Memorial: Forgotten WW2 Army Aircrew, B17 Shot Down No. France, June 1944; 10 Men, 1 Survivor

[appalachiablue]

A forgotten WWII American bomber crew is being remembered in France, Phillip Walter Wellman, Stars and Stripes, June 23, 2024. Ed.
🇺🇸 🇨🇵 (Photo caption: Most of the Spare Charlie crew and other men they flew with in 1944).
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ÉPAGNE-ÉPAGNETTE, France — An Army aircrew whose B-17 bomber was shot down over northern France has been honored 80 years later thanks to the joint efforts of an American woman with a history degree and a Frenchman with a penchant for World War II. A memorial for the 9-member crew was unveiled near the crash site here Saturday, the anniversary of the incident, which left all but one of the airmen dead. About 50 of the soldiers’ relatives traveled to France from the U.S. to attend the memorial’s unveiling with local residents and government officials.

“I am very happy and very grateful that the Spare Charlie crew have not been forgotten,” Camille Noel, a George Washington University history graduate, told the crowd, identifying the crew by the name of their aircraft. Noel, who fought back tears as she spoke, played a key role in getting the memorial erected. Noel’s research of an American B-17 bomber crew whose plane was shot down during World War II lead to the crew being honored with a memorial near the crash site. Descendants said many details of the crew’s final mission likely would have been lost to history if not for Noel’s research.

Her research began in 2019 when the Utah native had to write a biography on a soldier from her home state and chose 2nd Lt. John Lundberg, the Spare Charlie’s navigator. That assignment sparked her interest in the rest of the crew, and she wrote about them for her final thesis. After contacting their families, obtaining personal records, piecing together the training they went through in the U.S. and the multiple bombing mission they completed in Europe, Noel wrote to a newspaper in Abbeville, France, in an effort to try to find potential eye witnesses.

The newspaper put her in touch with Emmanuel Berle, a retiree and local World War II aficionado. Together, the duo was able to piece together a detailed narrative of what happened on June 22, 1944.. “Those men died for the liberty of western European countries and it takes all of us, and future generations to not let their final sacrifice be useless,” Berle said. Every member of the Spare Charlie crew was between the ages of 20 and 27...
https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2024-06-23/army-bomber-crew-memorial-france-14271388.html
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GREATEST GENERATION
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation

[marybourg]

1. Their sacrifice has so far bought us 4 generations

of democracy, prosperity and peace. Let us hope there is more to come. Vote! ( I was 2 years old when this event took place)

[Irish_Dem]

2. Yes and apparently many Americans take it all for granted.

[appalachiablue]

4. You were 2, nice. 4 generations of democracy, more ahead. *A crew relative said:

.. Scharff was the last crew member found, over two years after the crash. His great-nephew Jim Reedy was at the memorial’s unveiling.

- “If we don’t do things like this, the memory will atrophy and people will eventually forget all about it,” Reedy said.

- “It’s important to keep the memory alive so we don’t repeat the same mistakes again.”

[Irish_Dem]

3. Great story.

Kudos to the college student for a superb piece of research and follow through.

Love the picture of Air Force men dressed in Army uniforms.

The B-17 was an important aircraft, a bomber which did day runs,
it was a fortress and could take a lot of flak and still do its job.

[appalachiablue]

5. Yes, a terrific story and great work by the history student and

the Frenchman WW2 researcher she found. I wanted to cover this aspect more in the post, but space was tight.

How encouraging to see a 'history' major! these days. I'm familiar with her school too, GWU.

Yes, the photos are super, those were big fortresses with well trained young men. What a time.

[Irish_Dem]

6. Yes GWU is a good school.

She did her university proud for sure.
Yes credit to the history major!

I know, it was quite a time during WWII.

One thing people don't realize is that the psychology and education professionals
played a huge role in making sure the US military was top notch and well trained.
Like with these young men.

The US declared war after Pearl Harbor, had a big job with all the men being drafted and volunteering.
How to select the best people for each job. Select for the best skill set and aptitude, etc.

Psychologist and educators put pedal to the metal and quickly came up with excellent screening
tools for thousands and thousands of new recruits. Quickly and efficiently identifying people
for various highly skilled jobs. Or the aptitude to be quickly trained.

A good friend of mine, her father is a good example. He was an extremely bright man with
a high degree of mechanical ability. He gets drafted in WWII, is tested, immediately sent to
Florida for airplane mechanic training. Becomes a top student and is sent to Asia to work on the
famous Flying Tiger aircraft. All in a very short period of time.

[appalachiablue]

7. I can believe the US had the resources and sense to utilize

these many specialists to screen, test, identify and place new military recruits and to administer large operations.

The friend's father with mechanical skill is a good example. I know my father who was selected for OCS, Lt. Army AAA went through a lot of training esp. on large Bofurs guns at bases in NC and Texas before shipping out to England. His younger brother in the Coast Guard went thru plenty too.

Their father had sent them to military school for HS in the late 1930s-40s. I think it was because he knew like many people that war was coming. He was also sharp and educated with political connections.

The US powers in charge knew how serious the possibility of fascist control of Europe was, and how large the effort could be in scale esp. after WWI, the Spanish Civil War 'preview' and Hitler's aggressive military build up.

Technology and armaments had also advanced during the interwar years - communications, radio, vehicles, airplanes, submarines and more.

The Project 2025 plan, I wonder how many people have even heard of it, scary. People are working hard, there's lots to distract them from politics, it's summer and then back to school. Democrats need to drive a huge push to GOTV, obviously! Nice chatting, see you around!

[Irish_Dem]

8. Training is expensive and time consuming.

So there has to be some selection process.

The military training of your father no doubt gave him a leg up and fast track to OCS.
And obviously he was impressive in his test scores.

I think most people are clueless. They have no idea what is in store for this country.

Yes nice chatting!