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

My Father-in-Law

My Father-in-law, Ronald C. Lawrence, passed away on August 5, 2009 after a short, but brutal battle with kidney cancer. He was 71 years old. Luckily, he was in good health until a few months before his death. He also enjoyed a long retirement after leaving McDonnell Douglas in 1995. Except for a short stint at Emerson Electric, he spent his career as an engineer at McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing after it merger in 1997). He was the consummate Cold Warrior, doing his part to win the Cold War with his intellect and slide rule. In addition to working on the Gemini and Skylab programs, his main work was on the development and deployment of the Harpoon Missile System in South Korea and Denmark. I always thought he would have fit right in with the mission control guys in the space program and I always think of him when I watch Apollo 13. More down to earth, he was good at helping us install ceiling fans and garage doors!

I first met Ron in 1992 when I began dating his youngest daughter. As with most father-in-laws, I was greeted with suspicion and ultimately judged unfit and not good enough for his daughter, but in the end I respected him because he was an extremely good Grandpa to my son and I believe I gained his respect with my dedication to my son. He is sorely missed and I am very sorry that my 9 year old son lost his grandfather he loved so much.

Update Jerry Lynde

Great news! About a month ago, I focused on finding living relatives of Jerry Lynde of the Hetzler Crew and today my efforts paid off! Today I learned from a close family friend that Jerry's sister is still alive and is 86 years old. She was 3 years younger than Jerry. She still lives in Wyoming, not far from where they grew up in Recluse. Luckily, she has letters and photographs, which are going to be copied and sent to me.

I learned a little bit about him today: Right after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jerry was boiling with anger as many Americans were that day. He traveled to Billings the next day and joined the Army Air Corp. His enlistment record shows that he did indeed join the military shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Also, Jerry was a real cowboy. His father owned a ranch and Jerry owned a horse named "Bill". He loved country dancing and all of the girls loved to dance with him. Jessie always wanted to dance with her older brother herself, but because of all of the other girls at the dances she didn't get to and was jealous.

Jimmy Stewart Bomber Pilot

Jimmy Stewart was one of the few Hollywood celebrities to actually serve in a combat role during WWII. He actually had to pull strings to get into combat. He ended up flying 20 missions in B-24 bombers based in East Anglia (an area north of London centered around Norwich). He joined the army a few months before WWII as a Private and by the end of the war he was a full Colonel. I was especially interested in this book because he flew the same type of bomber at about the same time as the Hetzler Crew. Stewart was always an epitome of himself and by all of the accounts in this book, he was pretty much the same man in real life as on screen. Many quoted him as we know him: "Aw shucks fellas" or "just a doggone minute now". Interestingly, his first role in Hollywood after the war was as George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the air war in Europe or in Jimmy Stewart.

Ulysses Tebbs' Gravesite

One of my history research projects that I am working on right now is about a WWI soldier named Ulysses Tebbs. Tebbs was an African American soldier from St. Louis that was a member of the famed 369th Infantry Regiment, The Harlem Hellfighters. A few months ago I wrote the American Battle Monuments Commission and asked for a photo of Tebbs' gravesite. Not only did I receive the photo, but they also sent a poster of the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in which he is buried. I also received photos of the two Hetzler Crew members that are buried in Europe as well. Really cool stuff!

Russell B Jones, Radio Operator

On the banks of Lake Superior in the year 1922, Ed and Ruth Jones of Duluth, Minnesota gave birth to their third son, Russell. Little did his parents know that 21 years later this baby would die in a horrific and terrifying explosion, 21,000 feet above Nazi Germany, when his B-24 bomber was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Russell was the Radio man on the Hetzler Crew. Russell joined the Air Corps in November of 1942 and became part of the Hetzler Crew about a year later when it was formed in Wendover, Utah. I don't know that I will find any of Russell's siblings unless his parents had additional children after the 1930 census. His two older brothers, Vincent and Wallace, would be about 91 and 88 years old if still living. Russell is buried here in St. Louis at Jefferson Barracks along with 5 of his crew mates, so he is most likely one of the men that went down with the plane.

According to the census of 1920 and 1930, Russell's father was a drayman, which I guess is an old fashioned name for a truck driver, but maybe they meant driving a wagon pulled by horses, I'm not sure. Typical for the upper mid-west, Russell was of Scandinavian heritage. 3 of his grandparents were from Sweden. According to his enlistment record Russell was 5'11" tall and weighed 135 lbs. His army serial number was 17156534. As with all of the men of the Hetzler Crew, I hope that he lived life to its fullest and experienced the best that life had to offer in his short life.

If you are a relative, friend or have any information about Russell B. Jones, please contact me: kirbhund at scglobal.net

S SGT Richard B. Clark, Big Fork, Montana

Staff Sergeant Richard Benjamin Clark of Big Fork, Montana was the B-24 waist gunner on the Hetzler Crew that was shot down over Germany on March 23, 1944. I have just begun doing a little serious research on Clark. I am researching all 10 members of the Hetzler Crew. I am doing a series of presentations in each of the men's hometowns. I am also writing a book about the crew and my odyssey to learn more about their lives. Of the 10 crew members, only Richard Clark and Donald Davis are still buried in Europe. Clark is buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium. His parents, Don and Nellie Clark moved to Montana by way of Nebraska and Kansas. By 1930, according to the census, they had 6 children: Effie, Vera, Richard, Verne, Wanda and then James. Of course, they may have had more children after 1930. I am currently searching for his siblings. I have a few promising leads so far. The census list Clark as 12 years old in 1930, which would have made him about 25/26 at the time of his death. He was one of the older crew members, along with the pilot and co-pilot. For the air war in Europe, these guys were considered an older crew, with their ages ranging from 21-27. It was quite normal for the pilots to be about 21 and the crew to be even younger. Richard Clark's serial number was 19019740. I list this as an additional way that search engines can find my blog and hopefully family members and others can find me.

If you are a relative, friend or have any information about Richard B. Clark, please contact me: kirbhund at sbcglobal.net