Bomber mit dem Babyschuh, Thursday, 01 September 05 - This was the headline of the last article about the excavation written by Korrespondent Bischoff for Morgen Post. The Bomber with the Babyshoe. Even if a P-38 was less bomber than fighter, I was reminded of the baby shoe my father wore on his helmet while he was flying. Lost forever now but, for a moment, I wondered why, if a scrap of parchute silk survived, why not a baby shoe? I hoped for that but will be content (if that is the word in this case) to hold onto the notion of my father attaching my baby shoe to his helmet and flying into the clouds while considering his pending fatherhood.
There a couple of websites you might find interesting especially if you've been with me throughout this saga:
www.web-birds.com has photographs contributed by the members of my father's fighter group (474th) and his squadron (428th). Click on474th and navigate from there. Photos of the now-demolished chateau are posted there. I will make one last attempt (this will be the third) to find what remains of the land on which it was built and inhabited by a group of American flyers in 1944 & part of 1945. From my father's letters written at that time, I have a fairly clear picture of the landscape minus 60 years of vegetation and weather. A hill, woods, and a 6-holer........
www.JPAC.mil is JPAC's website which contains, among other things, information on excavations past, present, and future. Capt. Emmons tells me 10 worldwide missions are scheduled each year (not including Viet Nam and Korea and a few others I am forgetting at the moment) and the teams work year round except for December. The rotation of a JPAC team member is three years after which they must accept a new job outside of JPAC. From what everyone on this team says, this is a wonderful, rewarding, rigorous, and labor-intensive assignment. With that, I never heard a complaint or sensed any resistance from any team member despite the nearly constant back breaking labor. Dig it up, check it out, put the dirt back. They are my new heros.
www.staurohr.de is Hans-Guenther Ploes (God of Airplane Parts) website. Photos of the parts we found in 2003 are included along with photos and reports of the other crash sites he has discovered.
Tomorrow on our way to the Leipzig Airport enroute to Frankfurt, I will stop by the field one last time. The team tells me it looks as if it has never been disturbed. I intend to leave the cross there and perhaps have a metal plate attached so that whoever wonders about it will know that an American pilot died there. I was thinking about that cross and wondering how long it will withstand the elements. I know dear Frau Thiel takes care of it but time will affect its beauty. That's the point, I suppose. If it were forever new, who could measure the passage of time. It is where part of me will always remain here with my father. The rest of both of us is coming Home!
Some guy yelled at me this morning for taking pictures of the intricate wrought iron fences and gates around the grander Torgau residences. He said something that ended with, "verboten." I smiled my best American girl smile at him and considered myself officially scolded by a stranger. Won't be the first or the last time. The fence photos I continued to take are great, by the way.
On to Frankfurt and the last leg of this journey. When I planned this, I knew I would want to visit my father's name on the wall in Margraten, Holland. There is always one more thing to do, to see, to be sure of, and to experience. The next time I write here will be from the Frankfurt Arabella Sheraton in the heart of downtown Frankfurt. As I recover from culture shock, I will post the last of the excavation photos. Til then, I remain, your humble Korrespondent of the Babyschuh.
There a couple of websites you might find interesting especially if you've been with me throughout this saga:
www.web-birds.com has photographs contributed by the members of my father's fighter group (474th) and his squadron (428th). Click on474th and navigate from there. Photos of the now-demolished chateau are posted there. I will make one last attempt (this will be the third) to find what remains of the land on which it was built and inhabited by a group of American flyers in 1944 & part of 1945. From my father's letters written at that time, I have a fairly clear picture of the landscape minus 60 years of vegetation and weather. A hill, woods, and a 6-holer........
www.JPAC.mil is JPAC's website which contains, among other things, information on excavations past, present, and future. Capt. Emmons tells me 10 worldwide missions are scheduled each year (not including Viet Nam and Korea and a few others I am forgetting at the moment) and the teams work year round except for December. The rotation of a JPAC team member is three years after which they must accept a new job outside of JPAC. From what everyone on this team says, this is a wonderful, rewarding, rigorous, and labor-intensive assignment. With that, I never heard a complaint or sensed any resistance from any team member despite the nearly constant back breaking labor. Dig it up, check it out, put the dirt back. They are my new heros.
www.staurohr.de is Hans-Guenther Ploes (God of Airplane Parts) website. Photos of the parts we found in 2003 are included along with photos and reports of the other crash sites he has discovered.
Tomorrow on our way to the Leipzig Airport enroute to Frankfurt, I will stop by the field one last time. The team tells me it looks as if it has never been disturbed. I intend to leave the cross there and perhaps have a metal plate attached so that whoever wonders about it will know that an American pilot died there. I was thinking about that cross and wondering how long it will withstand the elements. I know dear Frau Thiel takes care of it but time will affect its beauty. That's the point, I suppose. If it were forever new, who could measure the passage of time. It is where part of me will always remain here with my father. The rest of both of us is coming Home!
Some guy yelled at me this morning for taking pictures of the intricate wrought iron fences and gates around the grander Torgau residences. He said something that ended with, "verboten." I smiled my best American girl smile at him and considered myself officially scolded by a stranger. Won't be the first or the last time. The fence photos I continued to take are great, by the way.
On to Frankfurt and the last leg of this journey. When I planned this, I knew I would want to visit my father's name on the wall in Margraten, Holland. There is always one more thing to do, to see, to be sure of, and to experience. The next time I write here will be from the Frankfurt Arabella Sheraton in the heart of downtown Frankfurt. As I recover from culture shock, I will post the last of the excavation photos. Til then, I remain, your humble Korrespondent of the Babyschuh.
posted by Team Estill From the Field at
6:58 AM
