Flight Officer Charles W. Callahan

Flight Officer Charles W. Callahan was the Navigator on the Hetzler Crew that was shot down in a B-24 Liberator over Germany on March 23, 1944. Callahan was from Brooklyn and one of his duties was to use the interphone and report headings to the Pilot and Co-Pilot from his Navigator's desk. I can imagine that Callahan's "brooklynese" would have provided character, romance and in a tense combat situation a certain level of confidence to the crew. I like to think they called him "Brooklyn". Callahan was the youngest officer on board at just 21 years of age. His father, John Callahan, was a proud Irish fireman. Both of his parents were from Ireland, or the Free State of Ireland as he put on the Census in 1930. His mother, Mamie Callahan, was also the daughter of immigrants and ironically, both of her parents were from Germany. In 1930 the census list that he had two siblings: John, who was one year older and Dorothy who was 3. He apparently had a younger sibling born after the census. On his World War II Honoree certificate for the WWII Memorial he is honored by Ms. Joan Callahan, Sister. It is possible that all 3 of these siblings are still living. We are having a difficult time finding family members so far and searching in big area like Brooklyn adds to the challenge, but we will get it done...these men seem to want their story told and I have pledged to do my best to tell that story and honor their memory.

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