On Page 6 Lt Col Gabreski is reported MIA.
Here’s his story:
On July 20, 1944, Gabreski had reached the 300-hour combat time limit for Eighth Air Force fighter pilots and was awaiting an aircraft to fly him back to the United States on leave and reassignment. He had already advised Kay Cochran to proceed with wedding plans, and his home town of Oil City, Pennsylvania, had raised $2,000 for a wedding present in anticipation of his return.
Gabreski found, however, that a bomber escort mission to Russelheim, Germany, was scheduled for that morning, and, instead of boarding the transport, he requested to “fly just one more.”
Returning from the mission, Gabreski observed Heinkel He 111s parked on the airfield at Bassenheim, Germany, and took his airplane down to attack.
Gabreski’s was dissatisfied with his first strafing run on an He 111, and he reversed for a second pass. When his tracers went over the parked bomber he dropped the nose of his Thunderbolt to adjust, and its propeller clipped the runway, bending the tips.
The damage caused his engine to vibrate violently and he was forced to crash land. Gabreski ran into nearby woods and eluded capture for five days, but was eventually captured. After being interrogated by Hanns Scharff, Gabreski was sent to Stalag Luft I. He was liberated when Soviet forces seized the camp in April 1945.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabby_Gabreski
Interesting story ... and not only that, Oil City, Pa., just south of Northeast, is where the escaped German prisoner was captured just the other day.
I wonder if he met my uncle there. He had been at Stalag Luft I since his B-17 was shot down on 11 Jan 44.
did Kay marry him anyway?