The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Charles W. Anderson and the 15th Air Force - Oct. 8th, 2003

http://www2.gvsu.edu/~vandelej/part1.html ^ | Leslie VanderMeulen

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday"
Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.

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My Grandfather's Story
by Leslie VanderMeulen

Leslie VanderMeulen is a student at Grand Valley State University. For a semester project, she chose to research her grandfather's military career.

Charles Waldo Anderson, my grandfather, served in World War II, a war that altered his life forever. I have never had the privilege of meeting this man, but have been told his story many times. Gentle, shy, intelligent, fun loving, easy-going, a good sense of humor are words and phrases that characterized my grandfather’s personality before the war. Unfortunately, his experiences during the war had lasting effects, and after returning home he was not the same. I am not at all surprised that he changed in light of his time in war; many men with many different stories changed after they faced war.

Charles Anderson served as a tail gunner in the 15th Army Air Force, 463rd Bomb Group, 772nd Bomb Squadron during World War II. On February 13, 1945 his plane was shot down, and he spent the rest of the war as a POW in several camps.

A young Charles planned to enlist in the Army on a Monday in 1942. It is fortunate that he wanted to join, because he received enlistment papers before he went down to sign up. He departed for St. Louis, Missouri, only twenty-one and recently married. For six months he went through basic training in St. Louis, then (in February 1943) he went to Las Vegas, Nevada for gunnery training. In May of that year he joined his flight crew and departed for Sioux City, Iowa where they underwent combat training. After graduating from combat training, his flight crew picked up their plane in Nebraska and proceeded to their final destination: Foggia, Italy, which remained their home for the duration of the war.



In Foggia, and anywhere troops are stationed during wartime, the soldiers lived in humble quarters, to say the least. All soldiers of every rank slept in tents on the ground at camp. However, my grandfather’s crew used their ingenuity and made their stay as comfortable as possible. One night they took the rations of whiskey, which they received periodically, into town where they sold it and bought basic building supplies. When they returned to camp they built a small house, and when everyone woke up in the morning, they saw this little building in the middle of camp. Simply built of brick with a roof on top, it was a humble house. Nevertheless, my grandfather and his crew had the best sleeping quarters of any of the soldiers.


Camp in Foggia, Italy.

Though the crews tried to make the best out of life in the camp, wartime certainly did not consist of fun and games. My grandfather’s flight crew performed many missions during their time in Foggia. The crew was part of the15th Army Air Corps, specifically in the 463rd Bomb Group, 772nd Bomb Squadron, where my grandfather did his job as a tail gunner on their B-17. A tail gunner’s job is to shoot from the rear of the plane. Their final mission took place on February 13, 1945. This mission included bombing Vienna, Austria, and proved to be quite unsuccessful. The plane received a shot in the fourth engine, causing the third engine to catch on fire. This sent the plane crashing down in flames, and the entire crew bailed out at 15,000 feet. The report sent to my grandmother regarding the crash stated “plane sighted going down in flames – no parachutes sighted”.



My grandfather experienced a stroke of luck that day which saved his life. After he bailed out of the plane he landed in a tree, while his crewmembers landed on the ground. When Viennese civilians found six of the crew members, my grandfather watched them lynch his friends right there. The civilians took this action because German soldiers had convinced them that the Air Corps planned to bomb their villages and homes, thus they were very angry at these soldiers. German soldiers did find my grandfather’s extra pair of shoes that had fallen off his belt when they went to look for survivors. However, seeing no footprints in the snow, they concluded that this man must be dead. Lucky for my grandfather, they did not look up to see him sitting there in a bare tree.


Tail Gunner position on a B-17

In a report taken after the war, my grandfather stated that he evaded capture for three days, but a farmer turned him in, and he was then taken to Weiner Neustadt Airfield, Austria. Held there from February 16 to March 5, he then encountered interrogation for two days (March 8-10). After the interrogation, he was transported to three more camps. From March 12 through 16 he stayed at Dulagluft, March 18 through April 4 held at Nuremberg, and from April 4 to 29 at Moosburg.

My grandfather never spoke to his children about the treatment at the camps. All that he did say is that they were given very little to eat, so that they would be too weak to fight back. Most imprisoned soldiers involuntarily participated in prison detail, which consisted of any hard labor that could be found to keep the prisoners occupied. Most of this work done outside the camps, thus the Army Air Corps could not participate. Airmen could not perform prison detail because of the angry civilians, who attempted to harm them. If the men in the Air Corps attempted to work outside the prison, civilians tried to throw stones and such at them.



Civilians also abused soldiers during their marches between camps by throwing stones and rocks at them. The walked to and from camps or railcars must have been terrifying. Not only targeted by civilians, my grandfather and fellow soldiers incurred bombing by their own men in a few instances. While on a 100-mile march to Munich, they feared for their lives as their own planes dropped bombs on them. The soldiers faced more bombing by American planes when held locked in boxcars for three days in the Nuremberg Rail Yards. In this situation, the men stood cramped in the small cars with no room to sit, no food, water, or sanitation. The soldiers probably faced more danger between camps, whether walking or on trains, than actually in the camps.

The treatment that my grandfather and his fellow prisoners received was certainly inhumane. The situation did improve in a few instances, however, and that is how they knew the end of the war neared. Food rations increased, and the prisoners began to receive better treatment from the guards. The prisons also removed some guards from their posts who previously mistreated prisoners. This occurred because when the war ended and U.S. troops came in, they asked the soldiers who had mistreated them. These guards got taken out and immediately shot.


Charles W. Anderson

Luckily for my grandfather, his plane was shot down towards the end of the war, therefore was only held as a prisoner of war for a short time. After the war ended, he headed for Camp Lucky Strike in France, where he would be sent to London, and then home. However, he caught the mumps in France, hence he was detained in the hospital for three weeks. By the time he was on the way home, my grandmother finally received word that he had been accounted for. On July 11, 1945 he returned home for good.



Honorably discharged from the Army on September 25, 1945, my grandfather received several medals including a Prisoner of War Medal, an American Campaign Medal, a World War II Victory Medal, and a Purple Heart. Hearing all of this, I wonder how he felt about his experience in the war and how it ended. Since he rarely talked to his kids about it, all I can guess from is the ways in which his personality changed after he returned. Instead of easy-going and gentle, he became a man with an unpredictable temper, not much respect for authority, and a bitterness about him. Obviously this change stemmed from his time during the war, perhaps as a result of seeing and enduring too much in not very many years.

[The Mayor]

I agree, even though I would have voted McClintock the voters have spoken loud and clear..

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning WhiskeyPapa.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning manna.

[snippy_about_it]

Me too! McClintock seemed to be the best choice. Of course not being in California I only paid slight attention to it.

[Darksheare]

I'm in.
*Spring-Gabooooing!*

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Darksheare. I'm so happy to see you bouncing around this morning.

[Darksheare]

Always in motion.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on October 08:
1810 James Wilson Marshall, discoverer of gold in California.
1869 J Frank Duryea inventor (1st auto built & operated in the US)
1872 John Cowper Powys British writer (Wood & Stone)
1873 Ejnar Hertzsprung Denmark, astronomer (Hertzsprung-Russell diagram)
1890 Eddie Rickenbacker aviator "Ace of Aces" (WW I)
1895 Juan Per¢n Argentine Pres (1946-55, 1973-74)
1895 King Zog I of Albania (1928-1939)
1897 Rouben Mamoulian movie director/author (Mark of Zorro, Applause)
1903 Lina Radke Germany, 800m runner (Olympic-gold-1928)
1909 Bill Hewitt NFL end (Chicago Bears, Phila Eagles)
1916 Spark Matsunaga (D-Ha-Sen)
1917 Danny Murtaugh baseball manager (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1920 Frank Herbert sci-fi writer (Dune)
1920 Maxie Herber Germany, figure skater pairs (Olympic-gold-1936)
1920 Ron Randell Sydney Australia, actor (Loves of Carmen, I am a Camera)
1924 Arkady Vorobyev Middle heavyweight (Olympic-gold-1956, 60)
1927 Gigi Durston Balt Md, singer (Sonny Kendis Show)
1927 Torbj”rn Falkanger Norway, took Olympic oath (1952)
1930 James Olsen actor (Andromeda Strain, The Spell)
1930 Toru Takemitsu Tokyo Japan, composer (Ki No Kyoko)
1934 J Carter Brown Providence RI, art director (Wash National Gallery)
1936 David Carradine Hollywood, actor (Kung-Fu, Boxcar Bertha, Young Guns)
1936 Rona Barrett NYC, gossip columnist (Tomorrow Show)
1938 Penny Pitou US, skier (Olympic-2 silvers-1960)
1939 Paul Hogan Australia, actor (Crocodile Dundee)
1941 Jesse Jackson (D) clergyman/presidential candidate
1943 Chevy Chase NYC, comedian/actor (SNL, Vacation, Fletch, Caddyshack)
1946 Aleksandr Gorshlov ice dancer (holds 6 titles)
1948 Sarah Purcell Richmond Ind, actress/TV hostess (Real People)
1949 Sigourney [Susan Alexandra] Weaver LA, actress (Alien, Working Girl)
1950 Robert "Kool" Bell rocker (Kool & the Gang-Joanna)
1951 Johnny Ramone LI, rock guitarist (Road to Ruin)
1955 Bill Elliott auto racer (Daytona-1978)
1956 Scott Michael Pellaton barefoot water ski champ
1956 Stephanie Zimbalist NYC, actress (Remington Steele, Centennial)
1957 James DePaiva actor (Max-One Life to Live)
1959 Tony Eason football quarterback (New England Patriots)
1979 [Gregory] Chad Petree Shawne Okla, rocker (PC Quest-Can You See)

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Deaths which occurred on October 08:
0705 Abd al-Malik, kalief of Damascus, dies
1793 John Hancock, US merchant/signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 56
1869 Franklin Pierce 14th president of US, dies in Concord, NH
1944 Wendell Lewis Willkie Republican politician, dies
1964 Dr Charles Hodge NYU professor (Answers for Americans), dies at 69
1967 Clement R Attlee, premier of Great Britain (1945-51), dies at 84
1969 Eduardo Ciannelli actor (Waldo-Johnny Staccato), dies at 81
1978 Karl Swenson actor (Lara-Little House on the Prairie), dies at 70
1982 Fernando Lamas actor/director, dies at 67 of cancer
1983 Joan Hackett actress, dies of cancer at 49
1984 Frederick Brisson producer, dies at 71 after a stroke
1985 Leon Klinghoffer hijackers of Achille Lauro, throw him off the boat
1992 Willy Brandt, chancellor of W Germany (1969-74), dies of cancer at 78

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1963 DENTON MANUEL R. KERRVILLE TX.
[ACFT CRASH AFT AIR COLLISION]
1963 RITCHEY LUTHER E. JR. MANSFIELD OH.
[ACFT CRASH AFT AIR COLLISION]
1963 WADSWORTH DEAN AMICK CLARENDON TX.
[ACFT BROKE UP CRASH EXPLODED, REMAINS IDENTIFIED O4/16/99]
1966 FELDHAUS JOHN ANTHONY LAWRENCEBURG TN.
1966 WOMACK SAMMIE N. FARMVILLE VA.
[02/23/67 RELEASED, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 GUERRA RAUL A. LOS ANGELES CA.
[CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS]
1967 PINEAU ROLAND R. BERKLEY MI.
[CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS]
1967 ROGGOW NORMAN L. AURELIA IA.
[CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS]
1967 WOLFE DONALD F. HARDIN MT.
[CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS]
1967 ZISSU ANDREW G. NEW YORK NY.
[CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS]
1969 ALTIZER ALBERT H. SQUIRE WV.
1969 WATKINS ROBERT J. JR. FORT MEADE MD.
1970 OTT WILLIAM A. LIVERMORE CA.
1970 SHAY DONALD E. JR. LINTHICUM HEIGHTS MD.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
451 Council of Chalcedon (4th ecumenical council) opens
0876 Battle at Andernach: Louis the Young beats Charles the Bare
1604 The supernova called "Kepler's nova" is 1st sighted
1690 Belgrade is retaken by the Turks
1806 British forces lay siege to French port of Boulogne using Congreve rockets, invented by Sir William Congreve
1871 The Great Chicago Fire begins in southwest Chicago, possibly in a barn owned by Patrick and Katherine O'Leary. Fanned by strong southwesterly winds, the flames raged for more than 24 hours, eventually leveling three and a half square miles and wiping out one-third of the city. Approximately 250 people were killed in the fire;
1775 Officers decide to bar slaves & free blacks from Continental Army
1818 2 English boxers are 1st to use padded gloves
1822 1st eruption of Galunggung (Java) sends boiling sludge into valley
1840 1st Hawaiian constitution proclaimed
1860 Telegraph line between LA & SF opens
1862 Otto von Bismarck becomes German republic chancellor
1862 Battle of Perryville, KY-Confederate invasion halted
1865 Earthquake in Santa Cruz Mountains
1896 Dow Jones starts reporting an average of industrial stocks.
1871 Great Fire kills 200, destroys over 4ýmiles (10 kmý) of Chicago buildings, & original Emancipation Proclamation
1886 Start of the Sherlock Holmes adventure "The Noble Bachelor" (BG)
1887 Phillies set club record 16th straight victory
1896 Dow Jones starts reporting an average of industrial stocks
1919 Congress passed the Volstead Act named for Representative Andrew Volsted of Minnesota, it enforced the ban on the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages.
1904 1st Vanderbilt Cup auto race (Hicksville, Long Island, NY)
1906 Karl Nessler demonstrates 1st 'permanent wave' for hair, in London
1909 Chicago Cubs beat NY Giants 4-2 in a playoff to win NL pennant
1912 1st Balkan War begins
1915 Phillies win their 1st & only World Series (World Series #12) game before 1980, beating Red Sox, 3-1, with an 8th inning 2 run rally
1918 Sgt Alvin York single-handedly kills 25, captures 132 Germans
1922 NY Giants beat Yankees, 4 games to 0, with a tie in 19th World Series
1927 NY Yankees sweep Pirates in 24th World Series
1928 Eastern Soccer League forms in US
1930 Phila A's beat St Louis Cards, 4 games to 2 in 27th World Series
1933 Coit Tower dedicated in SF, a monument to firefighters
1934 Bruno Hauptmann is indicted for murder of Lindbergh's son
1935 Ozzie Nelson marries Harriet Hilliard (Ozzie & Harriet)
1939 Germany annexes Western Poland
1939 NY Yankees sweep Reds in 36th World Series, 4th straight WS win
1940 Cin Reds beat Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 3, in 37th World Series
1944 "Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" debut on CBS radio
1945 Truman announced atomic bomb secret shared with Britain & Canada
1951 Ford C Frick replaces Happy Chandler as 3rd commissioner of baseball
1951 Warren C Giles becomes president of baseball's National League
1952 2 trains collide with a derailed commuter train, kills 112 (England)
1953 Birmingham Alabama, bars Jackie Robinson's Negro-White All-Stars from playing there - Robinson gives in & drops white players from his group
1955 Worlds most powerful aircraft carrier, Saratoga (US), launched
1956 Don Larsen, NY, pitches only perfect world series game, vs Brooklyn (World Series #53)
1957 Brooklyn Dodgers announce move to Los Angeles
1957 Turkish & Syrian border guards exchange fire
1959 LA Dodgers beat Chicago White Sox, 4 games to 2 in 56th World Series
1960 Bobby Richarson hits a world series grand slammer (World Series #57)
1962 Algeria admitted as 109th member of the UN
1962 N Korea reports 100% election turnout, 100% vote for Workers' Party
1963 Sultan of Zanzibar cedes his mainland possessions to Kenya
1964 Gilroy Roberts becomes 1st US chief engraver to retire (than die)
1964 Ringo Starr takes & passes his driving test
1966 Wyoming's Jerry DePoyster kicks 3 field goals over 50 yds (54, 54, 52)
1968 U.S. forces in Vietnam launch Operation Sealord, an attack on North Vietnamese supply lines and base areas
1970 Soviet author Alexander I Solzhenitsyn awarded Nobel Prize for Lit
1971 John Lennon releases his megahit "Imagine"
1977 Largest baseball crowd in Penns, 64,924 see Dodgers beat Phillies 4-1 in 4th NL championship game (Dodgers win pennant)
1978 Ken Warby set the world water speed record at 319.627 mph
1978 Kenneth Warby sets world speed record on water (514 kph)
1978 Yanks win 3rd straight AL Championship, all against Kansas City
1980 British Leyland starts selling Mini Metro
1981 USAC appeals panel restores disputed Indy 500 victory to Al Unser
1981 Pres Reagan greeted predecessors Jimmy Carter, Gerald R Ford & Richard Nixon before sending them to Egypt for Anwar Sadat's funeral
1982 NJ Devils 1st victory, beating NY Rangers 3-2 at the Meadowlands
1982 Poland bans Solidarity
1983 1st regular season Islander OT game beat Caps 8-7
1983 Washington Capitals 1st NHL overtime game losing to NY Islanders 8-7
1986 Mike Scott ties playoff record of 14 strikeouts, beats Mets 1-0
1988 Fire in Seattle's Space Needle causes evacuation, $2,000 damage
1990 Israeli police kill 17 Palestinian rioters
1990 US doctors Joseph E Murray & E Donnall Thomas win Nobel Prize
1997 Three years after the death of longtime North Korean ruler Kim Il Sung, his son, Kim Jong Il, officially inherited his father's title of general secretary of the Communist Party.
2001 U.S. transport planes dropped 37,000 meals into areas of Afghanistan where it was feared mass starvation was imminent.
2001 Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn in as director of the new Office of Homeland Security.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Western Samoa : White Sunday (2nd Sunday) (Sunday)
Canada : Thanksgiving Day (Monday)
Florida : Farmers' Day (1915) (Monday)
Hawaii : Discoverer's Day (Monday)
US : Columbus Day (1492) (Monday)
Virgin Is & Puerto Rico : Friendship Day (Monday)
National Chimney Sweep Week (Day 4)
International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction
National Pickled Pepper Week (Day 6)
Country Music Month
National Fish and Seafood Month!
National Sarcastics' Awareness Month

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Religious Observances
Old Catholic : Feast of St Bridget, widow, patron of Sweden
Christian : Feast of St Keyne, virgin (6th century)
Feast of St. Thais (Greek Church).

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Religious History
_451 The Council of Chalcedon opened, near Constantinople. Dealing mainly with the Eutychian Christological heresy, the council created a confession of faith which has ever since been regarded as the highest word in Early Christian orthodoxy.
1901 The American branch of Overseas Missionary Fellowship was chartered. Founded as the China Inland Mission in 1865 by missionary pioneer J. Hudson Taylor, OMF adopted its present name at its centenniel celebration in 1965.
1917 New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was chartered in New Orleans by P. I. Lipsey. The school opened for its first classes in September 1918.
1924 In New York City, the National Lutheran Conference banned the playing of jazz music in the local churches.
1986 The first North American Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization opened in New Orleans. It drew 7,000 leaders from 40 denominations, and stressed the part which the charismatic experience plays in evangelization.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"The Universe is not only queerer than we imagine, it is queerer than we CAN imagine."

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You Might Be a Criminal If...
You think your prison uniform brings out the blue in your eyes.

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Murphys Law of the day...(Hellrung's Law)
If you wait, it will go away. (Shevelson's Extension: ... having done its damage.)
[Grelb's Addition: ... if it was bad, it will be back.]

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It's a little known fact that...
In the 19th century, craftsmen who made hats were known to be excitable and irrational, as well as to tremble with palsy and mix up their words. Such behavior gave rise to the familiar expression "mad as a hatter". The disorder, called hatter's shakes, was caused by chronic mercury poisoning from the solution used to treat the felt. Attacking the central nervous system, the toxin led to behavioral symptoms.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone in the Fox Hole!!

[SAMWolf]

Good morning SNippy.

[SAMWolf]

Do worms count as meat?

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. Rainy season is here to stay, I think.

[SAMWolf]

Hi WhiskeyPapa. Thanks for the bump.

[SAMWolf]

Hi Mayor.

[SAMWolf]

Morning aomagrat.

The 10,000-ton craneship rendered invaluable service for the next 20 years. One of many accomplishments was the raising of sunken submarine SQUALUS off the New Hampshire coast.

The SQUALUS sinking and rescue was an interesting story, covered very well by Snippy.

[SAMWolf]

Hi Manna!

[SAMWolf]

HI Darksheare! Didin't hurt yourself falling in this morning did you?

[Darksheare]

No, but I did bounce around two Zot threads and got a good dose of second hand ozone by way of watching it go up...
*cough*

[SAMWolf]

1862 Otto von Bismarck becomes German republic chancellor

Germany became the first nation in the world to adopt an old-age social insurance program in 1889, designed by Germany's Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. The idea was first put forward, at Bismarck's behest, in 1881 by Germany's Emperor, William the First, in a ground-breaking letter to the German Parliament. William wrote: ". . .those who are disabled from work by age and invalidity have a well-grounded claim to care from the state."

Bismarck was motivated to introduce social insurance in Germany both in order to promote the well-being of workers in order to keep the German economy operating at maximum efficiency, and to stave-off calls for more radical socialist alternatives. Despite his impeccable right-wing credentials, Bismarck would be called a socialist for introducing these programs, as would President Roosevelt 70 years later. In his own speech to the Reichstag during the 1881 debates, Bismarck would reply: "Call it socialism or whatever you like. It is the same to me."

The German system provided contributory retirement benefits and disability benefits as well. Participation was mandatory and contributions were taken from the employee, the employer and the government. Coupled with the workers' compensation program established in 1884 and the "sickness" insurance enacted the year before, this gave the Germans a comprehensive system of income security based on social insurance principles. (They would add unemployment insurance in 1927, making their system complete.)

One persistent myth about the German program is that it adopted age 65 as the standard retirement age because that was Bismarck's age. This myth is important because Germany was one of the models America looked to in designing its own Social Security plan; and the myth is that America adopted age 65 as the age for retirement benefits because this was the age adopted by Germany when they created their program. In fact, Germany initially set age 70 as the retirement age (and Bismarck himself was 74 at the time) and it was not until 27 years later (in 1916) that the age was lowered to 65. By that time, Bismarck had been dead for 18 years.

Seems like the Liberals get a lot of their "Socialist" ideas from the Germans

[SAMWolf]

Morning Feather.