Unless we remember, all was meaningless.
I hope we never let the younger people forget just for their own good. I think they can make a better world.”
– Frank Bonfield
Bob Shumaker said it right: When you hit the ground with your parachute, your troubles are just starting.
– Alan Barnette
(Photo courtesy of Robert F. Myers)
D-Day, about five miles outside of Ste. Mere Eglise, we had one hell of a time. We hadn’t slept since midnight and you were too scared to sleep afterwards. Anyone who says they weren’t scared wasn’t in the invasion.
When we took Ste. Mere Eglise the next day, we found our paratroopers hanging from trees. One was hanging from the church steeple. He was actually alive, but he was playing dead.
– Fran Doran
(Photo courtesy of Joe Ross)
Joe Ross (top left), piloted this B-24, four-engine Liberator on 35 bombing missions over Europe in 1944 and 1945. The plane, the “Joker,” carrying a crew of ten, was struck by flak several times in raids over France, Germany, northern Italy, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Greece. Ross, an engineer, worked at the Johnson Bronze Co. and at Rockwell in New Castle.
“I met my brother over in Italy. He was an infantry replacement. I met him north of Naples. His sergeant gave him a day pass and the two of us spent it in Naples. Later, in Northern Italy, he was coming by as a replacement. One of the guys from my outfit met him and said, ‘Hey Frank, that’s your brother on guard duty there on that checkpoint.’ I said, ‘you’re kidding.’ I jumped off the truck. We were only held up for a second. I couldn’t even talk to him. I just got a chance to wave at him and I said, ‘Well, I’ll see you at home.'”
– Frank Bonfield
(1920-1945)
Enlisted November 21, 1942
Private First Class, US Army
On February 6, 1945, PFC Hugh R. McCormick was reported missing in action when he failed to return from a reconnaissance mission patrolling the Meuse River in Holland. He was officially declared non-recoverable on November 22, 1950.
However, on July 27, 1969, his remains were discovered in a partially dry river bed by a Dutch female.
To read the remarkable circumstances surrounding the discovery, visit our blog post
