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Patricia Albrecht’s Letter to Mrs. Buslee
In mid-March 1945, Patricia Albrecht, the wife of Buslee crew co-pilot David Franklin Albrecht, sent Mrs. Buslee, John Oliver (Jay) Buslee’s mother, this letter. Both the Albrecht and Buslee families had learned the sad fate of their sons who died side by side in the cockpit of the B-17 43-37822 in the skies above Magdeburg, Germany on September 28, 1944.
March 18, 1945
Scribner, Nebr.
Dearest Mrs. Buslee:
Your letter went on to Chico, and then back here. I’ve been with Dave’s folks just a week now.
It was grand to hear from you. I haven’t written any letters since I received the news. It doesn’t seem possible and I hope it isn’t true, but I would hate to believe him alive and then someday realize he wasn’t. We heard that the boys’ plane was cut in half by another B-17, out of control. The only hope is that they may have bailed out before, but if they didn’t I can’t imagine them living through such a collision, but as you, am not going to give up hope entirely until the war in Germany is over.
I guess as far as the Government is concerned the case is closed. They have been sending me papers to fill out for Dave’s insurance. I can’t hardly bring myself to fill them out, but suppose I will have to.
I mailed Marilyn a card yesterday telling her about it. Now, I realize I shouldn’t have, but too late now. She made me promise to tell her when I heard something.
I received the pkg. and should have thanked you before now, but you know how you just can’t write now and then. The robe was beautiful and the baby has started to play with toys a little and the toy really catches her eyes. I have a picture to send you of the baby when she was 6 weeks old. She will be 4 months the 8 and weighs about 14 lbs. She looks exactly like Dave did and is just beautiful. I can’t even dream what I’d do without her.
Do you have Chet’s address? I was so glad for him. I imagine it seems pretty swell to him to be home again.
Write again soon please. We don’t know any more about the boys, and the minute we hear some news I’ll write. I’ve been thinking about you folks and Janice a lot. Tell Janice to drop a line. I thought so much of Janice and Gene. I hope to remain
Your Friend Always,
Pat & Nancy
Notes
- David and Patricia Albrecht married on December 24, 1943. Their daughter, Nancy, was born on December 8, 1944, while Dave Albrecht was still considered missing in action over Germany. Patricia was from Chico, California.
- Marilyn was Marilyn Fryden, widow of Marvin Fryden, the original bombardier of the Buslee crew who was killed on his second mission on August 5, 1944.
- Chet was Chester Rybarczyk, original navigator of the Buslee crew who was not on board the Buslee crew’s B-17 on September 28, 1944 when it collided with another B-17.
- Janice was Janice Buslee, the Buslee’s daughter and John Oliver (Jay) Buslee’s sister, married to Gene Kielhofer.
Thank you to John Dale Kielhofer, John Oliver (Jay) Buslee’s nephew, for sharing this family letter with me.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
A Deep Hurt That Cannot Be Reached
Four days after his last note to the Buslee family, Louis Albrecht, father of the Buslee crew co-pilot David Franklin Albrecht, sent them this letter of sympathy. Both the Albrecht and Buslee families had learned the sad fate of their sons who died side by side in the cockpit of the B-17 43-37822 in the skies above Magdeburg, Germany on September 28, 1944.
Feb. 3, 1945
Congregational Church
Scribner, Nebr.
Louis M. Albrecht, Pastor
Mr. & Mrs. John Buslee
Chicago, Ill.
Dear Friends: Your letter received. We received the same kind of a message. Our sympathy is with you. There is little that a person can say. Just a deep hurt that can not be reached. Our boys have done their duty and I try to feel that this is more than life. I wouldn’t want David to be alive in some men’s shoes. Our younger son was wounded Dec. 1. He was still in the hospital the last we heard. We expect David’s wife to come to be with us soon. May God’s power be with you in our prayer.
Rev. & Mrs. Louis M. Albrecht & Girls
Thank you to John Dale Kielhofer, John Oliver (Jay) Buslee’s nephew, for sharing this family letter with me.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
Sad News from Louis Albrecht
Eight days after his first letter to the Buslee family, Louis Albrecht, father of the Buslee crew co-pilot David Franklin Albrecht, sent them this short, sad note.
January 30, 1945
(Incorrectly dated Dec. 30, 1945)
Dear Friends. We have just received word that David was killed in action Sept. 28, 1944. We hope you have had better news.
Truly Yours,
Louis M. Albrecht
Scribner, Nebr.
Unfortunately, the Buslee family had received the same sad news on January 28, 1945, which they shared in a letter to my grandmother, Raleigh Mae Farrar, the mother of Buslee crew waist gunner, George Edwin Farrar, my father.
Thank you to John Dale Kielhofer, John Oliver (Jay) Buslee’s nephew, for sharing this family letter with me.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
Louis Albrecht Letter to the Buslees
Almost four months since the B-17’s of the Buslee and Brodie crews of the 384th Bomb Group collided over Magdeburg, Germany, the father of David Franklin Albrecht, co-pilot of the Buslee crew, wrote a letter to Jay Buslee’s (the pilot’s) parents. The boys were still considered Missing in Action.
January 22, 1945
(Letter incorrectly dated December 22, 1945)
Congregational Church
Scribner, Nebr.
Louis M. Albrecht, PastorMr. John Buslee
Park Ridge, Illinois.Dear Friends: We appreciate your letters and interest and wish to thank you. I am enclosing a copy of a circular letter which we sent to a number of our friends. There is very little to add. We are anxiously waiting every day for more news.
Pat [David Albrect’s wife Patricia] has had her baby girl now. She is getting along real well. Since her folks are working that leaves her with the house work and she seems to be very busy. She plans to come out to be with us soon.
Our second boy had a very narrow escape. A machine gun was turned onto his buddy and himself. His buddy was killed. Junior received some scalp wounds. The last letter was written Jan. 8. He doesn’t expect to get to the front line till spring. We hope and pray that the war may be over before he has to get into action.
We have also been writing to different members of the families of our boys crew. The news and response was similar to that which you received. We also hope with you for more and better news.
Sincerely yours,
Louis M. Albrecht
Mr. Albrecht included the circular letter,
Undated
(Enclosed Circular Letter)
Congregational Church
Scribner, Nebr.
Louis M. Albrecht, PastorDear Friends: As you can see by the heading we are now located at Scribner. Several factors entered to make moving advisable. This is a large town, a bigger field, and has more desirable school facilities. It seemed to be an advicable step from every viewpoint.
The people here are just wonderful, but that is nothing unusual, as we have always found excellent people wherever we were. We have had extremes of joys and sorrows during the past few months and found that friends from everywhere prayed for and sympathized with us. During the last three months we received in the neighborhood of three hundred lovely cards and messages of sympathy and good will. It is almost impossible to write a personal letter to all but we want you to know that we appreciate your kindnesses and thoughtfulness. We would enjoy a visit from you.
Our older son, David, has been missing since Sept 28 1944. We have not received any other information. He had been commended for meritorious service and had attained the rank of First Lieut. The younger boy, Louis Jr. through a series of bad breaks caused mostly by political bungling, was finally reverted to the infantry and went into active service in Holland and Germany. He was wounded while in action at the front in Germany on Dec. 1 and is now recuperating in England. He is probably back at the front by this time. He has been awarded the purple heart. Last letter written Dec. 26.
The rest of us are here; the girls in school and Mrs. A. and I are trying to do the pastoral work for this parish. This is a town of about one thousand, mixed nationalities but a majority of German descent. It is a beautiful town located on the Elkhorn River. The church and parsonage are side by side and the city park is just across the street to the east. The church had been re-decorated during the past year. New chancel and pews. We have a nice pipe organ and gas heat throughout. No coal to carry nor ashes to clean out. Just keep warm and pay the bills at the end of every month.
There have been quite a number of deaths this fall. Mostly older people. This town was hit by a terrific flood last June 11. It has almost fully recovered. The people set to work with a will and have re-built better than ever. The railroad to Dodge and beyond is almost ready for use.
We hope that this circular letter will partly compensate for the nice messages and cards we have received. May God’s blessings be with you and protect you and yours is our prayer.
Mr. and Mrs. Louis K. Albrecht and Girls.
The 1st Congregational Church of Scribner, Nebraska is today known as United Church of Christ. It is located at 614 Howard Street.
Thank you to John Dale Kielhofer, John Oliver (Jay) Buslee’s nephew, for sharing this family letter with me.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
Two-hundreth Mission Celebration, Revisited
I originally published this article on September 24, 2014. Realizing that the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 384th Bomb Group’s 200th Mission party would coincide with the date of the last day of the 384th Bomb Group Historical Association’s 2019 reunion and farewell dinner, held in England this year, I decided to review the article and found a few errors. So I’m republishing it today with corrections. (I have corrected the original, too, so if you look back at the 2014 article, you’ll just see this same information).
Invitation to the 384th Bomb Group’s 200th Mission Celebration, courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group Website Photo Gallery
On September 23, 1944, the 384th Bomb Group celebrated their two-hundredth mission, although that milestone mission would actually be flown four days later.
Mission 197 was flown on Thursday, September 21. The party was on a Saturday – September 23. Mission 198 was flown on the 25th, and 199 on the 26th.
The boys reached mission 200 on Wednesday, September 27. The 384th Bomb Group formed the 41st CBW “A” wing for Mission 200’s attack on the railroad marshalling yards of Cologne, Germany.
On Mission 200, there were several mishaps and not everyone made it back to Grafton-Underwood alive.
- The Donald George Springsted crew and Bert O. Brown, Jr. crew were involved in a taxi accident prior to takeoff. The Brown crew’s aircraft, 44-6080, had to be scrapped. The Springsted’s aircraft, Sneakin’ Deacon, was repaired in time to fly the next day’s mission.
- The Loren L. Green crew aboard Pro Kid had to abort and turn back due to an internal failure in an engine.
- The Frank F. Cepits crew aboard The Challenger came back with the #3 engine feathered. (See Note)
- The James W. Orr crew aboard Tremblin’ Gremlin II experienced a bomb bay door malfunction over the target. The bomb bay doors could not be opened, either electrically or manually. Gremlin returned to base still loaded with all of her bombs.
- The John H. Hunt, Jr. crew had a harrowing landing. Boss Lady’s tail wheel would not extend for the landing. Fortunately, no one was injured.
- The William J. Blankenmeyer crew landed with wounded aboard. Rebel came back with an injured tail gunner, Robert H. Hoyman.
- Navigator Richard Leroy Lovegren of the Raymond J. Gabel crew aboard Fightin’ Hebe was killed by flak. He is buried at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England: Plot E Row 5 Grave 12. I will have the opportunity to visit Lt. Lovegren’s grave during the 384th’s visit to the American Cemetery at Madingley during the reunion.
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, completed Mission 200 with the John Oliver Buslee crew aboard Hale’s Angels, which was the high group deputy and hot camera ship. They completed the mission without incident.
The James Joseph Brodie crew did not fly Mission 200, but both the Buslee and Brodie crews would be part of the bomber stream for Mission 201 on Thursday, September 28, 1944, and it would be their last. The Buslee crew aboard 43-37822 and the Brodie crew aboard Lazy Daisy collided coming off the target at Magdeburg at about ten minutes past noon. Aboard the two ships, fourteen men lost their lives, and four became prisoners of war.
What a difference one mission could make for an airman in WWII. For the Buslee and Brodie crews, Mission 200 was a celebration, Mission 201, a disaster.
Note
The Challenger was lost on February 3, 1945 when the pilot was forced to ditch in the North Sea. Ball turret gunner Jack Coleman Cook saved the life of navigator Edward Field on this mission and The Challenger sank to the bottom of the North Sea.
Source
384th Bomb Group Photo Gallery
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
Why Did the Caterpillar Cross the Pond?
Question: Why did the caterpillar cross the pond?
Answer: To save the lives of airmen who were forced to bail out of disabled aircraft, like George Edwin Farrar of the 384th Bomb Group of the USAAF 8th Army Air Forces and Lawrence Edgar Newbold of the RAF 50 Squadron in WWII.
I recently wrote about Lawrence Newbold here. Lawrence was forced to bail out of his Avro Lancaster on March 18, 1944 on a mission to Frankfurt. Six months later, my dad, George Farrar, was thrown from his disabled B-17 on September 28, 1944 on a mission to Magdeburg. Dad and Lawrence were assigned as fellow POWs in Room 12 of the Stalag Luft IV prison camp.
I even more recently was able to connect with Lawrence Newbold’s family in England and his grandson Paul Newbold kindly shared a photo of Lawrence’s Caterpillar Club certificate and pin with me.
Lawrence Newbold’s Caterpillar Club card and pin
Photo by Paul Newbold
Seeing Lawrence’s Caterpillar Club certificate and pin jogged my memory of how important a wonderful invention – the parachute – was to the airmen of WWII and specifically to my dad and to me. If my dad hadn’t been wearing his in his midair collision of September 28, 1944, he would not have survived, married my mother, and had me or my sister.
During WWII, several companies manufactured and sold parachutes to both the American and British military. The Irvin Air Chute Company was one of them, as was the Switlik Parachute Company.
In 1919, Leslie Irvin, a stuntman from California, borrowed a sewing machine and made the first “free drop” parachute, which he demonstrated himself to flying safety experts. He so impressed them that the American and British Air Forces adopted the parachute as standard equipment. Irvin established his first American factory in Buffalo, New York that year and his first European factory in Letchworth, England in 1926. The Irvin Letchworth factory produced a peak of nearly 1,500 parachutes a week during the height of WWII.
Both the Irvin and Switlik companies began Caterpillar Clubs which awarded certificates and pins as testimony to the life saving ability of the parachute. The requirement for each was that the applicant must have bailed out of a disabled or flaming aircraft under emergency conditions.
The name of the club came about because in the early days of the parachute, they were made from pure silk. The clubs used the symbol of the silk worm caterpillar, which descends slowly by spinning a silk thread to hang from.
By WWII, silk could no longer be imported from Japan and the parachutes used by American and British airmen were primarily made of nylon. Regardless of the material used in the construction of their parachutes, after the end of WWII, by late 1945, there were 34,000 members of Irvin’s Caterpillar Club.
Airmen serving in WWII did not receive any training for bailing out or using their chutes other than a set of instructions. Though the Parachute Instructions (full instructions at the end of this article) suggest “It is advisable to have one side of the parachute pack snapped to the harness when in immediate danger,” most airmen didn’t strap them on until they heard an alarm or instructions from their pilot to bail out. Chutes were uncomfortable to wear and got in the way of an airman’s duties.
My dad must have been wearing his chute, which was a chest chute, or at least had one side of the pack strapped on, because I don’t think he would have had time to grab it when, and if, he saw another B-17 in his formation heading straight for him.
In the stories he told me when I was a child of the collision and his time as a prisoner of war, he said the reason he was the only survivor aboard his flying fortress was because he was the only one who “still had on his chute” after dropping the bombs on their target. He was knocked unconscious in the collision and awoke in free fall 5,000 feet from the ground to the sound of his mother’s voice calling his name. After hooking up his chute and taking in the view of the countryside below him, he lost consciousness again and didn’t awaken until he lay injured on the ground, being beaten by an older German woman.
On his parachute ride down, he did not see the B-17 from which he had been thrown burning and spinning into the clouds. He did not see the ball turret knocked from the ship with the helpless gunner inside falling to Earth. The ball turret was too small for most gunners to wear their chutes inside the capsule. Even if my dad’s crew mates had been wearing their chutes, the centrifugal force of the spinning ship likely would have pinned them inside and prevented them from bailing out. They also may have been knocked unconscious in the horrific collision 25,000 feet above the ground, unable to find and strap on their parachutes.
But like Lawrence Newbold, my dad survived, thanks to his parachute, to also become a member of the Caterpillar Club. Dad joined both Irvin’s and Switlik’s clubs.
From the Irvin Air Chute Company…
Dad’s Caterpillar Club card issued by the Irvin Air Chute Company
One of Dad’s Caterpillar Club pins, likely from Irvin
From the Switlik Parachute Company…
Dad’s Caterpillar Club certificate issued by the Switlik Parachute Company
One of Dad’s Caterpillar Club pins, likely from Switlik
George Farrar and Lawrence Newbold endured Stalag Luft IV together, they survived the Black March together, and both became lifetime members of one of the most exclusive clubs in which no one wants to have to face the first requirement to become a member, having to bail out of a disabled aircraft in an emergency to save one’s life.
Parachute Instructions for B-17 Crews as presented at Stalag Luft I Online (link below)
- Handle the parachute pack gently and do not allow it to get wet or greasy.
- It is advisable to have one side of the parachute pack snapped to the harness when in immediate danger.
- Jumping Suggestions
- Make delayed jumps.
- Dampen oscillation.
- Face downwind.
- Keep feet together.
- Unhook snaps during descent if over water.
- Use static lines to bail out wounded personnel.
- Three short rings on alarm signal indicates “Prepare to bail out.” One long ring is the signal for “Bail Out.”
Source:
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2018
The 1973 Fire
On July 12, 1973, shortly after midnight, a fire was reported at the military personnel records building of the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in the Overland area of St. Louis, MO. Firefighters were on the scene in a little over four minutes after the first alarm. They were able to reach the fire on the sixth floor, but heat and smoke forced them out three hours later.
To combat the fire and contain the flames, the firefighters poured great quantities of water on the building and inside through broken windows. The fire, fueled by all those paper records, burned for twenty-two hours. It was two days before firefighters could re-enter the building. The fire department deemed the fire officially out on July 16, nearly four and a half days after it started. Investigators never officially determined the source of the fire due to the extensive damage.
The fire destroyed sixteen to eighteen million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). Records of Army personnel, of which WWII Army Air Forces were a part, discharged between November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960, suffered an eighty percent loss. There were no duplicate or microfilm copies, or even any indexes prior to the fire.
The National Archives immediately began a salvage operation to save as many records as possible. On July 23, Federal Property Management Regulations (FPRM) Bulletin B-39 halted Federal agencies from disposing of records that might be helpful in recreating the lost military service records. Those records have helped reconstruction efforts of basic service information. Also on July 23, the NPRC awarded a construction contract to salvage the remains from the sixth floor, and recovery efforts began. Approximately six and a half million burned and water damaged records were recovered due to this effort.
Just behind the fire damage was the water damage. Firefighters poured millions of gallons of water into the building fighting the fire. To stop sporadic flame-ups, they continued spraying water until late July. Broken water lines also flooded the building. The heaviest water damage was on the fifth floor, one floor below the destruction of the fire on the sixth. Once all the water was combined with the high temperatures and humidity of St. Louis in the summer, the next avenue of destruction was mold. Thymol was sprayed throughout the building to control a mold outbreak on all that highly susceptible paper.
The next challenge was how to dry all those millions of water-soaked records that remained. Records were shipped in plastic milk crates to several sites for drying on racks made from shelving. The McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis had vacuum-drying facilities, and those were utilized in addition to a NASA facility in Ohio.
During the reconstruction effort, the NPRC established a “B” (Burned) Registry file to index the six and a half million recovered records and set up a separate temperature controlled area for them. In April 1974, the NPRC established the “R” (Reconstructed) Registry file to further assist the reconstruction efforts. Reconstructed files were then stored in another new area separate from the Burned Registry files.
In the months following the fire, the NPRC established a new branch to deal with damaged records issues. The new branch’s central mission was to reconstruct records for those requesting service information. Records were reconstructed from documents and alternate sources outside of the NPRC as well as the center’s organizational files. Alternate sources included Veterans Administration (VA) claims files, individual state records, Multiple Name Pay Vouchers (MPV) from the Adjutant General’s Office, Selective Service System (SSS) registration records, pay records from the Government Accounting Office (GAO), as well as medical records from military hospitals, entrance and separation x-rays and organizational records.
Source of information: http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html
To be continued: how to request records and my personal experience locating my dad’s service records with the NPRC.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2016
Two-hundreth Mission Celebration
Updated March 27, 2019
Invitation to the 384th Bomb Group’s 200th Mission Celebration, COURTESY OF THE 384TH BOMB GROUP WEBSITE PHOTO GALLERY
On September 23, 1944, the 384th Bomb Group celebrated their two-hundredth mission, although that milestone mission would actually be flown four days later.
Mission 197 was flown on Thursday, September 21. The party was on a Saturday – September 23. Mission 198 was flown on the 25th, and 199 on the 26th.
The boys reached mission 200 on Wednesday, September 27. The 384th Bomb Group formed the 41st CBW “A” wing for Mission 200’s attack on the railroad marshalling yards of Cologne, Germany.
On Mission 200, there were several mishaps and not everyone made it back to Grafton-Underwood alive.
- The Donald George Springsted crew and Bert O. Brown, Jr. crew were involved in a taxi accident prior to takeoff. The Brown crew’s aircraft, 44-6080, had to be scrapped. The Springsted’s aircraft, Sneakin’ Deacon, was repaired in time to fly the next day’s mission.
- The Loren L. Green crew aboard Pro Kid had to abort and turn back due to an internal failure in an engine.
- The Frank F. Cepits crew aboard The Challenger came back with the #3 engine feathered. (See Note)
- The James W. Orr crew aboard Tremblin’ Gremlin II experienced a bomb bay door malfunction over the target. The bomb bay doors could not be opened, either electrically or manually. Gremlin returned to base still loaded with all of her bombs.
- The John H. Hunt, Jr. crew had a harrowing landing. Boss Lady’s tail wheel would not extend for the landing. Fortunately, no one was injured.
- The William J. Blankenmeyer crew landed with wounded aboard. Rebel came back with an injured tail gunner, Robert H. Hoyman.
- Navigator Richard Leroy Lovegren of the Raymond J. Gabel crew aboard Fightin’ Hebe was killed by flak. He is buried at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England: Plot E Row 5 Grave 12. I will have the opportunity to visit Lt. Lovegren’s grave during the 384th’s visit to the American Cemetery at Madingley during the reunion.
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, completed Mission 200 with the John Oliver Buslee crew aboard Hale’s Angels, which was the high group deputy and hot camera ship. They completed the mission without incident.
The James Joseph Brodie crew did not fly Mission 200, but both the Buslee and Brodie crews would be part of the bomber stream for Mission 201 on Thursday, September 28, 1944, and it would be their last. The Buslee crew aboard 43-37822 and the Brodie crew aboard Lazy Daisy collided coming off the target at Magdeburg at about ten minutes past noon. Aboard the two ships, fourteen men lost their lives, and four became prisoners of war.
What a difference one mission could make for an airman in WWII. For the Buslee and Brodie crews, Mission 200 was a celebration, Mission 201, a disaster.
Note
The Challenger was lost on February 3, 1945 when the pilot was forced to ditch in the North Sea. Ball turret gunner Jack Coleman Cook saved the life of navigator Edward Field on this mission and The Challenger sank to the bottom of the North Sea.
Source
384th Bomb Group Photo Gallery
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014, 2019
Safety in Flying
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, saved his life with a parachute after the mid-air collision of Lead Banana and Lazy Daisy on September 28, 1944. This feat granted him admittance to the Caterpillar Club, whose sole requirement of members was that they had to bail out of a disabled aircraft and were able to save their lives with a parachute. Note the term “disabled.” Parachuting from an aircraft for recreational purposes did not make one eligible for membership.
Four and a half years after his bail out, Ed Farrar was still thinking about the parachute that saved his life when he wrote this letter to H. B. Lyon of the Caterpillar Club with an idea.
April 16, 1949
Chicago, Ill.
Caterpillar Club
Attn: Mr. H. B. Lyon, Executive Secretary
Broad Street Bank Bldg.
Trenton, N.J.Dear Sirs:
As a member of the Caterpillar Club, I naturally have an interest in the furthering of its program, safety in flying. The only way to accomplish this feat is to set up a definite program. That is, let the public hear our ideas. Of course this will take money, more than the club can afford at present I understand.
In the files of the club, I am sure are the largest collection of true, spectacular, and amazing escapes, that could ever be told. This in my opinion would make a wonderful radio program for a national hook-up of about 15 or 30 minutes a week, if presented right. There should be many prospective sponsors for such a program, that would pay well, for this information. The money the club received could be used to further the safety of flying. We could set up a safety school, so problems could be worked out, or at least determine some of the hazards in flying. There would be many details involved, but I will not try to elaborate on any at this time.
I must confess, I haven’t been a very good member. As a traveling salesman on the road most of the time, I haven’t had the opportunity to attend meetings. This idea may have been brought up before, but thought it wouldn’t hurt to mention it.
Will appreciate your reply, at your convenience, am looking forward to seeing all the fellows at a national convention one of these days.
Sincerely,
G. E. Farrar
c/o N.B.W.
224 W. Huron St.
Chicago 10, Ill.
My dad must have thought it important enough to save a copy of this letter he wrote, but to my knowledge, did not receive a reply. If he did, he did not save it.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
Veronica Brodie
James Joseph Brodie, the pilot of the Lazy Daisy who lost his life on September 28, 1944, had a brother named Francis and two sisters, Veronica and Mary. James was the youngest child in the family. Veronica was three years older than James, Mary was ten years older, and Francis was twelve years older. With such a wide difference in ages between the two older children and the two younger ones, Veronica was probably closer to James than Mary and Francis. It would be Veronica who felt the loss of her brother more deeply and took steps to find where he had been buried.
War Department
Office of the Quartermaster General
Washington 25, D.C.23 June 1947
QMGMF 29
Brodie, James J.
S.N. 01 012 186Address Reply To
THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL
Attention: Memorial DivisionMiss Veronica Brodie
c/o Ginn and Company
2301-2311 Prairie Avenue
Chicago 16, IllinoisDear Miss Brodie:
I have received your letter concerning your brother, the late First Lieutenant James J. Brodie.
The official Report of Burial discloses that the remains of your brother were interred in Plot R, Row 9, Grave 220, in the United States Military Cemetery Margraten, Holland, located ten miles west of Aachen, Germany.
Please accept my sincere sympathy in the loss of your brother.
Sincerely yours,
RICHARD B. COOMBS
Major, QMC
Memorial Division
Today, cemetery records show that James Brodie is buried in the cemetery’s Plot J, Row 13, Grave 4.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
The Arrowhead Club 