Eighth Air Force Historical Society - Massachusetts Chapter

The President's Message

With the summer now over we look forward in celebrating the holidays with our family and friends and planning for the coming year.
The highlights for 2004 are the fishing trip that originates at the Quincy Yacht Club, which has become an annual affair, a visit to the Battleship Massachusetts located in Fall River & the Aviation Heritage Festival presented by Daniel Webster College in Nashua, NH. To be aware of upcoming events it is imperative to attend our monthly meetings, the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Woburn Lodge of Elks.
We have 6 new members that have joined our organization so far this year with 2 pending. However, I still have concerns for the future of our chapter. I appeal to the membership to exert a maximum effort to enroll some young blood into our chapter.
Our Treasurer Al Audette & I attended the dedication of the WWII Memorial in Washington DC on May 29, 2004. The Memorial is situated between the Washington & Lincoln Memorials For those who have not visited the Memorial, it is a must experience. After all, you earned it by putting your life on the line defending this great nation. The 8thAFHS had a total of 385 members who were present.
Our editor, John Brennan, has suggested that we look to the future of the Vapor Trails. He like many of our aging members, who have medical problems, would like to gradually phase out as our editor. Again I appeal to the membership that someone who has creative writing ability step forward to assume the responsibility as editor of the Vapor Trails. This person could be your son, daughter or grandchild. Our present editor is willing to train a volunteer for the responsibility of future publications.
The fall fling is scheduled for November 18, 2004; don't forget to bring a gift for the raffle.

Let us support our troops in Iraq.

Al Dusey

Massachusetts Chapter List of Support Donors

Raymond Beaulieu
William A. Campbell
Herbert Conroy
Lewis Ferullo
Peter Gunn
Emulous Hall
Ed Johnson
George McNeil
Jack Messerlian
Carl Mula
Henry Oi
Charles Pearl
Silvio Perttinelli
John Ratcliffe
Lawrence Ristuccia
Walter Tarbell
John Wilson

This list is from the last Vapor Trails luncheon and does not exclude
past donors which we are forever grateful for their generosity.

Sam Micheli, Harvey's Salt Water Fishing Club

Sam did not have any idea that our outfit, the 8th Air Force Mass. Chapter, not only had a cash contribution to make to help with the expenses but also had two beautiful plaques, one to hang in the club house and the other on the bridge of the “Tanya Nicole”, our favorite lobster boat.

He writes: “Your donation is greatly appreciated and the plaque was truly a surprise for me and the club.” Thank you, Sam Miceli

Up the River with the Mass Chapter

Ten valiant members of the Massachusetts Chapter risked a long drive on The Bay State’s springtime highways and paid a visit to the aging battleship, “Massachusetts.” up, or is it down (?), in Battleship Cove. This old girl saw some fierce action and took a couple of hits that she absorbed with ease. Secretary Jack McKernan was our visiting expert. Jack held the rank of Master Chief Gunners Mate when he retired from the USNR a while back. This made the whispers by another visitor that he had seen McKernan taking Dramamine plainly ridiculous.

Jack answered questions about the 16 inch guns that can be seen looming over our head in the photo. Former aerial gunners had to ask themselves would they rather be in a ball turret while 20 millimeters were buzzing about or in action tucked away in a turret with enemy shells seemingly coming closer and closer?
George McNeil who recently survived a close call in a hospitalization that turned out OK and Ed Johnson who at this writing is fighting his own battle with health problems enjoyed the outing. President Al Dusey and former president Bill Campbell speculated whether the “Massachusetts” would be a great place to be visiting if there ever was a hurricane heading toward their home town. Dan Brundidge asked the eternal question “When do we eat?”

Lunch was served in the wardroom of the battleship. It was elegantly prepared and elegantly served in elegant surroundings. Grandfathers were making plans to take their grandchildren to Battleship Cove for a day thrilling to America’s nautical history sometime in the future. Years ago most grandparents took just their grandsons to such events but not any more. Times have changed. There are lots of young girls and young ladies whose grandmothers are just as much veterans as you are! Think our grandparents would ever have thought that day would come? -JB

Aviation on the Web

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome National Air & Space Museum
www.oldrhinebeck.org www.nasm.edu

Navy Lakehurst Historical Society Atlantic Flyer Home Page
www.nlhs.com www.aflyer.com

Lucky to have Henry!

Did you ever belong to an organization where there was one chap in particular whom everyone counted on to get things going? We have one like that and his name is Henry Sampson. On wonders if his ancestry could be traced back would we find that he is descended from, well, you know.

Need something at a meeting? Where is it? He’ll get it. Don’t know how to operate something? Let Henry show you.

Henry went to Europe with six others last May. When he returned he naturally wrote the trip up in a diary. There was so much in it about eating and snacks and dinners and what was tasty that I gained two pounds just in the first three chapters. Henry, of course, has a physique like the old movie star, Gary Cooper.
This is not to say Henry did not visit almost all the historical sights Americans would like to see. He saw them. His diary is far too long to reprint in good old VT but we will run his ideas on what it was like to be an American in France in the summer of 2904. The people are nice. You can smoke just about anywhere. They let dogs in restaurants. Restaurants are not open for food between 2:30 and 6:00. You can get a drink but no food. Who just shouted ‘I’ll drink to that”.

Just kidding, Henry, but we all would have gone with you if you asked!

So set, before its echoes fade...

A.E., Housman’s superb poem, “To an Athlete Dying Young”, cannot help but bring to mind all the young men who perished in aerial combat. You knew some. I knew some. We are now moving off stage and we cannot help but hope and pray that others will carry on the task of remembrance. I drive by Putterham Circle in South Brookline, Massachusetts, frequently and I note that the wooden sign dedicating the traffic circle to my old friend Staff Sgt. Frank Ryan is in need of replacement.

What brings this to mind is a letter from a Fred Farnsworth (email address: [email protected]) of Los Alamos, New Mexico. He is interested in the life of his late cousin, Lt. Everett Farnsworth, of Stillwater, Oklahoma. His cousin and Jimmy Stewart were close pals and used to double date the English girls who lived near the air field. I should note here that I have yet to hear one note of criticism of Jimmy either as an Airplane Commander, actor or as a human being.

Our correspondent says Jimmy told his cousin that he would honor him in a movie Stewart would make when he got back to the States. He gave Everett the name George Bailey in the movie we all have seen probably more than once. Its title was “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

Everett did not live to see the movie in which Stewart kept his promise. He was killed on a bombing mission when his badly shot- up Fortress went down in a Swiss lake. The name of the lake was Greifensee. Everett and one other were killed in the crash. Four other crewmen who had been ordered to bail out did so and survived. The plane was a B17G -serial no. 384BG/5545BS and it went down April 4, 1944. Anyone with information concerning the plane and its crew can forward it to “Vapor Trails”.

As long as I am still here to tell the tale let me home you in a bit on my pal Frank Ryan. He was a rich kid from a very patriotic family. He had a U.S. Marine brother who fought on Tarawa if my memory serves. Frankie went to “Cranwell”, a lahdeedah Jesuit boarding school in the Berkshires. I went to Boston College High, at that time a Dickensian Jebbie prep school in Boston’s tough South End. It is still close to my heart after all these years. We both wound up among the very few Radio Operator Gunners who could read Latin. (I can say this without fear of correction because all my Latin teachers are dead.)

We both joined the Army Air Corp in Brookline but didn’t see each other again until a couple of years later when we luckily met on a train back to Brookline. We were beginning the furloughs you get just before going overseas and presumably into combat. Frankie went to the Eighth Air Force whereas I wound up in the Tenth. I sent him a V-Mail from the 7th Bomb Groups airbase at Pandeveswar, Bengal soon after I got there. By this time the European air war was winding down. I wrote Frankie that he was one lucky guy because his war was just about finished whereas fliers in the CBI had a long way to go.

I sent the same note to Nate Douglas of Georgia whom I had met my first day of Basic Training and had been to CTD, Sioux Falls Radio School, and Gunnery School at Yuma. We said goodbye in Savannah where he was assigned to train on B17s and I was across town at Chatham Field training on Liberators.

A few weeks later I was sitting in front of a sweltering straw-roofed basha in Bengal, India, when a mail orderly came by and handed me the self-same V-Mails I had sent Ryan and Douglas. The orderly muttered “Sorry”. Both V-Mails were stamp “Killed in Action.”

Smart lad(s) to slip betimes away from fields where glory does not fade…
John Brennan, editor

Secretary's Minutes of 09/16/04 Meeting

The September meeting was held at the Woburn Lodge of Elks at 295 Washington Street, Woburn, Massachusetts. The meeting was chaired by President Al Dusey and called to order at 1100 hours. A written agenda was presented to the thirteen (13) members in attendance.

After the opening ceremony President Dusey requested the presentation of the following reports:
Secretary's Report: The minutes of the August 19th meeting were presented to the membership, accepted and filed. Treasurer's Report: Al Audette presented the Chapter’s financial status to the members noting a balance of $6,564.

The president reported that six new members were enrolled this year including; Chet Gunn & Tony Morelli present today.

OLD BUSINESS: The president noted that the national reunion of the 8thAF will be held in Kansas City, MO on Oct.5-10. John Brennan continues to seek material and a future editor for the Vapor Trails. A discussion followed in which Dagg Morse, Al Audette and John indicated that the Chapter may be forced to seek outside paid assistance to produce the VT.

NEW BUSINESS: President Al Dusey shared with the members the communication received from the Battleship Massachusetts staff in which they thanked the Chapter for their participation.

A few volunteers agreed to meet at the Woburn Lodge on Wednesday, Nov. 3rd to prepare the Vapor Trails for mailing.

We continue to seek a guest speaker for the fall fling.

George MacNeill, Bill Campbell and Henry Bengis commented on the Aviation Heritage Festival to be held on Sept. 25 & 26 at the Daniel Webster College in - Nashua, NH. A number of members indicated that they plan to attend.

Al Audette suggested that the membership consider a field trip to the WWII Museum (8 Mercer Rd) Natick, Massachusetts.

President Dusey informed the membership that the 2005 8thAFHS annual reunion will be held in Arlington, Virginia. Henry Bengis noted the difficulties in touring the Washington DC area because of security constraints.

Respectfully submitted,
Retired Navy Master Gunner’s Mate
John M. McKernan, Secretary

Anchors Aweigh in a Way

July 22 was a banner day for about 200 disabled veterans who were treated to a day on the briny by Harvey’s Salt Water Fishing Club. The fishing club is located on Hough’s neck in Quincy. We are told that the day at sea fishing and the treats that follow began in 1957. 2004 was especially nice because of the near perfect weather.

The Boston Harbor Lobsterman’s Association and the equally patriotic Boston Harbor Lobstermen’s Cooperative volunteered the use of their boats for the sail to sea. Your chapter members were again most wonderfully treated by their hosts of other years. Our boat this year was the “Tanya Nicole” and it was as clean and comfortable as a lobster boat can be. The crew also had sunscreen and soft drinks for the veterans. Our old pals crewed it and greeted us like family’.

Captain Dan Davis and Marie were host and hostess but that is to take nothing away from Dick and Peggy Simone who have been aboard with us for a number of years. We look forward to seeing them and they actually seemed to look forward to seeing us. About 20 lobster boats carrying crew members, attendants for some of the more handicapped vets and volunteers spent about two and a half hour’s cruising the harbor from one reputed fishing spot to another.

It’s so easy to neglect to mention this one or that one or this group or that one but your editor and his wife truly missed Lionel Le Blanc and his friend whose enthusiasm, cheerleading and general good fellowship is always so much more fun than being a sourpuss. Lionel could cheer up people three boats or more away.
The Sallies, the good old Salvation Army members, had been on the dock when we got there and were serving hot coffee and delicious doughnuts. The Quincy police, harbor police, environmental police, fire fighters and others all volunteering like the rest to get the disabled vets comfortably situated. The vets were brought in from many VA homes and hospitals such as Bedford, Brockton and Chelsea Naval.

How was the fishing? It was wonderful like everything else about the day. The really smart fish fled the area when they saw us coming. People on every boat caught something but nobody really cared. It was fun for most just to be out of the hospital or care center for even a day. The flounders, crabs, sculpins, and even a sea bass were welcomed aboard.

When we returned to the dock police officers and other volunteers were waiting to make sure the vets were safely brought ashore and placed in the Hough’s Neck Yacht Club for a dinner of boneless chicken with rice, entertainment and a raffle with prizes. Quincy car dealer Quirk who is a big help each year in planning and raising funds was circulating through the dining room and greeting each vet. He seemed to be enjoying himself as much as anyone.

Farewell to a True Patriot

When I first joined this chapter one of the members who intrigued me was a man small in stature but great of heart. He was always smiling and seemed to enjoy just being with his comrades.
Oh, but there was so much more to George Sarkes. He was a graduate of New Bedford High School and at the time of his death after a brief illness he was 85 years old. George lived in Middleboro, Mass most of his life and his wife, Mary, a nurse during World War Two, shared his strong feelings of patriotism. They had one son and two daughters. He is greatly missed by his comrade Arthur Tetreault.
According to “The Middleboro Gazette” George served in the 806th Army Base Unit and was discharged at the end of the war as a Tech Sergeant. He was wounded in the ETO in April, 1944, a month before D-Day and received a Purple Heart. He was also the proud possessor of The Distinguished Flying Cross as well as the usual Theater Campaign Ribbons and The Good Conduct Medal.
George was a retired mechanic and kept himself busy with veterans’ affairs. Think you are busy? He was a D.A.V. Commander, Finance Officer for 24 years and a member for more than 40 years of the American Legion. He was on the V.F.W. Board of Directors and also belonged to the Teamsters’ Union.
“The Gazette” summed George up for us in words printed in his obituary in that paper, “He will be remembered as a true patriot who loved his country, his family and his home.” We will all say “Amen” to that.
The Massachusetts Chapter of the 8th Air Force Historical Society sent Mrs. Sarkes a letter of sympathy written by Secretary John McKernan.

An Emotional Gauntlet from Life in Peacetime America to the War in European Skies
by Stuart J. Wright
The University of Wisconsin Press, Terrace Books

One of the problems for those interested in books about air warfare in World War Two is that you’ve read it all before . At least it seems that way. There are books so imitative of other books that the reader may question whether he read it all before.
You won’t get that feeling when you read “An Emotional Gauntlet”. No, Sir. ’This is as fresh as the smell of 100 octane on a crisp morning. Author Stuart J. Wright brings freshness to his topic that we thought had been burned away in the 50’s and 60’s.
You are not confined to barracks when you read “Gauntlet.” The author takes you to British hamlets and cities where the Luftwaffe can be expected when least expected. B17s and 24s machine guns hammer.
This is good stuff! You are not going to fall asleep reading it. Stuart was too young for WW2 but he researched his book for more than ten years! He interviewed a great many survivors of Europe’s air war some of whom you may recognize if you flew out of Blighty when the going was rough or at any other time.
This is not pulp fiction. Veterans of the Eighth may well recognize planes and people from their own wartime experiences Former bombardier Alan Eagleson, a character in the book has turned up at air shows in the Greater Boston area and your Reviewer, a 10th AF vet, has enjoyed talking to him.
“An Emotional Gauntlet” is filled with photographs. What fun on a snowy evening to scan the photos with the aid of a magnifying glass and perhaps identifying a long lost pal in a long ago scene. READ IT AND ENJOY!
John Brennan, editor