Post #496642 by uncle trav on Tue, Dec 1, 2009 12:53 PM

I have a group of items that are from a belly gunner on a B-24. He was KIA on 11/24/44. I have all of his files and mementos even his medals and the flag given to his parents and the telegram telling his folks the news of his death. Sad stuff. Fast forward from when I found the items about fifteen years. I started getting a feeling that having theses items without a story was just having a bunch of stuff. I started to dig and dig. Talked with the Army archives the National Archives and finally with the historian with the 460th Bomb Group. Long story short the rest of the crew made it out of the plane as it was going down. Only Alvin didn't make it out. I was able to talk with the copilot V.O. Hall on a number of occasions. The crew was taken prisoner by the Germans and VO never knew what happened to his buddy. I was able to tell him that Alvin was found with the downed plane by the Germans and buried at the crash site. VO said that closure for over fifty years of wondering. With some of the information I was able to find the crash-site now has a small memorial placed there by V.O. Hall on a visit to Austria. VO and the rest of his crew are now with thier buddy Alvin again. The stories of these men tell are moving fast from a chat about old memories to things only read in books. The story of this one crew goes on and on and it is one of only thousands. Didn't mean to derail the thread just thought I'd pass it along. Thanks.