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IN GRATITUDE
TO THE PEOPLE OF OPIJNEN
FOR HONORING EIGHT AMERICAN
B-17 CREWMEN KILLED IN ACTION HERE DURING WORLD WAR II. THEY REST IN THIS CHURCHYARD.
THE AMERICAN WOMEN'S CLUB OF
AMSTERDAM AND THE BETTY McDONALD FOUNDATION
The Plane was Man-O-War
41-24399. Crew members Buried in Opijnen:
1st Lt. Robert U. Duggan,
Navigator
2nd Lt. Daniel V. Ohman,
Bombardier
T/Sgt. Douglas V. Blackwood,
Radioman
T/Sgt. Americo Cianfichi,
Engineer
S/Sgt. Mike A.
Perrotta, Ball
Turret
S/Sgt. Harold R. Sparks, Waist
Gunner
S/Sgt. George R. Krueger,
Waist Gunner
S/Sgt. Hermon d. Poling, Tail
Gunner
Man-O-War
323rd Squadron
Serial # 41-24399
Standing -
Left to Right:
S/Sgt. Hermon D. Poling, Tail Gunner; S/Sgt.
Harold R. Sparks, Waist Gunner; S/Sgt. George R. Krueger, Waist Gunner;
2nd Lt. John P. Bruce, Co-pilot; 2nd. Lt. Keene C. McCammon,
Pilot; 2nd Lt. Daniel V. Ohman, Bombardier; S/Sgt. Mike A. Perrotta, Ball Turret Gunner; T/Sgt. Douglas V. Blackwood, Radio
Operator; T/Sgt. Americo Cianfichi, Engineer. Not pictured, 1st Lt. Robert
U. Duggan, Navigator.
Man
O War - The original navigator, Gill, was
replaced by 1st Lt. Robert U. Duggan (neither of which is shown in this
photo). Gill was not in this photo as he was KIA with Forsblad's
crew aboard the plane named Stricnine, just 10 days before this crew was shot down on
July 30, 1943. Only McCammon and Bruce survived. |
[Article from 30 May
1970 Memorial Day Ceremonies at Est en Opijnen, The Netherlands (The unknown
writer was probably on the staff of the base newspaper of Camp New Amsterdam Air
Base, home of the U.S. Air Force 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, tenant on the
Royal Netherlands Air Base at tSoesterberg, The Netherlands, approximately 20
miles north of the Dutch village of Opijnen, pronounced "o-PIE-nen")]:
Dutch Village Pays Tribute
WAR DEAD REMEMBERED
Soesterberg AB, The Netherlands--Peace and serenity reigned over the community
of Opijnen, The Netherlands, on a bright sunny July 30th, 1943. The ravages of
World War II had not yet reached this small farming village. Local farmers were
in the fields harvesting their crops and preparing to
take a short lunch break when a totally unexpected noise broke the stillness.
Overhead, a limping American B-17 bomber was being attacked by fighter aircraft
of the German Luftwaffe. The lumbering giant didn't stand a chance against the
swifter, more maneuverable fighters.
The farmers stopped their work and stared in awe as the crew members bailed out
of their burning craft, hopefully to safety.
Their hope was short lived, however, because as the crew descended, the German
aircraft banked sharply and strafed the crew as they dangled helpless in their
parachutes.
Hendrick de Kock, one of the Opijnen farmers in the fields that day, recalled,
"Eight of the crew members got out of the airplane, but when they were
hanging on those big umbrellas the German fighter started shooting at those poor
boys. Oh, man, I got so mad I could have killed that
fellow in the fighter."
From a crew of ten, two died in the aircraft, six died as a result of the
strafing, and the other two were captured by German ground forces.
One of the men fell through the roof of a farm house adjacent to the field and
lived long enough for de Kock to get him a drink of water--an extraordinarily
brave act as the German ground forces were shooting at the local Dutchmen as
well as at the Americans.
De Kock recalled, "He fell through the thatched roof and struck his head on
one of the main beams of the house. I got him a drink of water, he gave me a few
cigarettes to thank me, and then he died."
Two members of the crew survived but they were captured almost immediately by
the Nazis.
The few facts that are known about the bomber indicate that it was from the 91st
Bomb Group (now the 91st Bomb Wing, SAC), Eighth Army Air Force, flying from an
air base in England on a mission to Kassel, Germany. The townspeople of the
village carried the bodies of the dead airmen to their local cemetery and kept the bodies in a small building until the Germans
granted them burial permission. After permission came from Berlin the graves
were marked with simple wooden crosses inscribed only with the men's names.
At the end of the war, the remains of American servicemen buried on foreign soil
were removed to central military cemeteries. However, the citizens of Opijnen
requested that the graves of the eight airmen be left to their care in their own
village cemetery.
The thought behind this small plot of land where these airmen are buried is best
described by the citizens of Opijnen: "Where would we be and how would we
live if it had not been for our Allies who fought and died for our freedom? In
these eight men resting here in Opijnen under these marble headstones, we honor all men, that on this day we can be here having memorial
services and speak our mind in freedom."
The eight graves are now marked with white marble headstones and are provided
tender care by both the adults and children of the village.
In this article there is a badly smudged photograph of Mr. De Kock with a
caption that reads: "On that day in 1943, Hendrick de Kock, an Opijnen
farmer, was working in his father's hay fields when the B-17 was shot down. At
risk of his own life, he attempted to help the dying American fliers."
AMERICAN WOMEN’S CLUB OF AMSTERDAM
September 2007 Tulip Talk Article
“In Memoriam – John Bruce”
by
Nancy L. Koster-Tschirhart
“Will the
circle be unbroken? Bye and bye, Lord. Bye and bye. Will our crew be back
together? In the sky, Lord. In the sky.” Paraphrasing the A. P. Carter hit,
“Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, Mike Banta of the 91st Bomb Group Memorial
Association concluded his e-mail about fellow “Ring” airman, John Bruce,
rejoining his crew on August 1, 2007 at the age of 87 years.
For AWCA members who’ve been here in May, you will know about this most
courageous, honorable, gentle and inspiring hero, John Bruce. John Bruce and
pilot, Keene McCammon, were the only survivors when their plane was strafed
over Holland by Nazi’s as they returned to England from their first—and
only—combat mission, successfully taking out a munitions factory in Kassel,
Germany. On that horrifying day, July 30, 1943, their U.S. 8th Air Force, 1st
Air Division, 323rd Squadron, B-17 bomber, Man-O-War, was hobbling back,
desperately hoping to cross the North Sea and return to safety. That was not
to be their fate. While John and Keene parachuted to safety, to be betrayed
by Nazi sympathizers and imprisoned in German stalags until World War II ended
in 1945, their eight crewmen were shot as they drifted down over the fields
near the Waal River. While the Nazi’s at first refused to let the Dutch
villagers care for the dead airmen, they ultimately let the men be buried in
the dark of night to prevent any show of sympathy from the Opijnen people.
(To counter this, the morning light revealed that the crudely dug graves had
been covered with flowers!) After the war, at the request of the villagers,
the eight men came to rest in the churchyard cemetery in the village of
Opijnen instead of being reburied at the American cemetery in Margraten.
Every May since 1949, the American Women’s Club of Amsterdam has commemorated
the sacrifices these men made and have honored not only them, but the brave
and devoted villagers who have cared for our fellow Americans since 1943.
(Read more at www.awca.nl and click on
History/Opijnen.)
With that history in mind, we move to the year 2000. That’s when I was
privileged to become acquainted with John and Keene, who had not been in
contact with the AWCA since unveiling the Opijnen churchyard monument in
1983. As AWCA President preparing for the bi-decadienal Opijnen memorial
service, I had the opportunity to read letters from both men to the guests
gathered in the church at Opijnen. And from there, friendships grew, sparked
by big ideas from them and former Neerijnen (community of 11 villages,
including Opijnen) mayor, Ton Jansen. At the 2000 service, Mayor Jansen spoke
of his dream to name streets for the eight airmen in a planned housing
development so future generations would know this story of bravery. When the
plans became firm in 2002, I informed John and Keene, and with their wives,
they offered to donate money to show their gratitude to Opijnen (as did the
AWCA). Mayor Jansen proposed that a monument be built to explain why all the
streets have non-Dutch names. I had the honor of participating in the
planning session to name the streets, and while there were technically just
four streets, we not only managed to subdivide them into eights streets, but
at my request, Brucestraat and McCammonplein were also incorporated. Sadly,
Keene McCammon passed away October 2003 and could not join John and Mayor
Jansen when they unveiled the street signs May 4, 2004. And, even though
John’s beloved wife Eunice passed away April 4, 2006, John (with his foot in a
cast) and his children returned to Opijnen. They were joined by Keene’s
widow, Bonney Jean, and son, Keene, and Keene’s sister, Eloise, and her
daughter, Lois, to unveil the impressive monument on McCammonplein. With a
Marine Honor Guard in attendance, 35,000 bricks depicting the shadow of a B-17
flying overhead, and the raised monument replicating the plane’s stabilizer
(with inscriptions in Dutch and English) were unveiled. The two U.S. flags
that covered the stabilizer had flown over the U.S. Capitol and were presented
to John and Bonney Jean. For those who attended these ceremonies in 2004 and
2006, the real meanings of patriotism, courage, sacrifice and peace burn more
brightly, memories engraved forever. As John so often said, “Freedom is not
free.”
And this is the man I want to memorialize. As past U.S. Consul General and
AWCA Honorary President (2003-2006), Michele Thoren Bond, reflected in her
response to John’s passing, “What a good man he was, so kind and gentle and
modest. I will never forget his voice and his words on the bus tour during
his last visit to Opijnen, when we were stopped at the spot where his
parachute came down, and he described the crash and its aftermath. Though he
spoke softly, the images he evoked were so indelible and vivid it seemed the
rest of us were taken back with him to that terrible period of Nazi
occupation. He was truly an outstanding example of the Greatest Generation.”
For me, John was the kind of friend who comes along once in a lifetime. I
still have his first e-mail: an AWCA website feedback form from March 2000 to
which I responded. And now, as Opijnen Memorial Service Coordinator all these
years with Lucy Correll, my Opijnen file has hundreds and hundreds of e-mails,
many from John. He liked to forward “passalongs” too, and you know, you can
tell a lot about someone by what s/he passes along. And, unlike Keene who had
enormous difficulty his whole life with what happened in Opijnen, John wanted
to make everything better for having had that experience. John had energy and
passion that anyone half his age would envy. Two days before his July 27
stroke, he sent his last e-mail covering a range of subjects, from
investigating Google Earth to see where I’d sent my vacation postcard from, to
the Bruce family reunion planned July 29, to hoping to see my parents before
they moved away from Florida, to taking his great-grandson to buy the new
Harry Potter book, to a letter from the Opijnen Mayor in the 1950’s he found
and would make sure he’d send (and retype if necessary!) if I didn’t already
have it in the AWCA Opijnen files. John was a shining light; an inspiration;
a beacon of optimism; deeply in love with his wife whom he desperately missed
these past 16 months; a proud and devoted father cherished by his children,
their children and their children; an active patriot, veteran and volunteer; a
loyal, supportive and generous person who understood the gifts of happiness
and unconditional friendship. I had the good fortune to be able to
intersperse my seven-plus years of cyber exchanges with four visits. And with
all those memories, photos and electronic dialogue, I can’t imagine starting
my computer knowing there will never be another e-mail from “stalag3”.
In memory of John, this poem he sent in April 2002 (and attributed to Edgar
A. Guest):
"Blow gently, winds of May.
Shine softly, summer sun.
Our heroes sleep today,
Their duty nobly done."
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