Forty-Five Years Ago, Our Freedom Was on the Line. on the Front Line
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1 Vol. 28, No. 2 SECOND AIR DIVISION ASSOCIATION Summer 1989 To help with the restoration, send your tax-deductible donation to: Collings Foundation, Box 248, Stow, MA 01775. Forty-five years ago, our freedom was on the line. On the front line. And on the production line. Because in Europe and the Pacific, America's fighting forces needed a new, longer-range heavy bomber. And on our assembly lines in Ft. Worth and San Diego, and on others across the country, America's working forces responded. At peak production in Ft. Worth, more than 30,000 workers, toiling around the clock, were building a new B-24 every four hours. Now we are helping to build one more. By making a grant to help 'restore one of our original B-24s to its original condition. Soon a B-24 Liberator, which first flew in the Pacific, will fly again, this time in air shows around the USA. Not as a symbol of American military might. Or of American GENERAL DYNAMICS manufacturing muscle. But of the American spirit which makes them A Strong Company For A Strong Country both possible. Second Air Division Association Eighth Air Force President's Message OFFICERS President C N (Bud)CHAMBERLAIN To The "Last Man" ?!? 769 Via Somonte, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274 by C.N. (Bud) Chamberlain Executive Vice President FRANCIS DiMOLA 390 Madison Avenue, New Milford, NJ 07646 Repeatedly, the point has been made that the 2ADA is Vice President determined to remain a "last man" organization. Thus it Membership EVELYN COHEN has been, is and shall be. There are at least three good Apt. 06-410 Delaire Landing Road Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19114 reasons for this. (1) Our bylaws purposely restrict regular Vice President (voting) membership to fixed classifications of people; Journal WILLIAM G. ROBERTIE namely, those who served with the 2AD, 8th AF, or P.O. Box 627, Ipswich, Mass. 01938 attached units during WWII in England. (2) We wish to Treasurer DEAN MOYER avoid diluting our membership with those not sharing the 549 East Main St., Evans City, Pa 16033 Secretary DAVID G. PATTERSON same identity. (3) Our living Memorial in England, which 28 Squire Court, Alamo, Calif. 94507 honors our fallen 2AD comrades, was established American Representative Board of Governors JORDAN UTTAL through our largesse to their perpetual memory. Rest assured, your leadership is accutely 7824 Meadow Park Drive, Apt. 101, Dallas, Texas 75230 sensitive to the need to preserve the "last man" status and has done so. DODD In spite of this, there have been frequent expressions of concern that the "last man" concept GROUP VICE PRESIDENTS may be eroding. The latest example is a letter to Evelyn Cohen from Jim Coffey published in Headquarters RAYMOND E. STRONG 320 Burlage Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 the Spring Journal. In his letter, Jim states that he is "...not going to encourage any member of 44th BG H C (Pete) HENRY his family to join" the Heritage League. He likes the idea that ours is a "last man" organiza- 164B Portland Lane, Jamesburg, NJ 08831 tion. Jim has somehow concluded that the Heritage League negates our 2ADA "last man" 93rd BG FLOYD MABEE staius. Emphatically not so! Unless he means that when the last of us is gone, we should erase 28 Hillside Ave., Dover, NJ 07801 the memory of our existence altogether. But, accepting that interpretation, in a sense, would 389th BG LLOYD E. WEST Box 256, Rush Center, KS 67575 mean our Memorial is for us alone rather than for those it honors and the generations to come. 392nd BG JOHN B. CONRAD I would hope this is not his belief. 2981 Four Pines, at Lexington. KY 40502 The role intended for the Heritage League is to prolong as long as possible the favorable 445th BG CHARLES L. WALKER impact of that Memorial. It is not intended to replace the 2ADA, but to extend its good works. 1530 S. Pomona B-32, Fullerton, CA 92632 Certainly, the Memorial Trust Governors in England under the British Charities Commission 446th WILLIAM F. DAVENPORT 13382 Wheeler Place, Santa Ana, CA 92705 will care for the Memorial in perpetuity. But, its full effectiveness can best be expressed with a 448th BG LT. COL. LEROY J. ENGDAHL,(Ret.) balanced living American and British outreach. What better source for the American view, 1785 Wexford Dr., Vidor, TX 77662 after we have left the scene, than heirs of the 2AD on this side of the Atlantic. Additionally, the 453rd BG MILTON R. STOKES younger League will provide a vehicle to help us get together in those last few years before the P.O. Box 64, Westtown, PA 19395 last of us makes his or her last flight. 458th BG E A ROKICKI wind up its affairs as that 365 Mae Rd., Glen Burnie, MD 21061 The Heritage League as a 2ADA auxiliary may have to entity one 466th BG ELWOOD NOTHSTEIN day. We are researching that scenario now. But if it does, it likely will not be prior to another 40 Meadow Dr., Spencerport, NY 14559 decade. By then, there will be an established body of interest to form a similar entity and carry 467th BG G "JEFF- GREGORY on. So, to all of the Jim Coffeys out there who may be discouraging family members from 3110 Sheridan Dr., Garland, TX 75041 joining the League, I ask you to reconsider. Encourage their participation. It has to be a 489th BG JAMES DAVIS perpetuation 2519 Shell, Midland, TX 79705 positive force for the long term good of our Association and of its works after 491st BG PATRICK J. PERRY our "last man" has gone and the 2ADA is no more. 3066 Pleasant Hill, Maumee, OH 43537 492nd BG E W CLAREY 2015 Victoria Court, Los Altos, Calif. 94022 HERITAGE LEAGUE President MRS. KURT (VICKI) WARNING Table of Contents 2736A N. Dayton, Chicago, IL 60614 President's Message Low Level Mission of 24 March 1945 Bud Chamberlain 2 Paul Homan 6 JOURNAL Editor WILLIAM G. ROBERTIE Vice President's Message December 24, 1944 P.O. Box 627, Ipswich, Mass. 01938 4 Ralph H. Elliott 9 _ Frank DiMola About the Memorial Bail Out! DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS Jordan Vital 5 Wilbur Stites 10 FREDERICK MEYER 106 Nottoway Drive, Penllyn, PA 19422 Folded Wings 9 2nd ADA Executive Committee DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES The PX Page 21 Fred Meyer 14 PATTERSON DAVID G. A Quick "How To" Guide 29 Beware of Booby-Trapped Toilets! 28 Squire Court, Alamo, Calif. 94507 Herb Lambert 14 Letters 31 Friends of the 2nd AD Memorial BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEMORIAL GROUP REPORTS Geoffrey Goreham 16 Chairman THOMAS C. EATON, Division Headquarters, Ray Strong 22 Liberators of the 8th Air Force 3 Upper King Street, Norwich. Norfolk, England Paul G. Tardiff 18 PAUL R. KING, Vice Chairman 44th News, Pete Henry 20 So. Cal. Members Return to El Toro Noverre House, Norwich NR2 RH, England Open Letter to the 93rd, Floyd Mabee 8 J. Fred Thomas 19 MRS. MICHAEL BARNE Notes from the 389th, Lloyd West 17 Crowfoots, Sotterley Beccle, Suffolk NR34 7T2 Help Build a Memorial to CDR. MARK EDMONSTONE CHEYNE 392nd Bomb Group, John Conrad 4 American Heroines 23 Ditchingham Lodge The 445th Reporting, Chuck Walker 12 Ditchingham, Bungay, Suffolk, England Memories of the Founding of 2ADA 23 ROGER A. FREEMAN 446th Bungay Bull, Bill Davenport 24 Henry X. Dietch May's Barn. Dedham, Nr. Colchester, Essex. England C076EW The 448th Speaks, Leroy Engdahl 17 An Ode to P-38's 23 FRANK W. GADBOIS 453rd Bunchered Buddies of Old Buck Green, White & Yellow Research Dept. of the A.F. Charlie Freudenthal 25 RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk. England Milt Stokes 13 DAVID J. HASTINGS 458th Bomb Group, Rick Rokicki 3 Dear 448th Buddy "Westering," Salhouse, NR, Norwich, Norfolk, NR136RO, England 466th Bomb Group, E. W. Nothstein 27 George DuPont 26 ALFRED A. JENNER Poop from Group 467, Jeff Gregory 15 Do Not Loop a B-24 - Never! 15 Ransom Rd., Norwich, Norfolk NR 14AJ E.J. Allen 27 DR. RONALD D. CLIFTON 489th Bomb Group, James Davis 22 B-24 Bashing 28 24 Grosvenor Sq., London, WIA IAE, England Missives from the 492nd, Bill Clarey 15 TEMPERLEY Tupelo Lass PROFESSOR HOWARD Heritage League, Vicki Warning 24 School of English and American Studies Amos L. Golisch 29 University of East Anglia, Earlham, Norwich, Englanc• Videotapes for the Library JORDAN UTTAL & POEMS 7824 Meadow Park Drive, Apt. 101 ARTICLES Howard R. Morton 30 Dallas, Texas 75230 489th Bomb Group Over St. Lo Some Suggestions from a Member LT. COL. W.D. WUEST James M. Davis 5 Howard R. Morton 30 14 St. Andrews Close. Hingham, Norfolk NR9 4JT MRS. FRANCES DAVIES 57 Church Lane, Eaton, Norwich NR4 6NY 2 SQUADRON PATCHES: Judging by the mail I received regarding both the Squadron patches and another 458th Group Reunion, I 458th would judge that there is a definite desire for each. The "jury is still out" as far as to who will do the job and just when we can get them done, but many of our members have sent cost estimates. However, Bomb the more I explore costs, I find that you will get what you pay for, and the difference between a "low-ball" estimate with 5007o Group embroidery and a 10007o embroidered patch can be quite a lot. I planned to use the photos I took (Summer '88 Journal), but it might be necessary to again request an actual patch from our by Rick Rokicki members. If that is the case, you will be advised.