DECEMBER 2018 SOMEWHERE IN THE USA 2018 Bomb Group Reunion History of Crew 49 Our 2018 Reunion By will be found to contain the true was held in Day- Robert M. Sanders facts and incidents of the crew ton, Ohio, Thurs- Bombardier from the time of its formation un- day, September 13, Mowery crew #49 til such time as it becomes dis- 2018 through Sun- 766th Squadron, solved. day, September 16, 461st Bombardment Group (H) 2018. Our reunion It all began in September 1943 home was the Submitted by when the individual members Crowne Plaza Ho- Julie Robinson were ordered to the Army Air tel, which provided Base at Mountain Home, Idaho. complimentary air- P R E F A C E At this base, the individual mem- port shuttle and ar- bers were assigned to the 470th ea destinations On the following pages, will be found the more or less “crew his- within five miles of (Continued on page 8) the hotel. tory” of crew number 49. This Some of our reun- ion committee Service and Sacrifice (Continued on page 4) by Budapest, Hungary during a Inside this issue: Julie Robinson bombing mission on April 13, History of Crew 49 1 1944. When I was young, I spent Part I- The Box of Letters hours searching for photos and Service & Sacrifice 1 sifting through old papers for in- My Uncle, 2nd Lieutenant George 2018 Reunion 1 formation about him. I ques- Lenon Owens, Jr. was a co-pilot tioned my parents and grandpar- Back to Torretta 24 in the Fifteenth Army Air Force, ents about his service and death, 461st Bomb Group, 766th Bomb Torretta Airfield 28 but they would quickly change Squadron during World War II. the subject. I knew that his death Organizational Re- 29 He was a member of Crew 49 lationships had deeply affected them, but I flying a Ford built B-24 Libera- didn’t fully understand the depths President’s Corner 31 tor, RC #49, nicknamed the of their grief until the day much Webmaster Com- “Spirit of Hollywood/Gloria 32 later when I discovered the let- ments Jean”. His plane went down near (Continued on page 18) PAGE 2 THE 461ST LIBERAIDER Taps May they rest in peace forever Please forward all death notices to: Hughes Glantzberg P.O. Box 926 Gunnison, CO 81230 [email protected] 764th Squadron Name Hometown MOS DOD Inskeep, Warren E. Salina, KS 1092 10/14/15 Baril, Donald J. Edgarton, MA 612 02/18/18 Grebe, LeRoy Bellville, TX 748 Lee, Robert E. Woodside, NY 612 10/13/16 Bell, Frank W. Jr. Palm City, FL 1092 08/31/18 765th Squadron Name Hometown MOS DOD Mueller, Robert R. New Berlin, WI 1092 03/08/14 Procopio, Frank J. Pittsfield, MA 748 06/24/18 766th Squadron Name Hometown MOS DOD Glushko, Wasil Dayton, OH 1034 03/19/18 Schaper, David D. Ballwin, MO 612 06/23/18 Watson, Harold J. Crest Hill, IL 1092 03/18/18 767th Squadron Name Hometown MOS DOD Hansen, Lamar D. Ogden, UT 757 02/19/17 Henspeter, Marlo R. Twin Falls, ID 612 08/08/18 Johansson, Hjalmar O. Montville, NJ 612 06/30/18 McQuade, Francis A. Alhamdra, CA 1092 Smyth, Frederick C. Antonito, CO 1034 04/10/17 Steinberg, Dave S. Thousand Oaks, CA 1092 01/28/14 Swinehart, Robert G. Mason, OH 1092 08/27/15 THE 461ST LIBERAIDER PAGE 3 With a special interest in World War II and the 461st Bombardment Group in particular, I found this book excellent. Most of the men who fought during WWII were in their late teens and early 20s. It's amazing to be able to read about their activities. Liberaider Editor Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris (at a 15% discount) (http://www2.xlibris.com/ bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=11013 ). Al Ataque History / General Trade Paperback Trade Hardcopy Publication Date: Nov-2006 Publication Date: Nov-2006 Price: $26.95 Price: $36.95 Size: 6 x 9 Size: 6 x 9 Author: Hughes Glantzberg Author: Hughes Glantzberg ISBN: 0-595-41572-5 ISBN: 0-595-86486-4 413 Pages On Demand Printing Available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Ingram Book Group, Baker & Taylor, and from iUniverse, Inc To order call 1-800-AUTHORS Al Ataque is an excellent book that describes the preparation a bomb group goes through before being deployed overseas as well as the problems of shipping over five thousand men and supplies along with some eighty B-24 aircraft from a stateside base to a foreign country. The book details the establishment of Torretta Field which was used by the 461st for the du- ration of the war in Europe. The 461st Bomb Group flew two hundred and twenty-three combat missions between April 1944 and April 1945. Each of these is described in the book. Personal experiences of veterans who were actually part of the 461st are also included. Music Bravely Ringing by Martin A. Rush 767th Squadron This is the story of a small town boy who, during WWII, wandered onto the conveyor belt that turned civilians into bomber pilots. Initially awed and intimidated at the world out- side his home town, he began to realize that this was an opportunity to have a hand in stimulating and challenging dealings larger than he had expected. He had a few near- misses, but gradually began to get the hang of it. His story is that like the thousands of young men who were tossed into the maelstrom of war in the skies. He was one of the ones who was lucky enough to live through it. This book is at the publisher now and should be available early in 2008. PAGE 4 THE 461ST LIBERAIDER th th st th th th (Continued from page 1) 455 , 460 , 461 , 464 , 465 , 484 , and members arrived, Tuesday, September 11, 485th. Wow! and our numbers increased by the hour. Our hospitality rooms were located on the second As the day progressed, more and more WWII floor of the hotel with plenty of room for all. memorabilia was displayed in our hospitality rooms to reminisce or teach another genera- tion about life in Italy during 1943-1945. As luck would have it, Gerald Weinstein, the son of Seymour S. Weinstein the Group Photo- graphic Officer, 485th BG (Heavy) displayed a room full of black and white photographs mounted on poster boards and easels depict- ing rural Italy during the war years. These wonderful time period photographs spilled out into the adjoining hallways and into the hotel lobby. The 461st Business meeting was held at 4:00 Crowne Plaza Dayton Hotel PM and adjourned at 4:50 PM. We concluded Wednesday, keeping with tradition, the just in time to join the rest of our guest in the snacks and beverages were purchased and the hotel’s ballroom to enjoy a welcome recep- rooms were set up for the hospitality revel- tion that featured assorted cheeses, fresh ries. Dinner was on your own, with many fruit, and vegetable trays with dip, coffee and great places to explore within walking dis- fruit punch sponsored by the Crowne Plaza tance from the hotel. For those who did not Hotel as a thank you to our vets! wish to venture off site, the hotel had a res- taurant on the 12th floor with panoramic At 7:00 PM we transitioned over to our infor- views of the city. A great place to enjoy a re- mal informational meeting where all the laxing dinner and watch the sun set. bomb groups in attendance were recognized; the Reunion Planning Committee, and the st Thursday, the weather was improving as Hur- 461 Board of Directors were acknowledged, ricane Gordon had disrupted some travel overview of the scheduled events for the plans, though Hurricane Florence was still a weekend. The highlight of this meeting was a st concern. Despite the two hurricanes there presentation by Hughes Glantzberg, 461 BG was a steady stream of check-ins at the regis- Association President, of some beautiful tration desk and the hotel lobby was hum- commemorative coins. Hughes presented ming, and not from a vacuum cleaner, but about 100 coins to anyone who has contribut- from the excitement of old friends re- ed to preserving or furthering the history of st connecting and new introductions. the 461 Bomb Group. At the conclusion of the informal meeting, the group dispersed Leaving the registration area, the next stop throughout the hotel, some to the hotel bar, was the second floor where you were wel- some in the hotel lobby, and some to the hos- comed by team greeters at the reunion packet pitality room. We had once again taken over a welcome table. This year we were blessed hotel for a weekend. Late check-ins, conver- with bomb groups from the 98th, 376th, 451st, (Continued on page 5) THE 461ST LIBERAIDER PAGE 5 (Continued from page 4) There was a large wreath which represented sations, and storytelling was in full swing. the combined efforts of our bomb groups that Such stamina. worked together within the Fifteenth Air Force to secure victory over the Axis powers Friday morning, outside the ballroom, the during WWII. The wreath had a section rep- breakfast buffet was established to feed near- resenting each of the bomb groups at the re- ly 300 hungry souls some scrabble eggs, ba- union. The individual group members took con, hash browns, biscuits, gravy, and a cup their part of the wreath to their respective of hot Joe. At 8:00 AM we departed the hotel marker in the Memorial Gardens outside the for a short drive to National Museum of the museum to pay their respects.