Remembering my dad and his service in World War II where his plane was shot down on a bombing raid from southern Italy to Munich. He and his fellow soldiers in the Army Air Corp B-24 Liberator were all found and rescued by the Italian partisanos before the Germans could get to them. He had many harrowing stories of close calls, being hidden out in barns, mansions, all over the place, before they finally made their way back to southern Italy and freedom in 1945. The time period was February-May, 1945 after southern Italy had been liberated. Northern Italy was still occupied by the Germans, and he landed near San Daniele di Friuli in the northeast corner of Italy. At one point they were hidden in Yugoslavia. In 1988, after winning a big lawsuit, I took my parents to Europe, first to Munich so he could see the city they were to be bombing, then drove down to San Daniele and stayed with the first partisano who had rescued him. We got to see all the hiding places, and meet the majority of people who had helped rescue him. We even went across the border into Yugoslavia, and it was eeary because it was like from a movie with the Soviet soliders, except these were Yugoslav soldiers with machine guns guarding the border. Even though it was 75 degrees, they were wearing big thick heavy overcoats and Russian fur hats. They must have been steaming under there. Thank you Dad, for your service, and for all you did for us and for SOOO many students at Highland High from 1953-1985. First pic is the plaque on my dads bench at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial. The second is my dad in high school.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:39:51 +0000
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