Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24)
On this Memorial Day weekend, we remember those who have fallen in battle, and are especially directed in our thoughts by these heartfelt words from one of our Catch community. Thank you, Tammy.
My dad and all but one of his brothers served. My mom’s two older brothers were drafted. The oldest volunteered. One died at Normandy. One died at the Battle of the Bulge. After a year of red tape, Mom’s oldest brother was allowed to go home. Sadly, because of PTSD, he took up drinking and it killed him shortly after returning home from war.
War? I hate it. Necessary? Yes it is. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of my sweet uncles waiting for all of us at the pearly gates. God bless our troops. God bless America. My hope is that everyone remembers why we have this three-day weekend.
John Fischer The Catch 
I never knew my Uncle Bobby, dad’s “almost twin,” they were so close. Bobby was the tail gunner on a B-14 bomber. The plane went down in June of ’44, one day before his 20th birthday. Beth’s dad was a Navy Corpsman, serving at Pearl Harbor. He ‘fished’ bodies out of the Harbor after a welding accident killed almost 300 sailors and civilians. He was on the hospital ship at Saipan, tending to the wounded Marines. Ralph Owen, a charter member of Central Baptist, was on a short term special assignment at Hickam Field of December 7 of ’41. His ship – the USS Arizona. And my friend, Steve Austin came back in a body bag from Nam. He was the half back and I was the full back on our high school football team.
Oh how I hate war, even though sometimes it’s necessary. We lost 407,000 military personnel in WWII and another 55,000 in Viet Nam. It hurts to see the devastation in those who lost loved ones due to war. I long for the day of the prophet Isaiah when swords will be turned into plowshares!!
Hi Wayne,
Thank you for sharing your remembrances.
I’m curious to know more about your Uncle Bobby. While unlikely, it’s possible that he and my dad (Revis Smith) may have crossed paths.
My dad was part of the Eighth Air Force, 389th Bomber Group, based out of Hethel, England.
He was a bombardier on a B-24 that was shot down behind enemy lines in 1944. He and some of his crew survived the crash but were quickly taken captive by the Germans.
Without going into grisly detail, let me just say that he was able to escape and evade the enemy with the help of both the French Resistance and Spanish Underground.
When he made it back to his home in Malone, New York he received numerous letters from families of his crew that hadn’t survived, returned, or otherwise been accounted for.
All of those letters are heart-wrenching. The parents, wives, and families were desperate to know if dad could tell them anything about their loved ones: whether they survived the crash; what condition they were last known to be in; if they said any final words; etc.
Dad responded to all the letters as best he could but could shed very little light on the fate of his missing crew.
Dad kept all those letters and they have been passed down to us kids.
Is it possible that we may have a letter from Bobby’s family?
Unfortunately, our children have little-to-no interest in keeping the letters or any other memorabilia from our parents so we’re looking for a museum where such things may be preserved and serve as as teaching tool, lest we forget.
If, by some miracle, one of those letters came from your relatives in Bobby’s family, I’ll convince my brother and sister to return it to you.
I salute you, Wayne, and those you knew who gave their all.
Shalom, Peace…
Bob
Hello Bob,
Thank you for sharing your remembrances as well. I doubt that there was a connection because my Uncle Bobby’s plane never made it out of the US. The crew was stationed at Hamilton Field in the SF Bay area, getting ready for the long flight to Italy where they would take part in bombing runs on Hitler’s oil field in Romania. Evidently, there was some kind of severe engine problem and the plane went down in San Pablo Bay (the northern section of the SF Bay). The body of the pilot was found but the other 9 crew members were never recovered.
There was one newspaper article about the accident. My sister, in trying to discover more information, discovered that the building holding all those records was destroyed in a fire a number of years ago. As with your family, my children have no interest in those events. Obviously they loved their grandparents but they are a full generation removed from that era.
The only thing my dad ever said was that folks in Hilmar (CA – the family had a 120 acre dairy farm) heard about a crash in San Pablo Bay on the radio. Dad was milking the cows when he saw that green army car drive down August Avenue. He took a deep sigh of relief when it passed the dairy – only to turn around at the next intersection and come back to the driveway. It was one of those things we didn’t talk about. I now possess Uncle Bobby’s trunk that contains Hilmar High School material and all kinds of Army Air Corps memorabilia, plus gobs of letters written to my grandmother.
Anyway, I am grateful for your response. I am grateful for the many, many who were part of the defeat of Fascist Germany, let alone Japan. I am also grateful for the Marshall Plan after WWII that enabled Germany and Japan to rebuild, thus becoming our allies for decades.
Shalom to you,
Wayne
Hi again Wayne,
Don’t know if you or your sister are interested in pursuing any more details concerning your Uncle Bobby but there is a non-profit whose mission is “to find and repatriate Americans Missing in Action since World War II.“
Project Recover utilizes the latest technology, has access to records that may have been formerly classified, and is partners with both the military and private organizations.
They recently located a B-24 that crashed in the waters of New Guinea in 1944 and actually recovered DNA remains of some of the aircrew. One of those airmen, 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly, Jr., was officially laid to rest today, Memorial Day, in his hometown of Livermore, California.
If you want to know more about Project Recover, here’s their website:
https://www.projectrecover.org/
Shalom, Peace…
Bob
Wow, thank you Bob. I was unaware of this group and will pursue it
Gratefully yours,
Wayne
Born in July 1939, while growing up, the adult male parent was often missing in our lives. Many of my friends had step-fathers because of the sacrifice of service. We knew why. Even at a young age it was deeply embedded in our lives. I have read much, history of the wars is important, too important to be ignored today. “Never again”!
While traveling once in the Netherlands I visited the most eastern cemetery for American burials. Most of those fell during “Operation Market Garden”. As I walked reading the names on white crosses I noticed one gold in color. I walked over to it, a “Medal of Honor” awarded a young solider, I think last name Cole, 18 years old. I dropped to my knees as a middle age man and wept.
Then in the distance a “Star of David”. That battle continues. Please remember to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. The hatred continues and we are the “Peace makers”. Do well to remember but speak out to stop the insanity of hatred. Love one another!
I’m all for Memorial Day to honor the courageous men and women who lost their lives in trying to maintain and sustain the precious freedoms that we enjoy. But I’m at war against the politicians, lawmakers, wealthy and powerful who’ve made a mockery of these who’ve given their lives, by perverting democracy and denying social justice to the common folks that our U.S. military has sworn to protect. We surely are our own worst enemy, God deliver us!
Thank you, Wayne, Bob, Andy and J.D. for your comments and of taking part in this discussion.