These pictured Monuments are near Bressanone (Brixen) in the Southtirol, Northern Italy. They are but two of the many monuments existing or are in the planning stage throughout Europe and dedicated to the American Soldier and Airmen who gave their lives for Universal Freedom. Many persons had a hand in their conception, design and construction.Two men stand out in this endeavor. Emil Prader who designed and constructed the first one using his own hard earned meager funds and Keith Bullock who tirelessly researched the names of the Airmen who died in those crashing bombers. He too used his own hard earned meager funds.

     In the development of written human history it would be hard to find such dedication that would be required to conceive and construct these monuments. It would be even harder to believe that a defeated adversary could construct a heart-warming memorial for the young men who gave their lives for the victors as well for the defeated. For it was the defeated that needed so much from the victors to relieve the pain and suffering that was forced upon them by ruthless and demonic dictators. The pictured monuments above are a tribute and a memorial to demonstrate that all people and nations can and want to live together in peace and harmony. If only all the people can convince their own leaders that their primary responsibility is to use their wisdom to find a way to eliminate war as a way of life on Planet Earth.

     Emil Prater is honored at the dedication ceremonies by the Mayor of Brixen. Keith Bullock’s story is told after the opening ceremonies and the written war time events that lead up to their creation.

     Emil Prater of St. Leonhard, working entirely upon his own initiative has made and erected this War Memorial to the memories of the crew of a US American Bomber that crashed on the Mt. Plose during World War II. The Memorial not only bears the names of those who were killed on the Penideralm but also those who crashed and died on the “Rutzenberg”. So the Memorial is considered to be in memory to all who gave their young lives on this Southtirolean Mountain.
 

The Memorial should symbolize a “Sign of Peace” to those who were once enemies. Through the erection of this Memorial by the worthy Emil Prater, through this solemn blessing, people have been brought together in friendship which were once parted by the pain of war. The hand of peace and friendships reached out over the loss of these crews, and so I say to the survivors, relations and friends of those who fell, “Welcome”. May you spend or are spending a few carefree days in our presence.

Emil Prader

        The two separate folks who live harmoniously in our region, German and Italian, recognize through our reciprocal understanding and agreement with tolerance and high regard for each other. This too applies to the citizens of the United States of America and in particular relations of the airmen who lost their lives, this Memorial is intended to Express these views.

Rag. Klaus Seebacker, Mayor of Brixen August 16, 1998

     On this date US Heavy Bombers of the 47^th and 304 Bomb Wings of the 15^th US Air Force based in Southern Italy bombed the railroad bridge over the river Eisack at Albes (Albeins) during which one B-24 Liberator was brought down by a direct hit by Flak and crashed 200 meters north of the Penideralm above Brixen. The bomber broke up in mid air and completely lost its tail section. The falling bomber struck the tail fin of a close by Liberator and spiraled uncontrollably to Earth - - it splintered into pieces on the crash site. From the crew of twelve only one was able to bail out. 1^st Lt. Leonard Clyde, the Bombardier, landed by parachute near the Schammaches below the summit. He dragged himself a few hundred yards down the slope and lit a fire to attract attention.
 

It is thought that his sign of life must have been seen by someone from the circumstances later evident. For all of his personal belongings were missing and the body had been robbed of its clothing and half buried near a burnt tree. This discovery of the crash sites was made by a local herdsman on the slope in July of 1945. His dog tags were found a short distance away.       One crew member was flung out of the exploding bomber and his body was never found. The other ten (there were twelve crew members on this flight) bodies laid charred and smashed in and around the wreckage.

(1) Penideralm - Liberator (2) Rutzenberg - Flying Fortress

It was only possible to identify with certainty four of them. Temporary burial was made by the local people at the foot of the Ackerboden Weather Cross which to this day is kept in order and adorned with flowers. After the war ended the bodies were exhumed and eventually found their final resting place in the United States.

        Ist Lt. Charles W. Wherry, Jr. had, with this mission, his stateside furlough ticket already in his pocket since this was to be his last mission - - but tragic circumstances prevailed and indeed it was his last mission. On February 27, 1945 he had written in his diary, “I can’t believe tomorrow’s mission is my last. Home! Good food! Sleep! So many things going through my head. I should see you in 21 days”. He had previously written that their losses were about one bomber for every 10 and with as many as 850 bombers over the target how many men die! There are very few wounded cases just Death. WAR IS HELL! A few days later a telegram arrived at his home in Modesto, California and stated: “ Regret to inform you, your Son, Lt. Charles W. Wherry, Jr. was killed in action on February 28, 1945. Yes! For those that dropped the bombs and for those they were dropped upon, WAR WAS AND STILL IS “HELL”.
 
 

     This B-17 flying Fortress was on a bombing mission to Innsbruck, the capital city of the Austrian Northtirol and or Castelfranco Veneto in Northern Italy. Before reaching their target and over Brixen they ran into heavy and accurate flak with one of the group receiving a direct hit causing it to explode in mid-air with the fuselage and cockpit portion falling in front of the farm house of the Oberzifflerhofes. On the Rutzenberg above the village of St. Andra near Brixen.
 

Sgt. Farrell B. Haney , S/Sgt’s Charles A. Williams and William Vuyanovitch were all killed in the action by the impact when unable to bail out of the crashing bomber. S/Sgt Robert J. Halstein died near the crash site but his body was never found, ONLY HIS DOG TAGS. The three known dead airmen were buried on the 3rd of January 1945 in the village of St Andra’s church cemetery. In July of 1945 their bodies were exhumed and reburied in the American Military Cemetery in Mirandola. Again, later, they were exhumed and finally buried in the United States. The rest of the crew was able to save themselves by parachute. Navigator Arthur Frechette spun through the air unable to get his parachute to function properly and landed on an extremely steep slope of the snow covered mountain and, although badly injured, escaped death, and lived to tell the tale. Still alive was the pilot 1st. Lt. Lyle Pearson and Gunner S/Sgt. Charles T. Lyon who were present and taking part in the dedication on these Monuments in remembrance of their dead comrades

Ackerboden Weather Cross

     At the Hendlingerhof in Afers another survivor was taken in and looked after at the Mitterrutzerh of in St. Andra. It is not known if this airman was another survivor of this Bomber. As Charles Lyon recalls he was taken to St. Andra by sledge. It is hoped that Charles Lyon could clear up this 54-year-old mystery during these gatherings.

     A further report by S/Sgt. Lyon on his rescue. “I landed in a spruce tree somewhere above St. Andra around midday. I was bleeding from a head wound and from my mouth where two teeth had been hit with force. It was not until dusk that a farmer, armed with a rifle, appeared and released me from my precarious position.  After searching me to ensure that I was not carrying a gun he took me to his farm and into his house. He furnished me with an evening meal. There were many children in the family and everyone was friendly toward me.For the night, a fine feather bed was put at my disposal which ensured a good night’s rest. In the morning a German soldier arrived and took me down to St. Andra on a sledge where I was made captive as an American Prisoner of War.

     Charley Lyon did indeed clear up the mystery of the rescue, without a shadow of doubt, he was the airman taken “home” by a farmer. Two days before the ceremony on August 16, 1998 we visited this farm and met the farmer’s son and his family. Also there was the elder farmer’s wife, now bed ridden, the farmer had died a few years ago. But the elder farmer often told the tale of how he captured and rescued an injured American airman and his son knew the tale by heart. Outside the house Charley was not all that sure, but once inside he started to tell how things were as he could remember them to which the son said, “that’s exactly as Charlie related”. Charley then asked to see the bedroom where he spent the night and before going into the room asked if the steel bars were still up on the small window - - they were. Before we left we were taken to see the farmer’s wife, a very sick woman. But the look on her face when she shook Charlie’s hand brought heart warming joy to all of us - - no doubt some moistened eyes as well. Suddenly her countenance brightened as old memories flooded in and it was obvious she was enjoying something that she had waited for since that fateful evening of December 29, 1944. The night that she gave food and first aid to a young wounded airman. And to know that she helped him survive World War II.
 

Keith M. Bullock A  Dedicated man with a quest For historical data on that air War over Europe. Always Ready to help the survivors Of those bomber crashes and Their families to seek peace

     He is an extremely difficult person to describe as he is extremely reluctant to tell anyone about himself. Although I have never met him I have been corresponding with him for almost three years now and in reading between his lines I learned to respect his dedication in research and truth finding

        Keith was in the British RAF during World War II and after the war he was sent to Israel and then to Iraq where he eventually completed his overseas duties in June 1946. He was still being shot at sometimes by friendly forces. Somewhere in life he decided to live in the Tirol and enjoy those snow capped Alpine Mountains in the winter and the high grassy meadows, the kind that we watched in the movie “The sound of Music”. I am only guessing that his life’s work was either in Architecture or Engineering since his research is so exact.

        In the early 1990’s he was asked about a bomber crash site near the village where he now lives - - would he try to find out how many of the airmen had been killed - - how many had survived and were any of them alive today This, evidently, became the catalyst that started Keith on his quest. He was so intrigued with the thought of such research after almost fifty years he must have dropped all other worthy projects and went at it with full throttles. I don’t believe his air speed has diminished a single knot. Look at what he has accomplished with just snail mail and the e-mail system on the internet.

        He had contacted just about every Veterans organization in America - - every government department that in any way was connected veterans affairs. Including the Secretary of the Air force, the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, The Maxwell Air Force Base Military Records Office, Veterans Administration for the Records of living and deceased Veterans and so many other branches of our Government. All this he accomplished by using his own retirement funds.

     In his correspondence he has compilied records containing many Missing Aircrew Reports (MACRs) - - has a listing of more than seven thousand heavy bombers that were shot down over Europe during WW II - - has visited many crash sites and has been instrumental in determining the names of the men KIA or survived and then were made POWs. He has listed eyewitness accounts of those bombers when and where they were shot down. He has traveled to many church cemeteries to try to find any record of the airmen KIA., and to his surprise many of the then enemy, the terror Fliegers, received proper and ceremonious burials.

     He now has an awesome problem and he needs all the help he can muster. On March 29, 2000 a new monument was scheduled to be dedicated at Kardein, near Bozen in the Southtirol. But this was postponed at his request for he was still trying, after well over a year of researching, to find the relatives of the eleven man crew of this liberator shot down over Bozen on March 29 1944. Ten of the airmen were KIA with one survivor who passed away in 1992. The organizers of the erection of this monument were anxious to invite any relative of this crew to attend the ceremony. They had not been successful in finding any. However during the past few weeks he has been able to find one family and three of the family members will be coming to Bozen on September 17, 2000 to take part in the dedication ceremony. His efforts are now centered on the 465^th Bomb Group.

     On August 3, 1944, while on a bombing mission to Friedrichshafen, in Southern Germany eight of these heavy bombers were shot down in less than one minute by German fighters. There are eye-witnesses to this event and all the crash sites are identified and recorded. Seventy nine airmen crewed these bombers, 30 were KIA and 49 were captured and became POWs - - most of them after a stay in a hospital. Keith and a local friend has received permission from the various authorities in the Tirol to erect marker plaques on each of the crash sites. He has made contact with sixteen of the survivors or their families and has informed them all of what is being done. Some have offered donations to help with the costs of the project. And it goes on and on for this unselfish dedicated man with a lot of energy and sympathy for the heroic deeds by past generations of warriors. Keith Tells me of something that he has often heard said when interviewing eye-witnesses in the Tirol, “Thank God the Allies Won”

 Keith can be contacted  e-mail   <keith.bullock@oberland.or.at>