John Buslee’s Ring
John Oliver (Jay) Buslee died September 28, 1944 when the B-17 he was piloting, the 384th Bomb Group’s B-17G 43‑37822, crashed after a mid-air collision with his own group’s B-17G 42‑31222 Lazy Daisy. His parents were notified shortly thereafter that he was missing in action, but it would be another four months before they received news that he had died in the collision.
Jay’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Buslee of Park Ridge, IL, a suburb of Chicago, eventually received Jay’s possessions, only to find that the Air Force ring they had given him as a gift was not among the items returned to them. They assumed he must have been wearing the ring on his last mission, but it was not recovered with his body as far as they knew.
Several years after the war, in 1948, Jay’s ring surfaced. At the time, my dad, George Edwin Farrar, the waist gunner and sole survivor on Buslee’s aircraft, was working for Jay’s father and living in the Buslee home. I believe in that situation, he would have been aware of the ring’s discovery, but it’s not anything he ever mentioned to me. He was a traveling salesman and it was the same year he met and courted my mother, and it probably wasn’t as important of a discovery to him as it was to Mr. and Mrs. Buslee.
The surfacing of the ring was one thing. Getting the ring back was another. Distance and politics and the state of the world in the 1940’s made this a very difficult task. This task was orchestrated between the finder of the ring (a Czech man the Nazis forced into slave labor in Germany), the finder’s parents in Czechoslovakia, a Czech immigrant living in Texas, the Adjutant General of the US Department of the Army, the American Embassy in Czechoslovakia, and Jay’s parents in Illinois.
From November 2014 to March 2015, I published the group’s communications through a series of letters they exchanged between January 21 and December 26, 1948, from the time of first contact to the expressions of gratitude between the parties after the return of the ring.
John Dale Kielhofer, Jay Buslee’s nephew, shared the letters with me, and with his permission, I share with you the story of the recovery and return of John Buslee’s ring.
This list of links below includes all of my original posts and all of the letters between the parties.
Note: The original posts indicate the name of Buslee’s aircraft B-17G 43‑37822 was “Lead Banana.” I learned after writing the posts that the name was mistakenly applied in 384th Bomb Group documents and photos to that particular aircraft and wrote an explanatory post regarding the error.
The Ring (Original post of this Introduction to the letters)
The Ring – Letter of January 21, 1948
The Ring – Letter of January 28, 1948
The Ring – Letter of February 20, 1948
The Ring – Letter of March 8, 1948 – Letter to Mr B
The Ring – Letter of March 8, 1948 – Letter to Z
The Ring – Letter of March 11, 1948
The Ring – Letter of March 16, 1948
The Ring – Letter of March 26, 1948
The Ring – Letter of April 12, 1948
The Ring – Letter of April 17, 1948
The Ring – Letter of August 25, 1948
The Ring – Letter of September 23, 1948
The Ring – Letter of December 4, 1948
The Ring – Letter of December 26, 1948
This post is also included on this site as a permanent page here.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2021
Timeline for Brodie Crewmembers and Substitutes, 545th Bomb Squadron
In continuing my research into the original airmen assigned to the John Oliver Buslee crew and James Joseph Brodie crew of the 384th Bomb Group, and of the airmen who were aboard these two pilots’ respective fortresses in the mid-air collision of September 28, 1944, I searched through morning reports, special orders, individual sortie records, and personnel records on the 384th Bomb Group’s website. I was looking for any other information about them outside of their bombing missions.
I discovered several entries in those documents regarding the men who were either original members of the Buslee and Brodie crews or were substitutes on missions when the original members did not participate. Today I present the information for the Brodie crew in timeline format. Last week I presented the timeline for the John Oliver Buslee crew.
Note that this information should not be considered complete due to sometimes illegible, incomplete, and missing records, but what I have found is included here. I have also included the Brodie crew’s bombing missions in the timeline.
Timeline of information from Morning Reports, Special Orders, Individual Sortie Records, and 384th Bomb Group website Personnel Records for James Joseph Brodie original crew members and mission substitutes:
25 JULY 1944
Donald William Dooley was assigned to the 384th Bombardment Group Headquarters Detachment, per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #147 dated 25 July 1944 as a radar mechanic/bombardment.
26 JULY 1944
The James Joseph Brodie crew was assigned to the 545th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #148 dated 26 July 1944. Crew members were:
- William D. Barnes, Jr., Bombardier
- James Joseph Brodie, Pilot
- Robert Doyle Crumpton, Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
- George Marshall Hawkins, Jr., Navigator
- Gordon Eugene Hetu, Ball Turret Gunner
- Harry Allen Liniger, Waist Gunner
- Wilfred Frank Miller, Tail Gunner
- Leonard Opie, Waist Gunner
- William Edson Taylor, Radio Operator
- Lloyd Oliver Vevle, Co-pilot
2 AUGUST 1944
The following enlisted men were promoted to Sergeant per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #155:
- Gordon Hetu
- Harry Liniger
- Wilfred Miller
- Leonard Opie
4 AUGUST 1944
Mission 171 to Peenemünde, Germany. Target was a CROSSBOW (V-Weapons) Rocket Research & Development Complex.
5 AUGUST 1944
Mission 173 to Langenhagen, Germany. Target was the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), a Luftwaffe Controlling Station.
Byron Leverne “Bud” Atkins was assigned to the 545th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #157 dated 5 August 1944 as Waist Gunner of the James Woodrow Chadwick crew.
7 AUGUST 1944
Mission 174 to Dugny (Paris), France. Target was the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), an Aircraft Fuel Depot.
8 AUGUST 1944
Mission 175 to Bretteville-sur-Laize, France. Target was Military and Tactical, Enemy Strong Points.
9 AUGUST 1944
Mission 176 to Erding, Germany. Target was the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), the Erding Airdrome & Airfield.
11 AUGUST 1944
Mission 177 to Brest, France. Target was Military and Tactical, Coastal Artillery Emplacements.
14 AUGUST 1944
William Taylor was promoted to Staff Sergeant per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #163.
16 AUGUST 1944
Mission 181 to Delitzsch, Germany. Target was the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), the Delitzsch Air Field and Air Equipment Depot.
17 AUGUST 1944
Byron Atkins was promoted to Sergeant per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #165.
24 AUGUST 1944
Mission 183 to Merseburg, Germany. Target was the Oil Industry, a Synthetic Oil & Chemical Plant.
26 AUGUST 1944
Mission 185 to Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Target was the Oil Industry, the Buer Synthetic Oil Plant.
30 AUGUST 1944
Mission 186 to Crepieul, France. Target was a CROSSBOW (V-Weapons) NOBALL (V-1 Launch Site).
5 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 188 to Ludwigshafen, Germany. Target was Industry, the I. G. Farben Chemical Works.
8 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 189 to Ludwigshafen, Germany. Target was Industry, the I. G. Farben Chemical Works.
Tech Sergeant Donald Dooley was reclassified from MOS 867 (radar mechanic/bombardment) to MOS 757 (radio operator/gunner) and transferred from Headquarters Detachment 384th BG to 545th BS on SO #179, AAF Station 106, SPO 557, dated 8 September 1944.
Leonard Opie was transferred in grade to the Casual Pool, 8th AFRD, AAF Station 594.
9 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 190 to Ludwigshafen, Germany. Target was Industry, the I. G. Farben Chemical Works.
James Brodie was appointed 1st LT AUS 9 September 1944.
10 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 191 to Sindelfingen, Germany. Target was Industry, the BMW Motor Component Parts Plant.
11 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 192 to Lützkendorf & Merseburg, Germany. Target was the Oil Industry, an Oil Refinery.
13 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 194 to Merseburg, Germany. Target was the Oil Industry, the Leuna Synthetic Oil Refinery.
The 13 SEPTEMBER mission was William Barnes’s last with the Brodie crew. Between 13 September 1944 and 17 October 1944, Barnes retrained as a Navigator. After the 13 SEPTEMBER 1944 mission, the Brodie crew was assigned a Togglier to missions instead of a Bombardier.
19 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 196 to Hamm, Germany. Target was Transportation, the Railroad Marshalling Yards.
20 SEPTEMBER 1944
Byron Atkins was promoted to Staff Sergeant per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #186 dated 20 September 1944.
21 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 197 to Mainz, Germany. Target was Transportation, the Railroad Marshalling Yards.
25 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 198 to Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Target was Transportation, the Railroad Marshalling Yards.
26 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 199 to Osnabrück, Germany. Target was Industry, Steelworks.
28 SEPTEMBER 1944
Mission 201 to Magdeburg, Germany. Target was Industry, Steelworks.
The following airmen flying with the James Joseph Brodie crew on the 28 September 1944 mission went from duty to MIA (Missing in Action):
- Byron L. “Bud” Atkins
- James Joseph Brodie
- Robert Doyle Crumpton
- Donald William Dooley
- George Marshall Hawkins, Jr.
- Gordon Eugene Hetu
- Harry Allen Liniger
- Wilfred Frank Miller
- Lloyd Oliver Vevle
Subsequently, all were declared KIA (Killed in Action) except for George Marshall Hawkins, Jr., Harry Allen Liniger, and Wilfred Frank Miller who were declared POW (Prisoner of War).
5 OCTOBER 1944
William Taylor went from duty to MIA (Missing in Action) over Cologne, Germany. Subsequently, he was declared POW (Prisoner of War).
7 OCTOBER 1944
William Barnes went from duty to sick quarters (LD).
11 OCTOBER 1944
William Barnes went from sick quarters (LD) to duty.
4 JANUARY 1945
William Barnes was relieved from assignment and transferred to the Casual Pool 70th Replacement Depot Station 594 30 DECEMBER 1944 per 5 SO 365 HQ 1st BD departed 0800 hours 4 JANUARY 1945 (Completed tour).
Sources
Thank you to the 384th’s Fred Preller and Keith Ellefson for obtaining and sharing WWII reports from the National Archives for the 384th Bomb Group.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2021
“Minor Accident of War,” the Animated Short Film
I have previously written about 384th Bomb Group navigator Edward Field and ball turret gunner Jack Coleman Cook, and about the animated short film Edward’s niece, Diane Weis, created from Edward’s poem, “World War II.” The poem chronicles the events of their B-17’s crash into the North Sea on their return to England following the 8th Air Force’s mission to Berlin on February 3, 1945.
Today happens to be the seventy-sixth anniversary of Edward and Jack’s crash into the North Sea and today I’m happy to be able to share the entirety of the film, “Minor Accident of War” with you.
The film did very well on the film festival circuit and is now in consideration for this year’s Oscar race. The 93rd Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 25, 2021 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.
If you’d like to watch “Minor Accident of War” in its entirety, which comes in at just under ten minutes, I’ve embedded it below. Be sure to turn up the volume, go to full screen, and just click the Play button.
* * * Minor Accident of War * * *
* * *
The talented “Minor Accident of War” team includes,
- Executive Producer Diane Fredel-Weis
- Story Edward Field
- Animator Piotr Kabat
- Narrator Edward Field
- Producers Diane Fredel-Weis and David Finch
- Animation Consultant Alex Kupershmidt
- Sound Design Michal Fojcik, Soundmind Studios
- Composer Alex Gimeno
- Production Supervisor Stephen M. Cyr
- Narration Recording John Kilgore Studios
- Technical Support Gabriel Weis
- Film Photographer Elise Bloom
- Legal Assistance Alana Crow
- Research Consultant Cindy Farrar Bryan
- Business Manager Andrea Ferraco
- With Special Thanks to 384th Bomb Group website and Craig Murray
I am proud to have played my part in the making of the film as the team’s Research Consultant. And I am especially proud that Diane chose to include a photo of my father, George Edwin Farrar, who was a fellow 384th Bomb Group airman of Edward and Jack, although at a different time in the war, in the film. If you were wondering, that’s my dad who shows up at 7:11 in the film.
I’d also like to share a few recent articles about the film.
- “Diane Weis & Piotr Kabat Discuss Their Powerful Short ‘Minor Accident of War'” by Animation Magazine
- “Gay WWII Veteran Tells Harrowing Tale of Survival in Animated Short” by The Advocate
- “Hand-Drawn ‘Minor Accident of War’ Tells Harrowing Personal WWII Story” by Animation World Network
- “Miami Beach native makes film about gay uncle serving in WWII” in the Miami Herald
For more information, visit…
The “Minor Accident of War” website
You may read more – all previous posts, in fact, if you’re so inclined – about Edward and Jack and their crash into the North Sea on February 3, 1945 by following the links at the end of this article.
And for the curious, a few photos…
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2021
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