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May 30, 2009 - May 30, 2009 - Memorial Dedication : Memorial Dedication for Crews of 42 - 3157 (Laura) and 42 - 32107
Click on Event Pictures below
Dear Sirs or Madams,
On July 26, 1944, the B-17G aircraft, AAF Serial Numbers 42-3157 and 42-32107 went
down in the eastern region of Styria near St. Jakob im Walde, Austria. These two B-17s were
two of eleven 301st Bomb Group aircraft that were lost that day. It was the 2nd largest single day
loss suffered by the 301st during the war. There were 425 bombers of the 15th Air Force sent on the mission to Wiener Neudorf, to attack the airplane factories located there. Of the four
301st squadrons, only 14 aircraft of 40 reached the target.
On May 30th, a big celebration of the local Veterans' Association, the 90th Anniversary,
takes place. A memorial plaque honoring the crews of the two B-17s that crashed near their city will be
disclosed during this ceremony at the WWII Memorial of St. Jakob im Walde. There will be a lot of people and representatives of many different communities attending.
There were eight crew members KIA and twelve survivors of the two planes that crashed near there. ( MACR 7138 & 7129 ) The two aircraft were from the 32nd Squadron of the 301st
Bomb Group. The Dedication for this Memorial Plaque will be held on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 5:00 PM. We located three of the surviving crew members, one will be in attendance at the Dedication along with family of one of the KIA's. Anyone in the 301st Bomb Group Association or their families
who is interested in attending the Dedication would be welcomed.
A local historian, Christian Arzberger, who has been working on the project to locate all eleven crash sites, will have an exhibition in the local museum, of artifacts recovered from the
crash sites.
Anyone interested in details or may be thinking about attending, click
on "Contact Us" on the main page and leave a message. Help is needed to pay for the Memorial Plaque and Funeral Wreath, if you would like to help, also click on "Contact Us" and leave a message. All donors will be acknowledged .
Donors
Bill Brainard - Survivor 42-3157 32nd Squadron
Ed Shallcross - Survivor 42-3157 32nd Squadron
Bill Jameson - Survivor 42-3157 32nd Squadron
Lynn Keener - 301BG.COM in memory of Fred Keener 352nd Squadron
Frank J Finklang, President 301st BG/Wings Assoc. in memory of Lt John L DaCrema 419th Squadron
Russell Webb in memory of 2nd Lt. Charles H. Van Houten 419th Squadron
Robert Coalter - 301BG.COM
Jeff Sherman in honor of Sgt. Martin S. Fishleder 32nd Squadron
Mike Conley in honor of Peter L Kleist 352nd Squadron
The U.S. Embassy posts the Dedication at: http://vienna.usembassy.gov/en/embassy/photo/stjakob.htm Where: St. Jakob im Walde, Austria [Event Pictures]
A/C 42-32107 (MACR 7129.pdf)
A/C 42-3157 (MACR 7138.pdf)
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