Kenneth A. Brett

Flight Officer Ken Brett was the Co-Pilot of the Harold Hetzler crew that was shot down in their B-24 over Nazi Germany. Brett was the oldest crew member at 26 and was killed just a few weeks before his 27th birthday. There is actually an elementary school named after Brett in his home town (Tamworth, New Hampshire). Also, I am lucky to have copies of 3 letters that Brett sent to his friends back home during flight training. He wrote of worrying about getting his wings, wishing the war were already over and hoping to see some horse races! As with all of the other Hetzler crew members he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal posthumously.

If you are a relative, friend or have any information about Kenneth A. Brett, please contact me: kirbhund at sbcglobal.net

Robert S. Lambert

Flight Officer Robert Soule Lambert was the Bombardier on the Hetzler Crew which was shot down by flak near Alverskirchen, Germany on March 23, 1944. Lambert is an intriguing figure. He is the only crew member, as far as I know, to have a child: Wayne Robert Lambert, born June 11, 1944. His son was born almost 3 months after his death. I have tried to find/contact his son, but so far I have had no luck. He was also the only crew member that I know for sure was married. The only other crew member that might have been married was the pilot, Flight Officer Harold Hetzler, but by most accounts that marriage had been annulled. This particular obituary has a lot of information and avenues which should help me put his life together.

If you are a relative, friend or have any information about Robert S. Lambert, please contact me: kirbhund at sbcglobal.net

Arthur S. Lawrence

Guest Entry: Today, I invited my wife Suzanne to blog about her grandfather.

Today when we visited my parents I found out that my dad’s father, my Grandpa Lawrence, was in the army in the 1930’s. Though my dad swore I knew this already, I don’t remember ever having been told this. Regardless, it came as a surprise to me to find out that he served in Hawaii for some of that time. My surprise came from the fact that a couple years ago I read From Here to Eternity by James Jones, the book that the famous movie was based on. Contained in that book are descriptions, often very explicit, about the life of a common infantry soldier in Hawaii before the outbreak of WWII. I didn’t know at the time that I was reading about my grandpa!
Before the war, the lot of the soldier was especially harsh. Many of the men that enlisted, including my grandpa, were desperate for food, shelter, & clothes. The army gave them all that, but in return it exacted a harsh price—brutal beatings, harsh punishments, & complete obedience. Obviously, my grandpa made it through to meet & marry my grandma & live the American Dream, complete with building a business from the ground up & watching it flourish. But knowing this now, & knowing what it entails, I feel as though I know my grandpa like I never would have been able to when he was alive.

Jimmie K. Adkins

Jimmie K. Adkins was the ball turret gunner on the Hetzler Crew that was lost over Germany on March 23, 1944. I am doing a lot of research on these 10 guys and I am going to make a blog entry about each one of them over the course of this summer. I believe that Adkins was the youngest member of this crew, having just turned 21 in January. He is also one of the 4 members of the crew that is not buried together at Jefferson Barracks. His remains are actually buried in his hometown: Hoisington, KS. After I complete much of my work on Donald Davis, I will probably focus on Adkins since he is the next closest to me geographically and he, like the pilot, is another fellow Kansan. I found this obituary in his hometown newspaper which I had requested last winter from the Kansas State Historical Society, which is a top notch resource for this type of research.

If you are a relative, friend or have any information about Jimmie K. Adkins, please contact me: kirbhund at sbcglobal.net

Museum of Transportation

On Father's Day, we visited the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis County. They were having their annual car show. I was especially interested in this old C-47 that is on permanent display at the museum. It was built in 1944, participated in D-Day and was an airliner for awhile before being drafted back into military service. The plane carried Harry S. Truman as a passenger at least twice and is now in retirement here at the museum. Teddy enjoyed the museum and the car show and really liked the old tugboat on which we are standing.

Skip Berger

Thursday morning, I had breakfast with local veterans Skip Berger and Alfred Katzenberger. Berger was instrumental in rescuing the WWI bronze medallions (see photo for examples) from being locked away perpetually in storage. Katzenberger is a member of the Jefferson Barracks Chapel Association, a group that is working to establish a permanent display at the chapel for the medallions. I had planned to take pictures of the event, but I forgot my camera. Luckily, Mary Morgan, a reporter for the Java Journal, was kind enough to allow me to use her photo for this entry. She wrote a couple of excellent articles that tell the story of Berger's quest to honor these veterans:
http://www.javajournalonline.com/archive_200805/index_8.php
http://www.javajournalonline.com/articles/art_ww1_112008.php
Of course, the men and women represented on these medallions died a long time ago and nothing will change that, but they risk being forgotten. Essentially, Berger and others have rescued the memory of these people. As Berger put it: "These men deserve to be remembered". I never would have researched Ulysses Tebbs, if I hadn't been inspired by his medallion. Many of the medallions, including Tebbs', are currently on display at Jefferson Barracks (Old Ordnance Room). Also, Berger and his group have a great website http://www.stl-lestweforget.org/ that details their mission and how to donate to the memorial fund.

Colonel William Hayward and the Victory Parade

The Harlem Hellfighters were commanded by a white officer: Colonel William Hayward. When they left for Europe, the 369th was not allowed to participate in the farewell parade. Upon their return, the heroes were honored with this parade in New York City. According the the National Archives: "Colonel Hayward pulled every political string he could to assure his men would be rewarded with a victory parade when they came home in February 1919." In all 380,000 African Americans served in the Army during WWI, 200,000 were sent to Europe and 42,000 of those men saw combat (source: National Archives and Photo also courtesy of the National Archives).

Purple Heart Update: Today, I emailed Senator Bond's office about the Purple Heart, I am trying to have awarded to Tebbs posthumously. Maybe, we will have some luck with his office. Now Congressman Carnahan's office told me that they would only help if I were a direct relative. I am still confident that Private Tebbs will get the medal he deserves. Our plan is to have the medal permanently displayed at the Jefferson Barracks History Museum when it is finally awarded.

Hetzler Crew

Here is the Harold Hetzler Crew that was killed in action over Germany on March 23, 1944. I do a lot of research on this particular crew. From the top left is: SSGT Donald E. Davis-Tail gunner (Anna, IL), SSGT Jimmie K. Adkins-Ball Turret Gunner (Hoisington, KS), SSGT Russell B. Jones-Radio Operator (Duluth, MN), TSGT William C. Depuy-Engineer/Top Turret Gunner (Buffalo, NY), SSGT Richard B. Clark-Waist Gunner (Big Fork, MT), SSGT Howard W. Lynde "Jerry"-Nose Gunner (Recluse, WY); From the front left kneeling: Flight Officer Charles W. Callahan-Navigator (Brooklyn), Flight Officer Kenneth A. Brett-Co-pilot (Carroll County, New Hampshire), Flight Officer Harold W. Hetzler-Pilot (Onaga, KS), Flight Officer Robert S. Lambert-Bombardier (Quincy, WA). These men were in the 752nd Squadron of the 458th Bombardment Group.

Photo: Courtesy of the AFHRA and Darin Scorza

Donald E. Davis

Donald E. Davis was the tail gunner on the Hetzler B-24 Crew that was shot down over Germany on March 23, 1944. I was lucky enough to meet with his younger brother, his niece and his nephew this afternoon in southern Illinois. They graciously shared pictures, letters and memories with me, a complete stranger. Pat Meller of the Union County Historical Society helped me find the family and set up the meeting. I am hoping to collect more information, write an article and give a talk about him, much the way I did for Harold Hetzler in his hometown. Of course, ultimately, I would like to write a book about all 10 members of the crew and my journey to learn what I could about these men 65 years after they lost their lives. So many historians focus on the "great" men of history. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but I like to focus on the common people, which it turns out, usually aren't common at all. They were heroic, humorous, adventurous and loved life. Surely they have as much to teach us as the presidents and generals.

If you are a relative, friend or have any information about Donald E. Davis, please contact me: kirbhund at sbcglobal.net

The Black Rattlers

Here is a monument to the 369th in New York City. It is a replica of one in France. On the marker that you can see on the lower right, it notes that the 369th fought as part of the Fourth French Army and that they "showed exceptional bravery" liberating Sechault on September the 29th, 1918. It also notes that "a third of the regiment suffered casualties" on that day, which includes Ulysses Tebbs. Note the crest with the rattlesnake insignia near the top of the monument. In addition to being known as the "Harlem Hellfighters" they were also known as the "Black Rattlers".

Piece of Cake

Last night we finished watching this 6 part mini-series. It was released in 1988 and was based on the novel by Derek Robinson. The film follows a group of RAF pilots from the beginning of WWII when they were based in France through the Battle of Britain. The best part of the film was the flight footage. They used real Spitfires and ME-109's and it was poetry in motion just to watch the Spits land or watching them retract their landing gear after take-off. My only criticism of the film was that there really didn't seem to be a point, other than these brave fighter pilots were just human with good, and in the case of this film, many bad points.

Harold Hetzler

Recently, I sent a German translation of my article about Harold Hetzler to a small newspaper near Alverskirchen, Germany and I am happy to announce that I am now published in Germany! Flight Officer Hetzler and his crew were shot down over Alverskirchen on March 23, 1944 and for a time were buried in the village's cemetery. The editor of the newspaper said there was a lot of interest in the story among the locals, so hopefully it will be published. It has been published twice so far in American newspapers. In recent years and months I have been doing a lot of public speaking about Harold and his crew. I am currently writing a book about the crew as well.



If you are a relative, friend or have any information about Harold W. Hetzler, please contact me: kirbhund@sbcglobal.net