One of my Kids...

A sad day for me today. I saw in the newspaper yesterday that Sgt. Chris Cooper died in Iraq while serving in the Army. He was one of my original students in German I, back when I was a first year teacher. I have lost students before, but this was the first one to be lost while in service to his country. Amazingly, before joining the Army, Chris had served 5 years in the Marines and had already served one tour of duty in Iraq. The obituary said he absolutely loved the military and that he was known for random acts of kindness such as "dropping a twenty-dollar bill in the lap of the homeless to picking up tattered American Flags that littered the streets after September 11th." Many friends and brothers from the Army and Marines left messages on his obituary site in the paper such as the following:

To the family of SGT. Christopher Cooper. All of Bravo Company 2-28 wishes to extend our sincere condolences on the loss of your son and our brother in arms. He was a great Soldier and leader and will be missed greatly.

Chris did well in life despite my novice skills as a teacher that first year...I just wish he knew how proud I am of him.

Giant City State Park

Last weekend we spent the night in a cabin at Giant City State Park Lodge in southern Illinois. Teddy didn't want to go and was anxious about the trip. We explained that it was a short trip and told him exactly what to expect. We've learned that he has a lot of anxiety about the unknown and it helps to go over everything in advance and paint a visual picture for him.

Like we hoped, he really loved the little cabin, the trails, climbing the water tower and he especially liked playing checkers in the "living rooms" at the lodge.

On an historical note, the lodge and cabins were built by the CCC in the 1930's by Company # 696. The lodge restaurant (or cafeteria, as Teddy called it) has an old photo of the Company (about 200 young men) that built it.

We had a great weekend here, it is a short drive from St. Louis and Teddy is ready to go back next year!

2 down 8 to go!

Last Saturday, I presented a slide-show presentation about Staff Sergeant Donald E. Davis, Tail-Gunner on the Hetzler Crew, in his hometown of Anna, IL. We had a really wonderful weekend and a fantastic trip. This is the 2nd crew member that I have spoken about in their hometown. We have decided to take our vacations for the next few years to all of the hometowns of the Hetzler Crew, so we have 2 down and 8 to go!
My talk was presented at the VFW's Carroll P. Foster Post No. 3455 in Anna and it was sponsored by the Union County Historical and Genealogy Society. There were about 60 people in attendance including Donald's younger brother William Davis (pictured with me) and several of Donald's nieces and nephews. A bus also dropped off a group of men from the local Veteran's home. It was a dream come true, to meet people who knew Donald and to be able to honor his memory in his hometown. A local newspaper reporter was in attendance and I made the local TV news that evening!

We took this opportunity to make this trip a little vacation and we stayed at Giant City State Park, which is only a few miles from Anna and had a great time there...more on that in the next entry. Now, all of our talk is where to go next, we have family contacts with two more crew members, one in Wyoming and the other in Buffalo, so our choice is Yellowstone or Niagara Falls! Not a bad choice, Teddy will love either one!

Inferno: The Fiery Destruction of Hamburg

Written by the British Author Keith Lowe, Inferno is, quite simply, one of the best history books that I have ever read. In the Summer of 1943, RAF and USAAF bombers dropped 9,000 tons of bombs on Hamburg in the course of 10 days. In one raid alone, the RAF sent 792 bombers over Hamburg. Because of the blend of incendiary bombs, the architectural make-up of Hamburg and the meteorological conditions on that particular night a fire Hurricane, complete with lightening was created. Many cities, such as Dresden and even Hamburg on a previous raid, had experienced firestorms, but this "was in a whole different league. The winds reached speeds of at least 120 mph and in some places as high as 170 mph." The victims trying to flee the flames, also had to fight the winds because the winds were blowing in the direction of the fire to feed the flames. The heat in some areas climbed to an incredible 800 degrees Celsius!

The horror experienced on the ground is well documented in this book and Keith Lowe has a real talent for bringing the past to life. One horrific scene that was seared into my memory was of one mother who evacuated the city to Bavaria with the corpse of her child: The woman had dropped her suitcase and its contents were spread "across the platform, among the toys, manicure case and singed underwear was 'the roasted corpse of a child, shrunk like a mummy, which its half-deranged mother has been carrying about with her, the relic of a past that was still intact a few days ago.'" In the end about 44,000 people lost their lives in these raids.

Lowe tells both sides of the story very well. He also describes the bravery and horrors that were experienced by the men that flew the bombers. Of course, I read a lot about the USAAF in England, but until I read this book, I didn't have much knowledge of the RAF's Bomber Command and the various aircraft they flew, such as the Short Stirling, which he describes in British fashion as a "gentleman's aircraft". Lowe treats the experience of both sides with historic fairness.

Even though Lowe is usually a novelist, he writes history so well, that I recommend this book to everyone, even to those who don't normally read history.

The Harold Hetzler Crew

In the course of my research, I was sent a new photo that means a lot me and certainly will mean a lot to the family members of the Hetzler Crew. This photo was graciously sent to me by one of S SGT Donald Davis' nephews. I believe this photo was taken near the end of October, 1943 in Elko, NV. The whole crew had a 6 day leave and really enjoyed themselves; "tore up the town" as they themselves put it. Since they were shot down and killed in action only a few months later, I am always happy to see that they had a good time in their short lives. The officers and enlisted men in this crew are obviously very close and disregarded the protocol that mandated that officers and enlisted men were not allowed to fraternize. I am sure that Harold and the other officers were in charge in the air, but on the ground, they were equals. This may have its roots in the fact that Harold was an enlisted man for 3 years before being promoted to Flight Officer. I believe he understood his men, showed them respect and knew how to create Esprit de Corps. This is a skill that many leaders don't seem to understand anymore, but in this circumstance, it was a matter of life and death to get the best from your men.

If you are a relative, friend or have any information about any of these men, please contact me: kirbhund at sbcglobal.net

The Sigmond Hons Crew

Today, I received parts of a B-24 Liberator Bomber in the mail! These parts are from a B-24 that crashed on November 16, 1943 in the desert near Tonopah, Nevada. The men on board this ship were in the same squadron as the Hetzler Crew. Donald Davis, the Tail Gunner on the Hetzler Crew wrote home about this crash:

Did you read in the paper about the plane that crashed here? They were in our flight. Their crew played our crew a football game while we were waiting for the ships to be gassed and oiled. They took off 2 planes ahead of us. They got about 200 ft. in the air and went right straight down. One of the guys had a cold, so the doctors wouldn't let him go up. 8 of them got killed and the other one got hurt pretty bad but is going to live. Boy that is awful isn't it.


I wrote Allen Metscher of the Central Nevada Museum to get more information about this crash. Mr. Metscher has placed 17 markers to memorialize fatal crash sites near what was Tonopah Army Air Field. This work is known as the Tonopah Army Air Field (TAAF) Project. He said that when he placed the marker at this site 20 years ago, there were still gouge marks in the ground and hundreds of small pieces of the aircraft covering the area. Not only did Mr. Metscher send me a photo of the memorial marker, he also sent me the parts from the aircraft that you see above.
Training flights were dangerous enough, not to mention the dangers of combat flying. Unfortunately, these would not be the last friends from the 458th Bomb Group that the Hetzler Crew would lose, before they themselves were shot down over Germany on March 23, 1944.
For more information about this crash, including photos of the crew, the crash and an eyewitness account from the only survivor, go to: http://www.458bg.com/crew16hons.htm

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield

This morning we visited Wilson's Creek National Battlefield near my hometown of Springfield, MO. Teddy really enjoyed the museum, film, trails and markers in the park. As you can see, we had perfect October weather and the trees were peaked in color.

Wilson's Creek was the 2nd major battle of the Civil War, taking place on August 10, 1861 in hideous heat and humidity. 5 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroics in this battle. During the battle, Union General and rising star Nathanial Lyon was killed in action; the first general to be killed in the civil war. This battle was all about whether Missouri would remain part of the Union or join the Confederacy. Outnumbered, the Union lost this battle, but fought well enough to set up a Union victory early the next year at Pea Ridge, Arkansas that would keep Missouri safely in the Union for the rest of the war.

In the photo you can see Teddy at the sight where German-American General Franz Sigel and his St. Louis German-American troops mistook confederate forces for friendly, gray-clad Iowa troops. The mistake was costly for the Union in this battle and the audio to which Teddy is listening quotes the Germans in their confusion: Sie haben gegen uns geschossen! (They are shooting at us!) In the early 90's I was a volunteer at this park, which helped me get on as a seasonal Park Ranger at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Wilson's Creek is still one of my very favorite places to visit.