Ball of Fire BALL OF FIRE QUARTERLY EXPRESS Newsletter of the 93rd Bombardment Group 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, Hardwick, England Vols, No.l Spring, 1997, ‘Vice President, 2ADA Paul R. Steich ‘Alfred Asch Floyd H. Mabee 1785 Shuey Ave. #105 6205 Meadow Court 28 Hillside Avenue Walnut Creek, CA 94596 Rockville, MD 20852 Dover, NJ 05801 510) 939-3440 (301) 881-1376 201) 366- S916 BOF News From Al Asch 1 am happy to report that Cal Davidson is recovering from open heart by-pass surgery. He left the hospital Feb 25, 1997 and reports that he is starting to feel good and hopes to start driving his car early April. His problem accounts for the fact that my news item did not appear in the last BOF except for the plaque design for the 93rd Bomb Group for dedication at the Arlington National ‘Cemetery this October. Cal, we are all pulling for you. Living Memorial at the Arlington National Cemetery: The project is moving forward for our 93rd memorial plaque at the Arlington National Cemetery. I am working with the Cemetery Horticulturist, Mr, Dihle, for the selection of the ‘ree to be planted in April and the plaque design has ‘been approved by the Superintendent, Mr. Metzler. Contracting for its manufacture will be accomplished during April Its design was published in the latest Ball of Fire publication. Let's plan on holding dedication ceremonies on the 10th of October of this year: this is a Friday. 1 will ask for Air Force support with at least an honor group and bugler. Out-of-towners will be invited to stay at ‘one hoteVmotel yet to be selected Bus transportation will be provided with a tour of the ‘cemetery following the ceremonies (10:00 AM) and lunch atthe Ft. Meyers Officers Club. We can have dinner together at the hotel that evening and simply ‘entertain ourselves. Attendees will be free for the weekend to visit Washington, DC, travel, or as you choose. You will be required to make your own room reservations and make payment to the hotel Paul Steichen and I will arrange for bus service, lunch at the Officer's Club and the banquet dinner ‘The next BOF will include a form for your use to attend the ceremonies. This will be discussed at the forthcoming 2ADA reunion at Irvine, California in May. It would be very helpful if you will give me your intentions now for attending the dedication ‘ceremonies; my address is: Alfred Asch, 6205 Meadow Court, Rockville, Md 20852. Telephone 301 881-1376. If you call and I am not at home, please leave a message on my answering machine 93rd Bu: Reunion: Evelyn Cohen is providing us with a ‘conference room for our business meeting at 0300 P.M. on Saturday, 24 May at the Irvine reunion hotel. The room number and suggested agenda will bbe handed out at registration. Several items to discuss, ¢g.. our organization, dedication ‘ceremonies atthe Arlington National Cemetery, the Sth Air Force Museum. and election of our officers, namely the 2ADA Vice President for the forthcoming year. Evelyn has also provided us with an excellent hospitality room. Remember to bring ess Meeting at the 2ADAyour pictures and memorabilia from the 93rd to exhibit in the hospitality room 8th Air Force Heritage Museum: According to the latest new releases by General Shuler, the Museum is coming of age. Almost 40,000 people visited the museum during the first ight months of its operation. The objective is to build up the number of visitors 10 500 per day ‘Membership is almost 5,000 now but there should ‘be many more when one considers the thousands of, 8th Air Force veterans and interested citizens and students who should become members. The museum has a great program for their Memorial Gardens, ie, Wall of Valor and individual memorial plaques. Cal Davidson suggested to me that we start thinking about having names of some of our notables on the Wall of Valor or an individual plaque. Generals Timberlake and George Brown immediately come to mind. We have others of distinction: two pilots received the Congressional Medal of Honor and four the Distinguished Service Cross, This will be an agenda item at the Irvine reunion. The museum is starting other programs such as archives where one can have historical information stored for later retrieval, The library is functional and the cafeteria and gift shop are operating The staff is planning its first anniversary celebration at the museum May 15-18, 1997. Our the 93rd, display case is to be completed by then As I have done in the past, | encourage you to join the museum if you have not already done so. The address is P. 0. Box 1992, Savannah, Ga Ted's Travelling Circus: Some of you have called me about ways and means of getting our history book authored by Cal Stewart, Yes, he and Peg have moved; their new address; Carroll Stewart, Apartment 323, 7150 Holmes Park Rd. Lincoln. Nebraska 68506, Tele 402 484.6046 2 ADA Semi-Annual Executive Committee Meeting: Paul Stcichen covered the semi-annual Executive Committee meeting for me in February He reports it was a good one. He was also highly complimentary about the speech given by Walter Stewart about the famous low altitude Ploesti raid, ‘Walter was the main speaker at the 2ADA Western Regional Reunion held in February: ‘Thanks, Paul! The Jerstad Family: Treceived a telephone call on March 14 from a Lee Jerstad of Racine, WI. He is a distant relative of “Major John L. Jerstad, one of our early pilots, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumous, on August 1, 1943 for the low altitude raid against the oil industry in and around Ploesti. Through Lee, I located Jerstad’s sister in Humbird. WI, Mrs Mary Jacobs. She has Jerstad's Medal of Honor and is trying to decide what to do with it so that it will have a permanent home. We have a section at the 8th Air Force Museum where the Ploesti raid is featured with pictures of Addison Baker and Jerstad and an exact copy of the Medal of Honor the Air gave us. Jerstad’s sister informed me that a schoo! in Wisconsin is either named or going tobe named after Jerstad and I understand they will have some memorabilia about him. I am sending her copies of the material I have for her use with the school Did you know? received a letter from Earl Zimmerman of the 389th reporting that he received a jigsaw purzle from his daughter. She bought it in Houston and it turned out to be a 93rd airplane. probably a ‘model, coming in over the coast of England on the way home, The name of the B24 was Safe Haven ‘The puzzle was purchased at a Wall Mart store, Do any of you have any information about Safe Haver’? If so, send it to me and I will include it in subsequent issues of the Journal and BOF Forthcoming Reunion: Remember, the 2ADA 50th Annual Convention (Reunion) will be held this May 23-26 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Irvine, California. I's the 50th anniversary for the 2ADA. Make your arrangements with Evelyn Cohen, Hope to sce all of you there, God bless you all! Alfred Asch 6205 Meadow Court Rockville, MD 20852 Folded Wings John J. Houlihan Harold E. Mahaffey Guin B Ellison Chaplain Joseph B. Murphy“Hello Milfoil This is Wee Willie” The Diary of Capt Edward L. McGuire 40 BS, 931d BG. Base to target is Uncle Sum’s time. Target to base you're on your own!" = Col Therman Hrown 93rd CO, Final Episode | tumed the radio off and headed into Germany alone. After a while, way off there were some specks, Them or ours? Thank God, a B24 Group going in all alone, I moved in to about 500 yards ‘out and made the full formal radio call. We had been alerted some time before that the Krauts were salvaging parts from wrecks, building up ships which would join a formation and all of a sudden shoot down a few and leave, so I was careful of my entry. After bi, the lead said, “Throughfare, Wee Willie, we're glad to have you with us” | replied, Tim d— glad to be with you all” Just a few minutes more and we passed over a hole in the clouds under us and the first 88 burst blew the lead ship up. The high right squadron promptly made a 360 to the right, losing altitude and joined the low left squadron, just as it passed over the hole in the clouds and again, the first burst blew up the lead ship As best I remember, we went on a short while and finally turned back. T don't remember what we did with the bombs. dropped them in the sea I think, because it was difficult to know where our own troops were at any moment by this time, I finally landed at Milfoil Soon April 21, 1945 it was over. Both Shorty Gardner and I were thrown into the water tank by the test of the crew, which was the normal celebration for the completion of a tour Then I went into Sqdn Ops. soaking, dripping wet First | got h— for joyriding, then for not returning on the recall and only got mission eredit after the Squadron Operations officer, Major Gray. telephoned the other group and they verified that I had been with them, we had been under enemy fire and had sustained losses, So much for rewarding the eager! It was a curious feeling, being finished No ‘more missions, no more duties; a let down. a lost and relicyed mixture. | passed up taking part in the trolley missions, low level aerial guided tours for the ground personnel to see what their efforts had contributed to. Instead I got seven days sick leave starting the 25th and wandered off all alone down to Plymouth where [was the only guest in a Red Cross Club on the Hoe and the ladies, having only me in the club, harassed me with attention, Next morning left and returned to London and back to the Base All was utter confusion. | requested a ral ticket to Leeds for the next day, but when I went into ‘Sqdn, Hdgs. the next morning for the ticket, the First Sgt said, “Im sorry, Captain, but everybody is, restricted tothe base.” “The h—you say, what for? 's VE Day!” * Well Sgt I'm going to London and if 'm needed I'll be at the Reindeer Club,” and 1 ‘walked out, passed off the Base between MP posts, ‘walked through the fields down to a railroad station ‘and joined a couple of hundred Gi's doing the same thing. I would guess we wound up with 400 Gis all going AWOL for at least a day ‘The compartment I entered held about six sergeants and one corporal. Everybody acted real nervous about me until | said, “Relax, men, I'm doing the same thing you are.” Great relief all around and we enjoyed our ride to London, but before we got there it dawned on somebody’ that they probably would have MP's there to tum us right around, I said, “Let's ry something. When we got into the station, the corporal can try getting up the stairs and into the station. If they don't bother him, we're in If they stop him, all of you unload on the platform, I'l form you into columns ‘and march you in as reinforcements, in case of trouble” Everybody is holding his breath including ‘me as we rollin, The train stops, one compartment door opens, and a solitary Corporal gets out, walks the length of the boarding platform, up those long stairs and the-two MP's, who were always at the head of the stairs, kept on chatting with each other and paid no attention to him whatsoever. In about say five minutes, over 400 AWOL Gi's and me are ‘out of the train and up the stairs into London T went to the Reindeer Club and signed in immediately, There was a Lt, Kelly from our group just about to return to Base and I talked him into staying over, AWOL or not. I knew no one at the Base would be sober enough to know if we were there or not, even if they felt in our beds, Besides, the lady in charge of the Reindeer Club and her nice assistant invited Kelly and me to her apartment in Maida Vale for supper. Real home cooked food, wow! I had acquired a pinch bottle of Haig & Haig and the lady in charge had a magnum of champagne. Kelly and | finally found the place and the ladies served up a delightful meal, after which we went up on the roof It was a flat roofed apartment building with a parapet wall all around, and we all sat down in the utter darkness of the black-out and proceeded to tap the bottles. After a ‘while, one of the anti-aireraft search lights which