The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Bizarre B-17 Collision over the North Sea - August 28th, 2004

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

Ground Impact



And what a ride it was. "The only control we actually had was to keep [the planes] level," said Rojohn. "We were falling like a rock." The ground seemed to be reaching up to meet them.

Washington recalled that, from his vantage point while parachuting, "I watched the two planes fly on into the ground, probably two or three miles away, and saw no more chutes. Shirley was coming down behind me. When the planes hit, I saw them burst into flames and the black smoke erupting."

At one point, Leek said, he tried to beat his way out through the window with a Very pistol: "Just panic, I guess. The ground came up faster and faster. Praying was allowed. We gave it one last effort and slammed into the ground." As they crashed in Germany at Tettens, near Wilhelmshaven, shortly before 1 p.m., Rojohn's plane slid off the bottom plane, which immediately exploded. Alternately lifting up and slamming back into the ground, the remaining B-17 careened ahead, finally coming to rest only after the left wing sliced through a wooden headquarters building, as Rojohn recalled, "blowing that building to smithereens." Russo is believed to have been killed when the planes landed.

Crawling Through The Wreckage

"When my adrenalin began to lower, I looked around," Leek said. "Glenn was OK and I was OK, and a convenient hole was available for a fast exit. It was a break just behind the cockpit. I crawled out onto the left wing to wait for Glenn. I pulled out a cigarette and was about to light it when a young German soldier with a rifle came slowly up to the wing, making me keep my hands up. He grabbed the cigarette out of my mouth and pointed down. The wing was covered with gasoline."

Rojohn and Leek sustained only slight injuries from the crash, which shocked even the two pilots when they took a look at the wreckage of their B-17. "All that was left of the Flying Fortress was the nose, the cockpit, and the seats we were sitting on," Rojohn later recalled.

Following their capture, Rojohn said, he and Leek were forced to undress "so they could search us for weapons, which we had thrown out on the way down. They put us into a truck and drove through the countryside to pick up the survivors. The Germans then put us all into an old schoolhouse where we were finally able to talk with each other."

A Devastating New Weapon?



Even though their lives were now in the hands of the Germans, the Americans were able to find a little humor in the situation. "Our captors didn't know what to do with us because we were in a part of Germany where they didn't take many captives," Rojohn said. "They put us in a dark, damp building way out in nowhere. All of a sudden the door opened up and everybody popped to attention. A German captain came in and barked something to his men. I didn't understand what he had said, but Berkowitz [2nd Lt. Jack Berkowitz, MacNab's navigator] heard the same words and fainted dead away. The next day they brought us back to the schoolhouse. Berkowitz, the only one of us who could understand German, told us the German captain had said, 'If they make a move, shoot 'em.' That was too much for him and he fainted."

Watching the planes fall piggyback to earth, German soldiers on the island of Wangerooge could not believe what they were seeing -- "crazy Americans flying with eight motors." In fact, the Germans were so concerned that the Americans had developed a devastating new weapon that Berkowitz was shipped to an interrogation center in Frankfurt, Germany, and put into solitary confinement. After questioning him for two weeks, his interrogators gave up on the idea of a new American aircraft threat, and Berkowitz was transferred to a prison camp near the North Sea.

Seventeen-year-old Rudolf Skawran, who was shooting at the American bomber formations from Wangerooge, said his fellow soldiers were ordered by flak commander Captain Dinkelacker to leave the connected planes alone. Dinkelacker wrote in his log book at 12:47 p.m. that day, "Two Fortresses collided in a formation in the NE. The planes flew hooked together and flew twenty miles south. The two planes were unable to fight anymore. The crash could be awaited so I stopped the firing at these two planes." There was no way for Rojohn, Leek or the crew members to know that the Germans on the ground had ceased firing at them.

Civilians on Wangerooge stood and watched with amazement as the two planes flew over them. The youngest spectators ran to Rojohn's plane and removed what they could get away with quickly -- a machine gun and ammunition, some rations and chewing gum.

Captured Survivors

Little and Chase did not survive their jumps from the plane. Technical Sergeant Herman G. Horenkamp, Rojohn's friend and the tail gunner for all of his 21 previous missions, had not reported for the mission that day because he had frostbite from the mission the previous day. Chase, who Rojohn and Leek had never seen before and never did meet face to face, was Horenkamp's replacement that fateful day.

All of the survivors from the B-17 piloted by Rojohn were captured by the Germans almost immediately, as were four other men who bailed out of MacNab's plane -- 2nd Lt. Raymond E. Comer, Jr., Tech. Sgt. Joseph A. Chadwick, Berkowitz and Woodall.

Woodall told Rojohn years later that he was grateful to him and Leek because they carried him for several miles when broken bones sustained in his parachute landing kept him from walking after his capture. Rojohn has no recollection of that.


Rojohn receives the Air Medal from Colonel Thomas S. Jeffrey, commander of the "Bloody Hundredth." (Courtesy of Glenn H. Rojohn)

Reunion And Gratitude

After the war, like thousands of other soldiers, Glenn Rojohn came back home to marry and raise a family. He eventually went to work with his brother Leonard in their father's air conditioning and plumbing business in McKeesport, Pa. Rojohn, who received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart, said he owes his life to Leek: "In all fairness to my co-pilot, he's the reason I'm alive today. He refused my order to bail out and said 'I'm staying with you.' One of us could have gotten out of that plane. He's the reason I'm here today."

Rojohn searched for 40 years through Social Security and veterans records to find his co-pilot, Leek, but was unsuccessful until 1986, when he was given a telephone number in the state of Washington. Rojohn called the number and reached Leek's mother, who asked him if he wanted to talk to Bill, who was visiting from California at the time. The two pilots were reunited for one week in 1987 at a 100th Bomb Group reunion in Long Beach, Calif. Leek died the following year.



But Robert Washington, the navigator that day over the North Sea, still remembers the pilots' remarkably cool handling of the bizarre situation. "Glenn said that he doesn't consider himself a hero; but I do!" said Washington. "I will never forget his calm, matter-of-fact response as I paused at the flight deck on my way out through the bomb bay and waist door. He may have said, 'Get on out, Wash,' or merely motioned with his head, but I knew he and Bill Leek had made their decision and several of us who jumped over land probably owe our lives to their courage."

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Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

www.thehistorynet.com/wwii/blb17collision/index.html

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



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[snippy_about_it]

John Kerry told the world we were war criminals who raped, tortured and murdered in Vietnam. Now, thirty-three years later, we will tell America the truth.

Join us at the rally we call:

What: A peaceful remembrance of those with whom we served in Vietnam - those who lived and those who died.
We will tell the story of their virtues and how that contrasts with the lies told by John Kerry.

When: Sunday, Sept. 12, 2004 @ 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT

Where: The West Front of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC

All Vietnam veterans and their families and supporters are asked to attend. Other veterans are invited as honored guests. This will be a peaceful event--no shouting or contact with others with different opinions. We fought for their rights then, and we respect their rights now. This is NOT a Republican or a pro-Bush rally. Democrats, Republicans and independents alike are warmly invited.

Our gathering is to remember those with whom we served, thereby giving the lie to John Kerry's smear against a generation of fine young men. B.G. "Jug" Burkett, author of "Stolen Valor," will be one of our speakers. Jug has debunked countless impostors who falsely claimed to be Vietnam veterans or who falsely claimed awards for heroism. Jug recommends that we refrain from dragging fatigues out of mothballs. Dress like America, like you do every day. Dress code: business casual, nice slacks, and shirt and shoes. No uniform remnants, please. Unit hats OK.

Selected members will wear badges identifying them as authorized to speak to the media about our event. Others who speak to the media will speak only for themselves.

The program will be controlled in an attempt to stay on-message. Speakers are encouraged not to engage in speculative criticism of John Kerry but (1) to stick to known and undisputed facts about John Kerry’s lies while (2) reminding America of the true honor and courage of our brothers in battle in Vietnam.

Send this announcement to 10 or more of your brothers! Bring them by car, bus, train or plane! Make this event one of pride in America, an event you would be proud to have your mother or your children attend.

Contact: kerrylied.com

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Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

Thanks to quietolong for providing this link.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

[SAMWolf]

Watching the planes fall piggyback to earth, German soldiers on the island of Wangerooge could not believe what they were seeing -- "crazy Americans flying with eight motors." In fact, the Germans were so concerned that the Americans had developed a devastating new weapon that Berkowitz was shipped to an interrogation center in Frankfurt, Germany, and put into solitary confinement.

Veeeery interesting, but stupid!

[SAMWolf]

Interesting thread today, Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks. I like the part about the cigarette. The whole story is amazing.

[GeronL]

wow, what a story.

Hey, that first pic shows an Me-262 doesn't it?? The story didn't mention those.

[SAMWolf]

"I knew one man left in the wreck could not have survived, so I stayed to go along for the ride," Leek said.

That's the way a real hero talks and acts.

[snippy_about_it]

No mention of the 262's. Just a neat painting of the 100th BG.

[snippy_about_it]

That's the way a real hero talks and acts.

So true! Good night Sam.

[quietolong]

Friends and Family to Honor a Fallen Soldier Menomonie WI
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201542/posts

[SAMWolf]

Good night Snippy.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the ping, quietolong

[E.G.C.]

Morning Snippy and Foxhole.

[GailA]

Good morning

[ken5050]

Good morning...great thread as always...but, the headline needs a "leeeettle" work..I didn't know the USAF was still flying B-17 on patrol..(g)

[tomball]

Good Morning, Foxhole -- What a story!

[The Mayor]

August 28, 2004

A Time To Cry

Read: John 11:1-7,32-36

Jesus wept. —John 11:35

Bible In One Year: Psalms 123-125; 1 Corinthians 10:1-18

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My father (Richard De Haan) had been battling a debilitating disease for many years. We asked the Lord to take him home. But as I knelt by his bed and watched him take that last breath, the tears I had choked back on other occasions came out like a flood. As my brothers and my mother hugged and prayed, the finality was overwhelming.

That event helped me understand the significance of the shortest verse in the Bible: "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). God the Son wept! He knew the reality of heaven. He was the source of all hope of a future day of resurrection. And yet, Jesus cried. He loved His friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus so much that "He groaned in the spirit and was troubled" (v.33). Jesus truly felt their heartache.

When someone we love dies, we struggle with a wide range of emotions. If a young person dies, we ask "Why?" When death comes after long-term suffering, we struggle to understand why the Lord waited so long to bring relief. We begin to think of God as distant, untouched by our sorrow. We may question His wisdom or His goodness. Then we read, "Jesus wept." God is deeply touched by our anguish.

When a painful situation invades your life, remember the Bible's shortest verse. Jesus shed tears too. —Kurt De Haan

One year ago today, Kurt De Haan,
managing editor of Our Daily Bread for 13 years,
was reunited with his father when God called him Home.
(March 29, 1953-August 28, 2003)

If you doubt that Jesus cares, remember His tears.

[alfa6]

Dang near underwater Bump for a great Foxhole Story

Had a wee bit of rain last night, some parts of the KC area recieved up to 8" inches of rain. Myself, I poured 5"+ out of my rain gauge. and all this in under 4 hours. Well we have a dry forecast for the next week or so, sure hope the weather guessers are right.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Chieftain]

I just received this photo from a new FReeper disabled vet in West Virgina. He asked me to post it.

He is fighting with all his power to keep the Mountaineer State in Bush's column!