Still can't believe it! Pure Shock *Update*

[Kolby72]

Kolby did you know Buck passed?

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-lynn-compton-20120228,0,356555.story

I did not know that, thanks for sharing that. We lost Dick Winters last year and Shifty Powers right before that. It is so sad to see men of this calibre pass away and they are mentioned in the news after Lady Gaga and Lindsey Lohan...I wish people would realize the sacrifices some people make! But I guess that is just the way it will always be. You know when I was making my way to Afghanistan I stopped in a Kyrgistan to catch my next plane. Needless to say it was -26 degreees and it was snowing like mad so I got stuck there for a couple days. Well I picked a bunk inside one of the transit tents and waited for my plane. Well one day some Army guys came in and one of the guys names was "Guarnere" and I asked him how he pronounced his last name and he said "its me" lol it was Wild bills Grandson! We talked for abour 2 hours about his grandfather and the one thing he kept saying was that he was the most hilarious man you would ever meet and he never took credit for anything he did during the war... He would always say someone else deserved the credit... They dont make people like that anymore....

 

[njal]

I did not know that, thanks for sharing that. We lost Dick Winters last year and Shifty Powers right before that. It is so sad to see men of this calibre pass away and they are mentioned in the news after Lady Gaga and Lindsey Lohan...I wish people would realize the sacrifices some people make! But I guess that is just the way it will always be. You know when I was making my way to Afghanistan I stopped in a Kyrgistan to catch my next plane. Needless to say it was -26 degreees and it was snowing like mad so I got stuck there for a couple days. Well I picked a bunk inside one of the transit tents and waited for my plane. Well one day some Army guys came in and one of the guys names was "Guarnere" and I asked him how he pronounced his last name and he said "its me" lol it was Wild bills Grandson! We talked for abour 2 hours about his grandfather and the one thing he kept saying was that he was the most hilarious man you would ever meet and he never took credit for anything he did during the war... He would always say someone else deserved the credit... They dont make people like that anymore....

Holy cow that is awesome you met his grandson!

Kolby most of the ones I knew where the same way,never talked about there experience over there.

You may be to young to remember Gill Hodges ,he was the manager for the N.Y Mets in the 1960's ,well he was married for 10 years before his wife found out that he had earned the silver star in WW ll . A humble bunch they were.
I here ya on Lady Gaga and Lindsey Lohan. Burns my wazzo also.

Lt.Winters was something else,if you remember how he spoke at the end of the series,he was holding a German hand gun that was never fired. He kept harping on the fact that the weapon he was holding was never fired,there was no blood on this weapon he kept repeating it. You could here it in his voice and see it in his eyes what Mr. Winters must have endured during his service.

 

[allank]

Great job ! my ex wife lived across the street from Dick winters and was friends with her father )as was everyone else in on the street) decent man and for years I never knew his story and still considered him one of the nicest people I had ever met, one of those people you just seem to know is a great kind of guy.He would wave everytime he saw me even after I was divorced. I also wanted to say I am still looking for that shotshell lol, It is a 16 gauge PINFIRE the primer is struck by that pin. lots of sites out there and since they were only used a few years you would think a picture would be easy to find but so far nothing closer than the one I found

 

[montyp99]

Pinfire, eh? That's cool - I need to research this. Nice catch allank, thanks!

 

[montyp99]

Great job, Kolby!

Well great news todaythe German graves commision contacted me today and they were very happy with the way we handled reoprting the crash site. I have a meeting with them,JPAC, and the German Police so that I can show them the site and the bones that I have. They also told me that they want to do a story in the Bundesland magazine. They hope that the story will raise awarness to the MIA/KIA of WWII. They also want to come up with a program that will help people report crash sites and human remains without all of the complications and Government BS

Congratulations Kolby, you did it! I'm really impressed, bud; and interested to see what else they find at the site. -Max

 

[rob00000]

Pretty interesting story. My dad served in WWII as well, traveled all over Europe. I inherited a German prayer book my father found lying on the floor in a building in France. It had been occupied by German troops before my fathers unit entered it. I also have a German infantry hat that my father picked up in France but it's in poor shape. My dad had a lot of General Patton stories that should have been written down in a book and saved so that history is not lost. When I was serving in Kuwait I told some soldiers of the United States Third Army (that's Pattons old group) some of my dad's Patton stories and they were really excited to hear these first hand stories of their hero. I agree about the WWII guys being the greatest generation. I used to participate in a lot of military funerals a few years back & quite a few of them were WWII vets. My dad had some German prisoners working for him. One day he sat and ate with them. He was told not to do that again as it didn't look good. He told me they were nice German boys, very young & got to be friends with them & just sat & ate with them. He wasn't thinking. "Hey we're at war with these guys, I shouldn't eat with them." When my dad's unit went to Germany the prisoners wrote letters home. They gave the letters to my father & he went out in town & dropped them in a mailbox for them. They were pretty grateful to my dad for that. He said they were really nice guys & it wasn't their fault they were caught up in the war. My dad was a good guy. God rest his soul....

 

[snf101480]

I just read this entire story, and all 4 pages of the thread. What a great thing you guys are doing. Taking the right measures to ensure that this is being handled correctly is definitely commendable. You're making a difference in the lives of people, and for history. Congratulations on the amazing finds as well. Awesome job.

 

[richbat]

Very nice finds.

 

[The Rebel]

All of you have done a great service to the service man as well as his family.

This is a wonderful story & look forward to see what happens next.

God bless the Greatest Generation!

 

[Kolby72]

Thanks everyone for all of the kind words and comments. I got a call from the JPAC advisor and I will be showing him and the German Police the crash site on Thursday. The German Police have to rule out the site as a murder scene. I thought this was a bit funny because the area is scattered with WWII bomber pieces. I also talked to the nephew of one of the guys that was on the Diana-Mite. His uncle was the top turret gunner on the plane. I talked to him for over 2 hours and he is absolutely overtaken that the site is going to be excavated. Very good day today!

 

[njal]

Thanks everyone for all of the kind words and comments. I got a call from the JPAC advisor and I will be showing him and the German Police the crash site on Thursday. The German Police have to rule out the site as a murder scene. I thought this was a bit funny because the area is scattered with WWII bomber pieces. I also talked to the nephew of one of the guys that was on the Diana-Mite. His uncle was the top turret gunner on the plane. I talked to him for over 2 hours and he is absolutely overtaken that the site is going to be excavated. Very good day today!

Kolby did the nephew and the crew members family know the Diana-mite was downed in this location? I should start at the Beginning of this thread and read it again so I don't drive you bonkers with questions.

 

[Kolby72]

Kolby did the nephew and the crew members family know the Diana-mite was downed in this location? I should start at the Beginning of this thread and read it again so I don't drive you bonkers with questions.

You will never drive me bonkers lol He had done some extensive research with the help of German Searcher and the local German government. The main thing he didn't know was what crash was the Diana-Mite. The locals went out to both crashes and recovered the bodies as best they could but didn't mark what site was which (most likely there was no way to tell since the crash was most likely on fire). When they excavate the site it will lay to rest some questions that the the families have.

 

[German_searcher]

Hi guys, now the story becomes really interesting! Kolby you really did a good job! I hope the last secret can be told soon, wich bomber we have found.

 

[Kolby72]

Hi guys, now the story becomes really interesting! Kolby you really did a good job! I hope the last secret can be told soon, wich bomber we have found.

We will find it out man I am sure of it! also can you meet me on thursday at 10 to show the Polizei the crash site? If I go by myself I wouldn't feel right...the crash was your find! Also guys here is a newspaper article about the lone survivor of Diana-Mite. He was the co pilot, I was read a letter from him today by the nephew of one of his crew members. In the letter he said he remembers looking at the pilot on his left and he could see "Our Baby" banking hard toward them. The pilot tried to dodge the other plane but they never stood a chance. He credits the fact that he never wore his seatbelt as the sole reason he is alive today. When "Our Baby" hit them it ripped "Diana-Mite" wide open and he was thrown out and was able to pull his chute. I can only imagine the horror he must have felt and the helplessness that must have came over all of them. The crew of the Diana-Mite was on their 21st mission! they only had 4 more missions and they could have gone home. The crew of these bombers never stuck with one single plane and this was only their third time flying in Diana-Mite. They flew a whole slew of planes including the "Crows Nest" which was also flown by Jimmy Stewart.

 

[Kolby72]

Here is a picture of the "Diana-Mite" crew also known as the Gengler Crew (most crews took on the last name of the lead pilot, Gengler is on the far left standing) standing in front of the "Crows Nest". On the far right is the uncle of the man that is giving me all of this invaluable information. The man right next to him with the white scarf is "Flip" Cowger he was the lone survivor that was thrown out of the cockpit. It is a lot different when you put a face to a find...

 

[njal]

Kolby Putting a picture sure does change things.
Kind of bummed me out looking at that picture,knowing
all but one didn't make it.

I'm not going to post anymore about the B-17 I was telling you about
on your thread. I don't wanna take away from your thread.

So if and when I get a picture back form the map light I will pm you with it.

I can't wait to read what else you guys find out about this crash.

Thanks again for posting all this information.

 

[Kolby72]

NJal I would really like to see the map compass and It would not take away from this thread at all. If you get pics please post them! Most people in this thread are WWII enthusiasts and love that kind of stuff

 

[njal]

Kolby I had the clock from a P-51 Mustang.
I sold that a few years ago on Ebay.
That also went to a good home,the gentleman
was building a replica dash from the P-51 .
So I was happy he got it.

What I have left is a outside temp manifold gage, tachometer and
manifold pressure gage.

If you would like to see those I will get pictures of them over the weekend.

 

[montyp99]

Kolby, do you remember how to get there? I have the GPS coordinates if you need them

 

[Kolby72]

Yeah I remember, I am going on thursday you wanna join?