Pierced Steel Planking: the gates of the war

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THANKS TO THE 485^th BG VETS

 

There are not words to thank all those who contributed to the victory of the Allied Forces in the Second World War, freeing humanity from the nightmare of fascism and nazism. Now it’s up to the new generations to safeguard and defend the memory of their sacrifices so that it will never again be possible to cloud the consciences and hearts of entire populations, threaten peace with a world war, plan to enslave million men and women. So today every testimony, every trace becomes precious to keep the consciousness alive of what happened in a past that we shall not forget. 

This website wants to be a modest recognition of the Veterans of the 485^th Bomb Group. Their contribution cannot be measured solely with the number of missions undertaken and targets hit: in reality, they wrote one page of the great book of History. Many gave their lives; the survivors returned to their homes and jobs and became fathers of a new generation: a right they deserved.  

Many years have passed since the end of the war. On the other side of the Ocean, in Italy, we had news about the 485^th BG Association, which reunites the Veterans of the Group and their relatives, and knew the possibility of finding traces, data, photos of the events occurred during 1944-1945.

 

So we contacted two people: Jerry Whiting, historian of the 485^th BG Association, and Terry Boettcher, Board Member of AWON. It was easy and natural to have an exchange of ideas and information with them, in spite of the language barrier. What strikes us about Jerry Whiting is his great accuracy in the research of everything that has to do with the men and the various crews of the 485^th BG, and the context in which they operated. Terry Boettcher, as soon as he was contacted, sent a series of useful information, bringing to our attention some webpages concerning an airmen, Harold "Red" Kempffer,  also containing old photos of some children of Venosa. Subsequently, we was lucky enough to contact Harold "Red" Kempffer in person, who wrote for us some pages about the life at Venosa airfield during the war. Therefore it is right to emphasize that Jerry Whiting, Terry Boettcher and Harold "Red" Kempffer gave a great encouragement and a precious contribution to the creation of these pages: speaking to them, for us, was like speaking to the 485^th BG. 

Venosa airfield: Carlin crew

(Photo used with permission of the 485th Bomb Group Association)