\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On May 7, 1944, an aerial gunner in the 722nd Bomb Squadron of the 450th (\u201cCottontails\u201d) Bomb Group \u2013 S\/Sgt. Harry M. Beightol – composed the following letter to his mother, Nellie Mae Beightol, of Howard Hill, New York:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI am getting along fine, Mom, and am trying to be a good soldier and do my part.\u00a0 I go to church whenever I can and I never fail to thank God for bringing us back after each mission.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI carry my Testament with me on every mission and before we get into enemy territory I read the 91st Psalm.\u00a0 I believe that passage means to me that my fears vanish as dew in the morning sun.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSome of the boys in our group have finished their missions and are awaiting transportation to the States.\u00a0 I have 45 missions to my credit.\u00a0 Perhaps I\u2019ll get to see you all one of these days soon.\u00a0 I certainly won\u2019t be sorry.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI haven\u2019t done so much, but in a sense of the word I can say I have done a little something for my country.\u00a0 I hope to be able to do more.\u00a0 Perhaps I\u2019ll get the chance.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

May 7, 1944<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brief and direct; meaningful and sincere, Sgt. Beightol\u2019s letter was shared with the upstate New York newspaper Chautauqua News and Sherman Advance<\/em>, where it was published just over one month later, on June 9.\u00a0 The impetus for its publication was his parents\u2019 receipt \u2013 on June 8 \u2013 of a telegram from the War Department notifying them that Harry and his crew were listed as Missing in Action in the Mediterranean Theater of War, on May 12, 1944.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neither Harry nor his crewmen would return.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To those who knew them, they would become memories.\u00a0 To their country, their loss would become part of both the cost and record of America\u2019s victory in World War Two, an era that imparted and reflected monumental changes in American society, and, the place of the United States in the international arena.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Almost seventy-three years have passed since then.\u00a0 Times have changed; times continue to change.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The impact of the Second World War \u2013 personal and cultural; historical and technological \u2013 while in many ways having formed and influenced the world we have lived in, is increasingly moving into the past, blending into and merging with the currents of time.\u00a0 Such is the way of human nature; such is the way of history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The memory and legacy of that era \u2013 which might once have seemed near-indelible to its participants, observers, and, their descendants \u2013 will, in the fullness of time, like all historical events, consist of memories of<\/em> memories, words, and, images.\u00a0 (Well, it does already…)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is the latter \u2013 three images – that are the focus of this post:\u00a0 Pictures of Harry\u2019s aircraft, Marty the Rubble Maker<\/em>, photographed it flew into history.<\/span><\/p>\n

____________________<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An image of this aircraft appeared in publication as far back as 1973, in Steve Birdsall\u2019s Log of the Liberators<\/em>, where a photograph of the severely damaged B-24 is shown on page 225.\u00a0 The picture is captioned, \u201cHit by flak over Porto Santo Stefano, this Cottontail stayed in formation for seven minutes with the entire left tail section shot off.\u00a0 The aircraft stood on one wing a couple of times, but the pilot fought it and managed to get her level again long enough for the crew to bail out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>From the caption\u2019s optimistic tone, it would have seemed – well, then – that the crew survived.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Another photograph of this B-24 was published three years later, in Ken Rust\u2019s Fifteenth Air Force Story<\/span><\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 On<\/span> page 23, an image of a diving B-24 with a half-destroyed tail is captioned, \u201cLiberator was hit by flak on 12 May 1944 after completing its bomb run over Porto Santo Stefano, Italy.\u00a0 After losing part of its tail, the plane remained with its formation for seven minutes, then split-essed a number of times with the pilot recovering control by use of ailerons each time.\u00a0 Finally, after all crewmen had bailed out safely, the plane went out of control and crashed into the sea.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Porto Santo Stefano?\u00a0 Liberator?\u00a0 The caption was similar in content and tone to that in Birdsall\u2019s book, and it became obvious that the two photographs were images in the same sequence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The key would be the Missing Air Crew Report (MACR).\u00a0 In turn, the key to obtaining a copy of the MACR (as microfiche; well, this was<\/em> 1985, years before the advent of Fold3.com, JPGs, and PDFs!) was the date: May 12, 1944.\u00a0 With that information, I received the relevant MACR (4836) from the National Archives.\u00a0 Placing it within a microfilm reader, I discovered that from the plane in question – B-24H 42-52096 – there were no survivors.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What happened?<\/span><\/p>\n

____________________<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Who were the plane’s crew?<\/span><\/p>\n

Pilot<\/strong>: 2 Lt. J.C. Word (Full first name unknown.)
\n<\/strong>Mrs. Ava Word (mother), Wright City, Ok.<\/span>
\n Commemorated on Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Co-Pilot<\/strong>: 2 Lt. Norbert T. Bertling<\/span>
\n Born 1919<\/span>
\n Mrs. Agnes Bertling (mother), Cashton, Wi.<\/span>
\n According to ABMC website, commemorated on Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.<\/span>
\n According to FindAGrave.com, buried at Moen Cemetery, Cashton, Wi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Navigator<\/strong>: 2 Lt. Edward Franklin Garrett; On 38th Mission<\/span>
\n Mrs. Catherine T. Garrett (wife), 11 Villa Road, Menands, N.Y.<\/span>
\n Mrs. John Dobler (mother), 41 Ford Ave., Troy, N.Y.<\/span>
\n Mrs. Harry Stufflebeam (sister)<\/span>
\nCommemorated on Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.<\/span>
\n Photograph and missing in action notice from The Times Record<\/em> (Troy, N.Y.) of June 15, 1944<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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