20. (287) Steenwijk, Holland. 0923 Hours, 3/24/45. 14, 230 feet. 38ea 150 Pound GP's. No flak, no fighters. Hit an airfield. 4+45 hours.

21. (288) Zeigenhain, Germany. 1715 hours. 3/Z4/45. 14ea 500 pound RDX's. (Second mission this day) Light flak, no fighters. Hit an airfield. Could see the lines on the ground. 7+15 hours.

THE CREW SPENT THE NEXT FEW DAYS AT THE FLAK SHACK, RECEIVING THE NECESSARY THERAPY TO GET THEIR SCRAMBLED BRAINS BACK INTO A NORMAL CONFIGURATION!

The story of the "St. Louie Woman."

Before a replacement crew could be assigned "their" airplane and therefore be authorized to name it and paint on the "nose art, " survival, longevity, and simple seniority in the squadron had to be established. During the first 15 or so missions, the Lazzari crew flew nearly every plane in the 351st Squadron. It was in 1944 that a B-17G with Studebaker engines made an emergency landing in a Belgian muddy plowed field. After it was repaired, the 351st Bomb Squadron became its new home, and the Lazzari crew could call it their very own. There was some apprehension in the crew why the powers above would give us an airplane that had crash landed, with mud still in the wheel wells and with Studebaker engines. As a child, Lt. Greenwood was taught by his Father to reject anything produced by Studebaker, because their products were inferior and had no dependability, whatsoever. So, how could they possibly make a Wright engine that was any good? So, with all these negative thoughts and reservations, the Lazzari crew flew their B-17G with Studebaker engines on six or seven missions, including the March 23rd Marburg mission where they had the mid-air collision. As it turned out, the plane had four really good engines. They always returned from a mission having consumed less fuel than most of the other planes. Of course the question surfaced, "was this low fuel consumption attributable to the Studebaker engines or surperb power management by the two men in the cock-pit. Lt. Greenwood who didn't trust those engines one bit argued for the latter explanation and life went on without this issue being resolved. After their 21st mission on 24 March, the Lazzari crew went on flak leave, and it was during their vacation from war that another crew flew the muddy Studebaker powered B-17, and due to battle damage or running out of fuel that they crash landed in the Zuider Zee. The co-pilot on this ill fated mission was a barracks mate, Francis Beedle, Bob Ellistco-pilot. Upon our return from Flack leave, we were assigned a brand new B-17G, fresh from the States. Nice and shinny, with Wright engines, number 48836 with a square "D" on the tail, "H" immediately below and "EP" painted on the sides, the question of a name was again on the table. As Larry recalls 49 years later, none of the crew had any really firm ideas, so he pulled a little rank and named it "ST. LOUIE WOMAN" after his cousin, June Erspaner, who lived in St. Louis. Fate was stepping in here at this moment, so read on. Little did Larry or the crew realize how much this event would help cast Larry's future. Stay tuned in! It was after the war that Larry's cousin, June, visited him and his parents in Washington State. Her travelling companion was her good friend, Mary Dintelman, also of St. Louis. To make a long story short, Larry and Mary were married on 3 April 1948 and eventually had six children. With all this twisting and turning of fate, one could say Larry commenced his temporary association with "THE ST. LOUIE WOMAN" In March 1945-a E-17G Bomber-and then established and continued a permanent association with a "ST LOUIE WOMAN" his wife Mary, for life.

22. (Z95) Leipzig, Germany. lOZ1 Hours. 4/6/45. 34ea 150 pound GP's and Z M-17 Incendiaries. Contrails made flying a little dangerous today. 10 flak burst 2 miles away. Surprisingly no flak or fighters. 8+45 hours.

23. (Z96) Buchen, Germany. 132 7 Hours. 4/7/45. 14.880 feet. 6ea 1000 pound RDX's. 2 bursts of accurate flak. We were under fighter attack for 33 minutes; ME-109's. Two planes and crews were lost today. We saw one of them shot down. The picture of 1317 43-33514 on the cover of "CENTURY BOMBER" which, had a ME-109 fly through its tail was piloted by Joe Martin and copiloted by Henry Cervantes. Classmates at Rapid City. We saw the 100th gunners shoot down the ME-109, if fact, it was so close that we saw the ME-109 pilot slump over his stick as our gunner's bullets hit him. "CENTURY BOMBERS" page 196 does not give Martin and Cervantes credit for bringing this plane home. As the fighter collided with Martin's tail, his B-17's nose went up in a 45 degree angle, and I thought that he was going to spin in, but he got the plane stabilized and brought her home. I hope that Martin got the DFC for that performance. We heard later that Martin made the best landing of the day even though he had very little rudder and elevator control. He had to, for if he had not, he probably would not have made it. Mission time was 8+45 hours.

24. (297) Eger (Cheb), Czechoslovakia, 1287 Hours, 4/8/45, 14, 900 feet, 10ea 500 pound GP's aand a 2500 pound M-17's. Marshalling yards. No flak that was close. Fighters were reported in the area, however, P-51's took care of them. 8+45 hours.

25. (298) Munich, Germany. R. em Airport, 1659 Hours. 4/9/45. 21, 200 feet. 4ea 1000 pound GP's and 4ea 500 pound M-17's. Intelligence briefing indicated that Hitler was to be at this airport at the time we were to bomb it. at 1659 hours. But, he wasn't there; however, we really creamed the north side of the airport. I saw it later after the war and there was not much left. 9+15 hours.

26. (299) Burg-bei-Magdeburg, Germany. 1428 hours. 4/10/45. (this is my Mother's birthday and my date of rank as a 1st Lt.) 20, 200 feet. 8ea 500 pound GP's and 4ea M-17's. Intense and accurate flak. ME-262's hit us with vengeance, shooting down 2 of our planes. I found out later that these were the last two losses from the 100th Bomb Group. Larry Lazzari recalls, "The ME-262's came out of dense vapor trails and hit Lt. Bazin, who seemed to explode in a white flash. His plane was on our right side, and broke in two behind the wing, with parts plunging down out of sight. Gene immediately took over the plane doing aerobatics I didn't think a B-17 was capable of doing. Everyone was trying to dodge the cannon fire.

Heritage and O'Connell claimed 2 kills on this mission.

1st Lt. John David Gross was a replacement Navigator on Lt. Bazin's crew. For reasons lost during these many years, Lt Gross did not have a permanent crew assignment. He was quartered in our (Lazzari's crew) barracks in the WAF site. After being captured 3 times and escaping 3 times, Gross hid out in the Luftwaffe Research and Development Center's wind tunnel at Braunschweig. Gross was a jeweler, by trade, and was not a violent person, but when asked how he escaped 3 times he said that "sometimes one has to resort to violent and drastic actions." He had lost most of his front teeth as a result of a German soldier hitting him in the face with a rifle butt. Gross had brought out with him numerous photos of Luftwaffe aircraft development. Greenwood has in his wartime collection many of these photos. A few days after the the German surrender, Gross came limping back to Thorpe Abbotts. Greenwood first saw him in the 351st Orderly Room, as Gross was claiming his belongings. They both asked for and received a 3 day pass to go to London. As Greenwood recalls, they went to London, obtained quarters at the Jules Officers Billets, went to a bar, bought theatre tickets, had dinner, then went to see George Black's "STRIKE IT AGAIN" at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Of course they had a box seat. Before the play started there was an orchestra fanfare that would raise your hair on the back of your neck, and 3 or 4 big spot lights stopped on our box. The men controlling the lights soon discovered their error as they observed 2 slightly tipsy American flyers in their spot lights and then moved the lights to the box to our right. There was General Eisenhower, Ike's son John, Kay Summersby, General Bradley, and English General Alexander and his wife. That is when Ike stood up and gave his famous smile and gave his famous speech when he said, " It is a pleasure to be back in a country where I can almost understand the language." Apparently, this was the first time that Ike had been back to England since VE day; the date was about 12 May 1945. Mission flying time was 7+30 hours.

27. (300) Landshut, Germany. 1257 Hours. 4/11/45. 18, 120 feet. Bomb load unknown. Target was an ordnance depot. No flak, no fighters. Target is near Munich; perfect hit on target. Greenwood also noted on the bomb tag, "I only hope that the next 8 missions are like this one." 8+15 hours.

28. (301) Royan, France. 1043 Hours. 4/14/45. 19, 500 feet. 6ea 1000 pound GP's 8-2s. Author does not know what a E3-Z is? Target was gun positions in a by-passed German pocket on the French coast. 8+00 hours.

29. (30Z) Royan, France. 4/15/45. Since the author lost the Bomb tag for this mission, time over target is unknown. However, author recalls that the bomb load consisted of some P-51 wing tanks filled with napalm with an igniting device. Emitting fumes that even penetrated the crew's oxygen masks, the bomb bay doors were opened slightly to allow the fluid napalm to go out into the slip stream. One can conjecture that the personnel responsible for filling these tank did not take into consideration that by filling the tanks to the brim at ground level, the fluid would expand at altitude and over flow. As I recall the tactic of using napalm was to simply burn the Germans from their bunkers. I always wondered why I did not have a bomb tag for this mission; one answer could be that because we were dropping P-51 wing tanks and not conventional bombs, arming pins were not needed or overlooked? Larry Lazzari recalls that the P-51 wing tanks were attached to wires and due to the wires getting tangled some of the bombs malfunctioned. The crew did not know it at the time, but this was their last bombing mission. The mission lasted 8+30 hours.

The Lazzari crew was alerted for their 30th mission on 21 April 1945 at about 0400 hours. The crew realized that the war was drawing down to an end; however, they went through the tried and proved rituals and procedures that they had completed 29 times before. The target for this mission according to page 199 of "CENTURY BOMBERS was an airport east of Munich which probably was probaly Riem (Landeberg AF). However, page 495 of Roger Freeman's "THE MIGHTY EIGHTH WAR DIARY" indicates the 3rd Air Division went to other targets. In any event, the author does not remember the name of the target. As the 100th was lined up for take-off, two red flares were fired from the control tower indicating that the mission was scrubbed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and taxied back to their hard stands. It was about an hour later, as the crew was turning in their flight equipment, that Lt. Greenwood was describing his reservations and apprehensive thoughts that he had prior the mission. Some of the other crew members confessed that they too had the same disconcerting thoughts; that the Lazzari crew was going to be flying into some extremely troubling skies. Jumping up to leave the room and expressing his relief that the mission had been scrubbed, Lt. Greenwood hit his head on one of the half-round structural ribs that held the Quonset Hut together, splitting his scalp open. So with blood all over his head and his clothes, the crew took him to the hospital where a medic sewed him up. The profound irony of this event hit everyone, and of course, a big laugh was had by all. The Lazzari crew had survived 29 missions without a scratch, and on the last scrubbed venture in harm's way ended up with the co-pilot clowning around in the equipment hut and incurring ring injury to G.I. property, namely Greenwood's scalp. This would be the last time that the Lazzari crew would be alerted for a bombing mission. However, there was still work to be done by the 100th' s bomber crews.

Roger Freeman's MIGHTY EIGHTH WAR DIARY indicates on page 501 and 502 that the 13th Combat Bomb Wing (95th E.G., 100th B.G., and the 390th B.G, ) flew "Chow Hound" missions dropping food to Holland cities on May 1 through 7, 1945. The members of the Lazzari crew do not remember how many or which missions they flew. They know that they flew at least 2, but probably 3 of these "Chow Hound" missions. Lt. Greenwood's Form 5 "Air Force Individual Flight Record" documents that the Lazzari crew flew 4 hours on May 2, 3, 5, and 7. and 3+30 hours on May 6th Therefore, there is a possibility that the Lazzari crew flew 5 of the 7 "Chow Hound" mission. Lt. Greenwood recalls that on one mission to the Amsterdam Schipol Airport that the crew flying in the lower slot complained that his props were churning up the North Sea. The 100th was flying in standard 10 plane formation under a solid ceiling of less that 500 feet. Due to an agreement worked out with the occupying Germans, we were briefed that we had only a one quarter mile land fall on the Dutch coast. And if we varied off course, we were legal game for the German gunners. Fortunately, we had the best of Lead Navigators for we made land fall at precisely the authorized sector of the coast. ¶As we turned north to make our run on the airport, again we were restricted to a corridor one quarter mile wide. Again, I our navigation was without error, but as T/Sgt Richard Heritage and S/Sgt Dan O'Connell reported, the German gunners on the ground were aiming their guns at our planes. Our 50 caliber machine guns were loaded and ready to fire. I am sure that if one German had squeezed of one shot, he would have regretted it. for as we went into trail formation to drop our load of food, there were literally hundreds of B-17 gunners on super alert. We have vivid recollection of the Dutch people running out on the airport to pick up the food. They were 50 eager to get to the food, they threw all caution aside, for if one of the crates or boxes had fallen on one of them it could have killed them. we were briefed that the Germans were starving these people and that the situation was getting desperate; watching them scrambling to get the food confirmed the report. After dropping the food and still on a northerly heading, we flew over some of Amsterdam and there we witnessed a display of gratitude that none of us had ever seen; thousands of Dutch people waving anything they could get their hands on; bed sheets, table cloths and blankets. Being a part of this very humanitarian effort and witnessing the Dutch response was a topic of discussion at the 100th Bomb Group for many days afterward, taking the place of flak, fighters and losses.

Larry Lazzari recalls the bad weather and our loose formation over the North Sea to land fall on the Dutch coast. He also recalls a German flak gunner who put a few bursts--much closer than a single warning.

Larry reports that in Skagit Valley, Washington where he lives, he met some Dutch people who survived the near starvation imposed by the Germans, but literally saved by our "Chow Hound" food missions. They told him that the Spam was good and that the bread tasted like cake and that due to good packaging most of he food landed in very good condition. They made it very clear to Larry that the food was always distributed fairly. They remember several food drops. Larry recall is flying only two of these missions.

During the summer of 1945, the 8th Air Force assumed a number of varied support roles. One was converting the B-17 to a transport configuration; not very cost effective, but it worked. The 100th was given the task of moving the 357th Fighter Group to a former Luftwaffe Air Base near Munich. The Lazzari crew flew two of these missions. One mission was transporting Mess Hall equipment; some in the waist; some in the bomb bay. Larry remembers the tremendous devastation to Munich, and after we had lunch somewhere in the center of the city, the Austrian waiter saved all the food scraps. The waiter also showed us a picture of what the building that we were eating in looked like before the bombing. No doubt, Munich had been beautiful city. It was on this trip that Larry and I were wearing baseball caps with a silver bar pinned on the front, sun tan trousers and I don't recall what type of shirt we had on; possibly it was not too regulation? For sure we were not in proper uniform. As we were walking around the city looking at all the damage a very G.I. and proper Military Policeman came up to us, saluted and pointed out to us that we were very much out of uniform and that we should get out of town. We did!

It was sometime in early summer that the Lazzari crew was disbanded. While the rest of the crew returned home, for reasons that have been forgotten during these past five decades, Larry and Gene decided they were not in a hurry to get home; I guess we didn't have anything better to do, and since we both loved to fly, we got to go on some interesting trips. Bob Ellis, a 351st Lead pilot, checked Gene out in the B-17 as first pilot, but apparently life wasn't full enough so he also got himself checked out in the base's UC-64, a single engine utility transport and the C-47 Gooney Bird. Lt. Eddie Whitney, Carl Hellerich's co-pilot checked him out in the UC-64 and Carl Hellerich checked him out in the C-47, which occurred on a Sunday afternoon after a Saturday night at the Officer's Club. The check ride was supposed to take two or three hours. However, after three take-offs and three landings, Lt. Hellerich issued the command decision that neither one of us was feeling too good and that I did so good thus far that I was checked out. As of October 1993, Carl Hellerich does not recall this event nor does he care to. He doesn't deny it either. So, after a 45 minute ride Lt. Greenwood was a C-47 First Pilot. About three days later, a trip to Rheims, France was scheduled; purpose of flight was to pick up a load of Piper Heidstick champagne plus other assorted beverages, for the 100th B.G.'s various Clubs. Lt. Sangro, the Base Fire Marshall, was given a suit case full of money with instructions to cut the best deal possible. Lt. Greenwood got the trip, so he recruited Larry Lazzari, who had never been in a C-47, to fly as co-pilot and off they went to Rheims. The flight was solid undercast and on instruments (IFR) most of the way. So, after a time and distance calculation (we had no navigator) we let down through the undercast and and to everyone's surprise, there was a highway to Rheims; or at least that's what the road signs said, and we landed at the airfield without incident. While Lt. While Sangro was negotiating the beverage purchase and transportation back to the airfield, the crew visited the famous Rheims Cathedral and SHAEF Headquarters where Lt. General Walter B. Smith took the surrender from Col. General Alfred Jodl of the German High Command. The Red School House; history; what a thrill. That night, all the lOOth's clubs had fresh supplies of liquid refreshment. It should be noted by all who should read this history that the funds used to make this purchase were funds that belonged to the club members and that absolutely no U.S. Government Appropriated funds were used, and that Lt. Greenwood and Lt. Lazzari were satisfying their flying time requirements for the month. Let the record reflect that this whole episode was conducted explicitly in accordance with all the rules and regulations that govern such activities.

Per Letter Order #2Z, Hq VIII Fighter Command, dated 12 October 1945, the two remaining members of the original Lazzari Crew, Lt. Lazzari and Lt. Greenwood, were ordered to fly B-17G 42-97712 to the ZI. The airplane's tail number was also the crew number. This B-17 had been assigned to Lt. Colonel Harry F. Cruver, 351st Bomb Squadron Commander; and he had named it after his wife and two sons, "FRANCES, MARK AND PHIL" The Navigator was 1st Lt. Arnold C. Mogensen, Engineer was T/Sgt George G. Holden and the Radio Operator was S/Sgt Raymond Drewek.

The trip home was the most enjoyable and adventuresome time that two 21 year old pilots could possibly have had after surviving a combat tour with the 100th Bomb Group. By this time, in the year that they had been flying together, Larry and Gene had' flown hundreds of hours together. A finely honed cockpit procedure had evolved between these two young men. Silent communication in the cock-pit was commonplace with these two pilots. Mutual respect and trust was ever present. Because of this close relationship, it was only natural that they would fly a B-17 home together.

The "FRANCES, MARK AND PHIL" left Thorpe Abbotts for the last time on 16 October 1945

HOMEWARD BOUND ITINERARY

16 October Thorpe Abbotts -- Marseilles, France 4+15 Hours

17 October Marseilles – Casablanca 5+45

18 October Casablanca  - Dakar, Fr. West Africa 8+00

19 October Dakar  - Natal, Brazil 10+00

20 October Natal  - Atkinson Field, British Guyana 9+00

22 October "Atkinson  - Borenquen Field, Puerto Rico 5+20

23 October -Morrison Field West Palm Bch 5+30

During the Marsielles-Casablanca leg of their trip home, the crew enjoyed a slight detour so that they could get a good view of the "Rock of Gibralter."

While at Casablanca, the crew stayed in the old Italian Embassy, which had been converted into military hotel. The crew ate in downtown Casablanca at the "Brass Hat" officers club. Departing the club at about 2100 hours, they hailed a horse drawn taxi; told the driver to go to the Italian Embassy. When the crew realized that they were not heading in the right direction, the driver was persuaded to amend his thoughts and to go in the right direction by his observation of a German Luger that Lt. Greenwood kept tucked in his belt under his shirt.

It was here in Casablanca that the crew picked up as passengers, 10 enlisted men, who were veterans from the China, Burma, India theater (C8I) These these guys were eagerto get home. Named the Green Project, there were hundreds in Casablanca awaiting transportation home. More on these passengers later.

Flying around the coastline was the standard route to Dakar; however, when we looked at the distance and compared to that of a direct flight over the Sahara Desert, we elected to go the direct route. When we were clearing Dakar for Natal, the operations officer said that due to our fuel consumption from Casablanca, we would have to fly a dog leg to Natal via Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. We couldn't see this at all, and effectively argued the case that our previous leg's fuel consumption was due to pulling a little additional power and that with long range power management we could easily make the 10 hours trip to Natal. We won the discussion and as Larry recalls we arrived safely at Natal fuel with 700 gallons to spare.

Our two days at Natal were not without problems, but problems that with a little ingenuity and luck could be overcome by a forward thinking crew that had more confidence than maybe they had a right to posseccess By the time that we reached Natal, we had got to know our 10 passengers fairly well; veterans all, and all good guys, they nearly became a part of the crew. First problem; some Air Transport Command (ATC) Operations Officer who knew all the bureaucratic regulations the ATC pumped out, informed us that neither pilot possessed the proper ATC credentials that authorized us to carry passengers. Needless to say, the 10 CBI veterans really wanted to get home and they stuck with the crew like lice on a chicken. They would not let us out of their sight for very long. I guess they thought that we would take-off and leave them, which definitely was not the case. When they heard about the ATC officer telling us that we couldn't carry passengers, jaws dropped, worried frowns appeared, and panic set in. The second problem; we discovered that our airplane needed a 100 hour inspection, therefore, we would be laying over for two days. When we got outside operations, the passengers voiced their disappointment with extremely colorful language. It appeared that the ATC Operations Officer was a candidate for lynching. but calmer and cooler heads prevailed for Larry or I one told the passengers that once we got in the cock-pit, we never left it until we leveled off at cruising altitude and that from the time we fired up the engines till we got to cruising altitude at least an hour would have elapsed, and by then it would be too late to turn back.

Then there was the second problem, the 100 hour inspection. No one on the crew had conducted one and we didn't have a hangar to do it in and the sun made the ramp at least 125 degees.F. So with the engineer, T/Sgt Holden as the lead mechanic, all the crew sat down, read all the books and manuals, discussed how to do it, and then rationalized that any group of men as intelligent as we were could do almost anything--and efter all hadn't we survived the 100th Bomb Group and were now known as "LUCKY BASTARDS ' club.

With the inspections procedures well in mind, all we had to was find some shady place and with the help from a sympathetic transient maintenance officer, we were assigned to an open ended Quonset Hut type hangar. The tug that was supposed to tow us into the hangar never showed up. As can be expected, the crew wanted to get on with the job; one, before they forgot how to do an inspection and two, they wanted to get home. Patience was never one of Lt. Greenwood's finer attributes, he and Larry fired up the engines and taxied the airplane into the hangar and started the inspection. Verbal reprimands were received, but as vague memories record it, the crew didn't pay too much attention to it. After all, what could ATC bureaucracy have done about it? They certainly were not going to court martial five 8th Air Force war veterans and above all members of the "LUCKY BASTARDS' club. Looking back, we were a cocky bunch, real bad. we just couldn't stand for anyone or anything to get in our way preventing us from doing what had to be done. So we did it. We completed the inspection, changed the spark plugs, and accomplished all the other details required by the books; after all, our lives were at stake; and we wanted to get home. After patiently waiting for the tug to show up and tow us from the hangar; we probably waited 10 minutes; we simply departed the hangar the same way we got in there; we fired up the engines and taxied out, and more verbal reprimands, but the nice thing about it, none were ever recorded in our records. Why? because we had our records and were not about to surrender them to anyone, especially an ATC bureaucrat. With the plane operating better than ever, Larry signed off the inspection and we took off the next day for Atkinson Field, and about an hour after take-off someone checked the waist compartment and found 10 very pleased CBI veterans, around, and relaxed as if they really belonged there. At Atkinson Field, as we were taxiing to a transient parking space, we had to stop to allow a 15 foot black Python snake cross the taxiway. And some kids tried to sell Us some bananas. There was no "got any gum chum" here.

While at Bourenquen Field, Puerto Rico, local guards were assigned to guard our plane. As we were preparing to leave the next day we discovered that we shouldn't have left our baggage on the plane over night. Apparently, the guards did not guard, for our baggage had been pilfered; Lt. Greenwoods German Luger had been stolen, remember the Casablanca taxi ride? However, the most important event here, was that someone had the foresight to take some pictures of the planes. It was here at Bourenquen Field that the last picture of "FRANCES, MARK AND PHIL" was taken. Lt.Greenwood kept that photo until 1993; on the note that he wrote in sending the photo to Colonel Cruver, he said, "Harry, I've had custody of this photo for 48 years, you may have custody for the next 48 years."

Approaching the east coast of Florida, the navigator pointed to a large airport and said, "that's Morrison Field." Why would we question him, the navigator that showed us the way across the Mediterranean, the Sahara Desert, the South Atlantic, (he hit the Fernando de Noronha rock right on the nose) and up the island chain from Brazil to Florida? On VHF channel B, the control tower channel, the co-pilot requested landing instructions from Morrison Tower. Morrison cleared B-17 7712 to land; to report when on down-wind leg and base leg to runway 9 (east). With the "before landing check list" completed, everything was going in great shape for a landing until a voice on VHF channel "B" said, "B-17 on final approach at Miami International Airport please identify yourself." Larry looked at Gene--Gene looked at Larry. No words needed to be spoken; full power was applied, the landing gear was retracted and the flaps were milked up, a left hand turn was made and a few minutes later the same routine was again executed, but this time they were at Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Florida. It was 23 October 1945. It was here that the crew left the "FRANCES, MARK AND PHIL" and Larry and Gene said their good-byes.

Unfortunately, Larry and Gene have not seen one another since that sunny October day in Florida. After sharing a dangerous but rewarding adventure, as twenty year olds, they went on to pursue their post World War II lives, getting married, raising a family, and growing old. In recent years they have corresponded far more than they did in the earlier times. They have the time now. Christmas Cards, phone calls and letters are fairly regular. After all these many years, it is very obvious that they still hold great respect and admiration for one another. They remember how they survived, when world events brought them together in "harms way." They are friends.

First