Thanks Guys
My Great Uncle was shot down over the English Channel in a B-24 Liberator and was lost, also in 1944. Made me dig into this story a little more (in addition to having lived in CO for many years). Here is some additional background into who these guys were and what happened to them 64 years ago. Thanks to all involved for the fitting and touching memorial.
http://m.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/09/airmen-lost-to-history-no-more/
Airmen lost to history no more
Fallen WWII crew to be saluted after decades of secrecy
Ashleigh Oldland Saturday, August 9, 2008
Six planes took off from Pueblo on a sunny August afternoon 64 years ago today on a training mission over eastern Colorado.
They were practicing fighter interception, bombing and flying in formation.
The first sign of trouble was a line of smoke breaking the seamless sky from an engine on one of the bombers.
The tragedy that was to come was one of more than 100 crashes in Colorado that killed young crewmen training for battle in World War II.
The 10 men on the ill- fated plane - ranging in age from 18 to 24 - will be remembered today in a ceremony on the ground where their lives ended.
Aug. 9, 2007
A group of 13 - some family, some friends, most strangers - armed themselves with metal detectors and parked in a field near Kiowa to search for remains of the plane, a B-24 Liberator.
Chuck Marvel, 86, felt compelled to find the place where his friend, Harold Humphrey, died in the crash in 1944 - just months after introducing Marvel to his wife, Val Pritekel.
"Val and I had always planned to find the site - I don't really know why we never got around to it," Marvel said. "After her death on Feb. 26, 2007, there was something in me that forced me to find the site."
Marvel's son, Bill, 62, wanted to help his father find the spot where the plane went down.
"My dad took a greatly renewed interest in finding the crash site after my mom died," he said. "It was the least I could do to help my dad close this chapter in his life."
Larry Carpenter, 74, has found a unique hobby in documenting World War II crash sites. He has mapped about 50 sites in Colorado, with his wife of 55 years, Vi, often helping with the search. The Carpenters have taken several dozen surviving relatives to visit crash sites.
More than 120 fatal military plane crashes were reported in Colorado from 1941 to 1945, taking the lives of more than 400 men and four women, Carpenter said. War-time secrecy and the urgency of training left many of the crashes forgotten in history.
Marv Maul, Walt Maul and Bryce Gresham were teenagers when they saw the bomber crash, but the three thought they could remember where it fell.
After an hour of searching the group was discouraged. Chances weren't good for recovering anything from a field that had been cultivated many times since the crash.
But just as the group had decided to give up, Marv Maul's wife, Nancy, picked up a small chunk of aluminum. Larry Carpenter spotted more aircraft pieces.
"I picked up three pieces, only a square inch or so in size, before I was sure I could yell to the others I'd found it," Carpenter said.
Marvel, walking with a cane, was helped to the spot where he knelt down and collected four small pieces of the wreckage to take to his home in Kansas.
The group held a moment of silence after they placed a U.S. flag on top of what was left of the wreckage.
Aug. 9, 1944
It was dusk when three teenage brothers were putting their horses up for the night and heard an unusual noise.
Looking skyward, Marv, Walt and Lloyd Maul could see the B-24 trailing smoke from an engine fire. The brothers watched as a wing fell off. The plane spiraled down, crashed into the ground and exploded.
Marv, Walt and the boys' parents rushed two miles south from their home to the crash site to help. Lloyd stayed behind to finish some farm work.
Those who went to help called out to anyone who might be inside the wreckage, but there was no response.
"When we saw the plane, we knew there weren't any survivors," said Marv, who was 11 years old at the time. "We felt so inadequate to rescue them."
The Mauls tried to pull the plane's tail section away with their truck in case anyone might still be inside. Onlookers tried to put out the flames with dirt.
Marv, now 75, said he remembers every minute of that day - especially the bodies and the crying.
"I had not seen a lot of adults cry," he said. "Walking around there, there were a lot of people crying."
Bryce Gresham was 17, working on a silo with two other men, when he saw the bomber spiral behind a hill. Gresham went to the crash site and helped carry away the dead and cover them with a parachute.
"At the time, being a 17-year- old boy, it was my first real contact with World War II," he said.
Gresham took a piece of aluminum from the plane as a souvenir, which his wife later gave to a scrap drive for the Vietnam War.
Gresham lives in the same house he lived in when the plane crashed. In fact, he sleeps in the same room he was born in 81 years ago.
June 6, 1944
Chuck Marvel, a hardened veteran returning from South Pacific campaigns, met Harold Humphrey, 24, who had served in Europe, at the Pueblo Army Air Base.
Marvel and "Humpy," as he was called by friends, were roommates and as close as brothers.
On D-Day, two months before the crash, Marvel met up with Humpy at their frequented hangout, The Alibi Lounge. Humpy was there with a "very attractive blonde."
Humpy introduced the two, who would be married less than a year later.
Today
At 11 a.m. today, a monument will be dedicated at the crash site to honor the airmen who lost their lives. Chuck and Bill Marvel, Marv Maul and Gresham will speak.
The monument was funded by private donations.
Humpy's photograph and four pieces of the wreckage are on display in Marvel's Kansas home.
Surviving relatives include James Lenavitt's brothers, Jack Lenavitt and Gerald Lenavitt; Edward Meszaros' nephew, Gary Meszaros; George Ritzel's nephew, Carl Ritzel; Martin Affeldt's wife, Veronica, and their daughter, Diane; and Affeldt's cousin, Carol Affeldt Gazada.
For directions to the monument, contact Bill Marvel at
[email protected].
The crew
*Pilot, 2nd Lt. Charles W. Swallow, 22, from Beverly Hills, Calif.
*Co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Vincent J. Mannix, 22, from Elmhurst, N.Y.
*Bombardier, 2nd Lt. Martin F. Affeldt, 23, from Susquehanna, Pa.
*Radio instructor, Tech Sgt. Harold E. Humphrey, 24, from Johnson City, N.Y.
*Engineer, Cpl. Bill Fowler, from Greenville, Miss.
*Radio operator, Cpl. George A. Ritzel, 22, from Evansville, Ind.
*Gunner, Cpl. Elmer M. Mihalik, 22, from Aliquippa, Pa.
*Ball turret gunner, Cpl. Edward S. Meszaros, 20, from Cleveland
*Nose gunner, Pfc. James V. Lenavitt, 18, from Kittanning, Pa.
*Tail gunner, Pfc. John A. Hoffman, from Bernalillo, N.M.
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