UncleKenny's Pointie Talkie

[Singlebill]

Hello!
I thought you all might enjoy a few pictures of the pointie talkie that belonged to my uncle, Staff Sgt. Herman K. Sigrist, who was the right gunner on the B-29 42-6358 “Ding How” ( or “Hao”) of the 794th squadron,468th Heavy Bomber Group. The Ding How was attacked by Japanese fighters during a raid over Omura, and due to the loss of one engine and a 120 knot headwind, forced to ditch in Vladivostok, Russia on November 21,1944.

As some of you are aware, this plane is one of three B-29s that ditched nearly intact in Russia. Using the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact as an excuse, the Russians interned the crews, kept the bombers and copied them to develop their long range bomber, the Tu-4.

Uncle Kenny suffered a back injury and damage to his hearing in the attack. After some top secret negotiations, he and the other crews were allowed to “escape” to Tashkent, Russia, then by train and truck to Tehran, Iran, on to Naples, then to New York. All were sworn to secrecy, and limited to stateside duty until the end of the war.

This is probably why my uncle never talked much about his service, but would only say he was a “guest of the Russians”. He returned from the war, married my dad’s sister, and worked for the U.S. Postal service. He passed away in 1997.

Boy I wish this pointie talkie could REALLY talk!

[MAP]

Very nice story. A real piece of national and family history.

Thanks for sharing!

Pretty neat booklet too!