago, This Month Oklahoma World II Marine Comes Home

Claire Eulin Goldtrap

B-24 bombers of Fifteenth Air Force over Ploesti, Romania Claire Eulin “Goldie” Goldtrap was born at Hobart (Kiowa County), Oklahoma, on April 10, 1922. He joined the Marine The USAAF first conducted an air raid on the Ploesti Corps in 1940. On November 20, 1943, he was a Corporal in (Romania) oil refineries on August 1, 1943, in an operation Co. A, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine “The named Tidal Wave. On April 5, 1944, Fifteenth Air Force made Silent Second” Division. On that day, The Silent Second began a successful, follow-up raid (shown above) concentrating on its assualt on Betio Island in Tarawa Atoll (Battle of Tarawa). railroad transportation to halt shipment of refined gasoline to CPL Goldtrap’s battalion disembarked from USS Thuban as the Russian front. The USAAF and RAF made a large, third raid part of the first wave of the landings. He was killed on the on the refineries a few days later. first day of the battle on, or near, Red Beach 1, where the first day’s heaviest fighting occurred. Immediately after the battle, the dead were buried in sev- eral battlefield cemeteries on Betio. Remains recovery was conducted in 1946-47. The recovered remains were sent to Schofield Barracks Central Identification Labratory in Hawaii for identification. CPL Goldtrap’s remains were among those that could not be identified. He was buried in National Cemetery of the Pacific as Unknown X-277. In 2016, DPAA disinterred the remains. Scientists used dental records along with circumstantial and material evidence and DNA to confirm identify. CPL Goldtrap’s remains were positively identified on June 1, 2018. CPL Claire Eulin Goldtrap was laid to rest April 10, 2019, in Rose Cemetery at Hobart. Semper Fidelis.

General MacArthur on the beach at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea

The 24th and 41st infantry divisions, under Eighth Army commander, LTG General Robert L. Eichelberger, in Operation Reckless, landed at Tanahmerah and Humboldt bays near Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea on April 22, 1944. A compan- ion operation named Persecution, composed of Americans and Australians, landed at nearby Aitape. These operations were the last in the Southwest Pacific on MacArthur’s road to the Philippines. CPL Goldtrap’s remains arrive in Oklahoma City

Blackhorse Trooper Soldier With Grit

PVT George G. Red Elk – 1967

George G. Red Elk was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, on Jan- uary 29, 1948, the son of World War II Comanche code talker, SSG Kisha Makerney

Roderick Red Elk. He enlisted in the Army in 1967 and served Kisha Makerney was born on April 25, 1985, at Fort Tow- in Vietnam as a loader, gunner and tank commander with son (Choctaw County), Oklahoma. She joined the Oklahoma Troop D, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry “Blackhorse” Army National Guard in May 2002 at age seventeen. Imme- Regiment. diately after graduating high school, she served her first tour On March 18, 1969, Red Elk’s unit was conducting a re- of duty in Iraq with the 120th Engineer Battalion (Heavy) as an connaissance-in-force mission along Route 13 near the Mich- equipment operator and a machine gunner for her battalion elin rubber plantation. His tank received rocket-propelled security team. grenade fire, severely wounding his hand. Red Elk knocked Kisha had a motorcycle accident in June 2005 that left her out a second rocket-propelled grenade team with tank fire without a leg below her left knee. Determined to stay in the and remained with his tank until he passed out. Red Elk was military, she returned to duty and served a second tour in awarded a Silver Star for his actions and a Purple Heart. Iraq as the first female amputee to return to combat. Red Elk separated from the Army in 1973. From 1982 to Kisha grew up with a knack and a love for shooting. She 1991, he served in the Oklahoma National Guard's Battery A, discovered competitive shooting during the Endeavor Games 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery Regiment of the 45th Field in 2009. She was recruited in 2010 by the U.S. Army Marks- Artillery Brigade (45th Fires Brigade). He served in Saudi Ara- manship Unit while competing in the Warrior Games. She has bia during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. won numerous awards with her shooting skills. George Red Elk retired as a Staff Sergeant. Kisha enjoys hunting, fishing, spending time with her fami- SSGT Red Elk was inducted into the Oklahoma Military ly and friends and the upcoming adventures in her life. She Hall of Fame in 2011, as was his father, as one of the fourteen credits her success to her faith and her supportive family and Comanche Code Talkers inducted as a group that year. friends. George Red Elk currently lives in Lawton. The MHC family wishes Kisha the happiest of birthdays

and continued success with all her endeavors.

Crest of the 120th Engineer Battalion (Heavy) Essayons (Let Us Serve) George Red Elk sitting on his tank in Vietnam – 1969

Above and Beyond1 bomber. She was now dangerously low, with no hope of es- caping her attackers or gaining airspeed or altitude. 1LT Sundlun ordered the crew to bail out. He and 2LT Boles were the last to go. They were so close to the ground that witness- es later told Sundlun that his parachute opened at treetop height. Five of the Damn Yankee’s crew had been killed onboard. The survivors, besides Sundlun and Boles, were 2LT Reino Jylkka, TSGT William Ramsey and SGT Charles Snyder. Damn Yankee crashed and exploded in a turnip field near Jabbeke, Belgium, in an area heavily infested with Germans. As the last man out of the bomber, Sundlun landed some distance from the other crew members, who were quickly captured. As Sundlun was trying to hide his parachute in a manure pile, a local farmer came up and led him away to a wooded area. After the Germans left, he lay down in a deep furrow in a plowed field until nightfall. (L.-R.) TSGT William Ramsey, SGT Mike Cappelletti, SGT George Sundlun made his way across Belgium and France by Hayes, 1LT Bruce Sundlun and 2LT Zednik, who flew on Damn Yan- stealing bicycles in the morning near the market centers of kee only on her tenth mission. 2LT Reino Jylkka is kneeling with back small towns and seeking aid from local Catholic priests in the to the camera. evening. The priests were able to put him in contact with On December 1, 1943, the 545th Bomb Squadron, 384th members of the Belgian and French resistance. Sunlun made Bomb Group was stationed at an airfield near the village of his way to Paris, and for about six months, he worked with Grafton Underwood in Northamptonshire, England. One of the French resistance, and then headed for Spain. Once he the 545th’s B-17F bombers was Damn Yankee piloted by 1LT got to the border, he decided it was too dangerous to try to Bruce Sundlun. The mission that day, his thirteenth, was to cross. The Gestapo had a heavy presence in the area, as this Solingen, Germany, an industrial city south of the Ruhr. was a popular escape route for downed fliers. Sundlun had Damn Yankee arrived over the target at 28,000 feet and to be especially careful, as he was Jewish and could expect encountered intense anti-aircraft fire. She was hit during her the Gestapo would torture and kill him if captured. bomb run knocking out the number four engine and jamming He turned around and bicycled back across France in the the bomb bay doors in the open position. On the way home, direction of Switzerland. Before entering Switzerland, he Damn Yankee began losing speed and altitude, and Sundlun again fell in with the French resistance, where he engaged in notified the flight leader that he was leaving the formation. sabotage activities around Belfort. He entered Switzerland Damn Yankee, now alone, became easy prey for German on May 5, 1944. He was arrested and detained for three days fighters eager to finish a cripple. Navigator, 2LT Reino O. Jylk- for illegally entering the country. The OSS (Office of Strategic ka, plotted the shortest course to England and gave the head- Services, the precursor to the CIA) apparently interceded on ing to Sundlun. About that time, tail gunner, SGT Frank Lekas, his behalf, and he was released without internment. called out, “Enemy aircraft at six … .” He never finished the Chief of the OSS, Allen Dulles, recruited Sundlun for Oper- sentence. FW-190s were attacking Damn Yankee from the ation Sunrise, secret negotiations with German officers to rear. Their 20 mm cannons destroyed the tail gunner’s cabin surrender German forces in northern Italy. The operation killing Lekas immediately and destroying the left horizontal came to nothing, and Dulles sent Sundlun back into France to stabilizer. Bombardier, SGT George C. Hayes, managed to act as a bombardment spotter in support of the invasion of release a 500-pound bomb that had been stuck in the bomb southern France in August. At some point, probably after bay at the time of the bomb drop. He was killed while stand- Seventh Army advanced up to the area where Sundlun was ing in the bomb bay doorway. Ball turret gunner, SGT Harry located, he was able to return to England. Since escaped fli- F. Cologne, was seriously wounded and pulled from the ball ers were typically not allowed to fly again in the same thea- turret, but succumbed to his wounds. Waist gunners, Chester ter, Sundlun was sent to the China-Burma-India Theater, Snyder and Mike Cappelleti, were also killed. where he flew cargo planes over “the Hump” into China until The Germans were persistent in their attacks on the al- the end of the war. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying ready doomed bomber. Their gunfire knocked out the num- Cross for his actions during Damn Yankee’s ordeal. ber two engine. The situation was now critical. The tail was Bruce George Sundlun was born at Providence, Rhode Is- shot to pieces, the rudder was useless, the intercom was out, land on January 19, 1920. While attending Williams College the fuse box was shattered and the oxygen system had been in Rhode Island, he entered a special government pilot train- shot-up. The aircraft was losing altitude fast. Sundlun and co- ing program on December 8, 1941, and received his pilot’s pilot, 2LT Andrew Boles, struggled to keep Damn Yankee fly- wings. After the war, he finished his education by earning a ing. The Germans made another pass and further shot-up the B.A. degree from Williams and a law degree from Harvard. Sundlun went on to successful law, business and political ca- reers. After retirement from business, he was elected Gover- 1 Above and Beyond is the title of a television documentary about the experi- ences of 1LT Bruce Sundlun after he bailed out of his crippled B-17 over Bel- nor of Rhode Island and served one term, 1991-1995. gium on December 1, 1943. Sundlun remained in the Air Force Reserve after the war, re- tiring as a Major. MAJ Bruce George Sundlun died at Jamestown, Rhode Is- land, at age ninety-one on July 21, 2011. He is buried in Temple Beth El Cemetery in Providence.

Assault on Damn Yankee by Domenic DeNardo

TSGT William Earl Ramsey, the engineer and top turret gunner on Damn Yankee, was born in Garvin County, Okla- MHC memorial to the seven young men of Broken Arrow, who homa, on May 6, 1914. According to Bruce Sundlun in the lost their lives in the Vietnam War, is now complete documentary, Above and Beyond, Ramsey was a farmer. He registered for the draft at Pauls Valley on October 16, 1940. Sometime, probably after the war began, he was drafted or enlisted in the Army Air Force. After Ramsey bailed out over Belgium on December 1, 1943, he was soon captured and eventually sent to Stalag 17B at Braunau Gneikendorf near Krems, Austria. He last ap- peared on USAAF records on July 20, 1945, probably his sepa- ration date. William Earl Ramsey died on September 23, 1959, at age forty-five. We could not find the circumstances of his death at such a young age. He is buried in Green Hill Cemetery in McClain County, Oklahoma.

Museum Hours and Admission Fee

Tuesday – Friday: 10:00 – 4:00; Saturday: 10:00 – 2:00 Closed Sunday and Monday and major Federal holidays

Adults – $5.00 Members and Children under 18 – Free.

New Summer Hours

Beginning on Tuesday, May 28, the MHC will be open un- til 7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Thurs- day, August 29. This will enable people who work during weekdays, and who value their Saturdays for home activi- ties, to visit the MHC. MAJ Jack O’Connor presents a check to MHC Executive Assistant, Jean Bailie. It represents Jack’s commitment to contribute ten per- For more information, call (918) 794-2712 cent of the proceeds of his book, They Touched Our Heroes for the

Last Time, to the MHC. (See MAJ O’Connor’s story in last month’s www.okmhc.org edition of the newsletter.)

A “Fighting Fourth” Marine

Docent Gary Johnson explaining Vietnam War exhibits to members of Asbury United Methodist Church adult Sunday school class tour- ing the MHC on April 5. The class made a donation to purchase

new computers for the MHC’s DAV Service Center. PFC Charles F. Moss – 1945

Charles Frank Moss was born at Independence, Kansas, on June 15, 1924. He enlisted in the Marine Corps and complet- ed basic training at Camp Pendleton, California, in 1943. Af- ter training, he was assigned to the 4th Marine “Fighting Fourth” Division. The Fighting Fourth participated in fighting on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, Saipan and Tinian in the Mariana Islands and on Iwo Jima, where PFC Moss received a Bronze Star. Moss separated from the Marine Corps after the war, but with the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, he re-enlisted. He was assigned to the 11th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine “Old Breed” Division. The 11th Regiment was an artillery regiment, where Moss served as a forward ob- server. Moss finally separated from the Corps as a Sergeant. At some point, Moss relocated to Sand Springs, Oklaho- ma. He was a professional golfer and worked at several pub- lic and private courses in the Tulsa area. He was also a Mason and intensively involved in Masonic and Shriner activities. Docent Michael Tarman explaining the World War II service SGT Charles Frank Moss died at his home in Sand Springs women’s exhibit to the Asbury guests. on January 25, 2011. He is buried in Fort Gibson National Cemetery. The MHC is grateful to his son, Dale, who donated SGT Moss’s World War II and Korean War artifacts.

SGT Moss’s uniform (Vandergriff) jacket Docent Dennis Hoch explaining an Air Force exhibit to Asbury guests.

In Memoriam

a rain storm. All the men survived and were soon reunited on the ground. With the help of local Chinese, they made their way to Chungking, the Chinese wartime capital. Cole remained in China until June 1943. He served in the China-Burma-India Theater from October 1943 to June 1944. He remained in the Air Force after the war and later served in the Korean War. From 1959 to 1662, he served as an Operations Advisor to the Venesuelan Air Force. Cole retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel in 1966. His decorations include three Distinguished Flying Crosses, the first one from the Doolittle raid, a Bronze Star and two Air Medals. LTC Richard Eugene Cole died at San Antonio, Texas, on April

9, 2019, at age 103, the longest lived and last of the Doolittle LTC Richard Eugene Cole – 2014 raiders. A memorial service for LTC Cole was held at Joint Base San Antonio-Randloph on April 18, the seventy-seventh anni- Seventy-seven years ago, on April 18, 1942, USAAF Lt. Colo- versary of the Doollittle raid. He was buried in Arlington nel James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle accomplished something that National Cemetery. had never before been done. He led a force of seventy-nine men, all volunteers, in sixteen B-25B Mitchell medium bombers from the deck of an aircraft carrier, USS Hornet. They were on their way to Japan tasked with bombing specific military and industrial targets in the cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Na- goya and Kobe. Sitting next to LTC Doolittle in the co-pilot’s seat was 1LT Richard Eugene Cole. Cole was born in Dayton, Ohio, on Sep- tember 7, 1915. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an avia- tion cadet on November 22, 1940, at Lubbock, Texas. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and rated as a pilot in July 1941. For the Doolittle raid, Cole was assigned as co-pilot of B- 25 no. 40-2344. Apparently, Doolittle randomly selected that bomber as his.

Memorial service for LTC Richard Eugene Cole at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas

The Doolittle raid had little military effect on Japan, but psy- chologically its effect was enormous. The Japanese were shocked. They had believed their homeland was invulnerable to air attack. The raid caused ADM Isoroku Yamamoto to dust off a plan he had developed months earlier. The updated plan became the Midway operation. It was a complex and auda- cious plan that went terribly wrong for the Japanese. U.S. Navy aircraft sank four Japanese aircraft carriers during the battle. The Doolittle crew: (Front row L. to R.) LTC Doolittle and 1LT Cole The Japanese were so stunned by the loss that they withdrew

their remaining aircraft carriers to the South China Sea and After the bombers dropped their loads on their assigned tar- essentially out of the war until June 1944, when they came out gets, the plan was to fly on to China and land at airfields pre- to challenge the Americans during the Battle of Saipan. selected and ready for them. Because the raiders were discov- Submarines sank two of them and naval aircraft another. Navy ered and had to launch more than 200 miles further away than fliers shot down most of their aircraft, breaking the back of they had planned, fuel became a serious issue. As it happened, Japanese naval air. After only seven months, Midway was the none of the B-25s reached the designated airfields, which had turning point of the war in the Pacific, and it all began with the not been set-up to receive them in any case. Doolittle raid and 1LT Richard Cole and the other raiders. After 2,500 miles and thirteen hours, Doolittle’s aircraft ran out of fuel. The crew bailed somewhere over China at night, in

This Month’s Featured Exhibits

The “World War II in the News” exhibit features a collection of area newspapers printed during World War II and given to the MHC by various donors. The newspaper at the bottom of the second column (left) has a front page article featuring Medal of Honor recipient, LT Ernest Childers of Broken Arrow. He and another Medal of Honor recipient were invited to the White House to meet the President. All the newspapers are original except the one at the bottom right. It’s a Tulsa World fiftieth anniversay reproduction of the June 6, 1944, original.

“Life Goes to War” features a collection of World War II period Life magazines received from multiple donors. The magazine at the bottom of the left column features Medal of Honor recipient, USMC MAJ John Lucian Smith, of Lexington, Oklahoma.

“Lest We Forget”

Temporary memorial marking the site of the tragedy at Slapton Sands – April 28, 1944

Seventy-five years ago, during the night of April 27-28, 1944, British and American forces conducted a live-fire training ex- ercise called Exercise Tiger in preparation for the D-Day landings. Three hundred American vessels transported thousands of men into the to practice a landing on the beaches at Slapton Sands on the southwest coast of England. Ger- man S-boats (The schnellboot [fast boat], called E-boat by the Americans and British, was a large, fast torpedo boat, similar to, but much larger than, the American PT boat.) sighted Convoy T-4, consisting of eight LSTs, carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade and attacked with torpedoes, sinking two and heavily damaging two others. Al- together 442 soldiers and 197 sailors, a total of 639 men, died in the disaster. General Eisenhower ordered a blanket of si- lence over the incident so as not to alert the Germans to the upcoming landings in France. The dead were quietly buried and the wounded isolated in hospitals, although no documentation was allowed. Families were notified only that the men were killed or missing in action. Details of the tragedy remained classified for several years. In the meantime, the Germans were none the wiser.

Freedom is not free.

Freedom’s Voice is the voice of MVA, Inc. dba Military History Center, a 501(C)3 private foundation, as a service to its members and supporters. Contents may be reproduced only when in the best interest of the Military History Center. Please direct comments or suggestions to the Editor at [email protected]. Ken Cook, Editor