New here and I have a story for you.

**Joel109** · 01-07-2009, 02:00 PM

Hello. I'm new to this site and I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum for my story, but here goes anyways. I am 34 years old and have been a big WW2 history buff since high school. I am interested in all aspects of the war and find it very facinating. I am most interested in the Nazi history of WW2, but please believe me when I say that I have no sympathy nor do I support Nazism in any way. Anyways, My grandpa was in the U.S. Navy during the war and was stationed in Hawaii, although it was after December 7th, 1941. As far as I know, he did not see any action. A few years before he died, we got to talking about the war and he told me something that I had not known before. His brother (my great uncle) was a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot with the 365th fighter squadron. Anyways, my great uncle was on a mission over France in July of 1944 when he was jumped by about 50 ME-109's and FW-190's. He did not return to his base that day. I don't know if it was unusual to be jumped by that many enemy fighters in mid-1944, but my grandpa gave me a copy of the report that was filed when my great uncle Jay did not return from his mission, and the report clearly states 50 enemy fighters. Anyways, a French farmer saw my great uncles plane falling toward the ground and quickly ran out to the aircraft to see if my great uncle was still alive before the Germans got to him. He was dead before he hit the ground. My grandpa and this French farmer were in contact with each other until shortly before my grandpa died in 2005. The guy in France sent my grandpa photos and pieces on the aircraft through the years. The local community where my great uncle was shot down even made a hand painted dinner plate with his airplane, etc painted in great detail. I guess they have alot of respect for my great uncle. My great uncle is buried at Normandy. I forget what squadron shot down my great uncle, but my grandfather told me that he thinks he was able to figure out the name of the German pilot who shot my great uncle down. There is a book out titled "The 365th Fighter Squadron in World War II" by Kent Miller. In the book, my great uncle is mentioned as well as the squadron that shot him down. Anyways, I thought I would share this story about my great uncle, a man I never knew, but am extremely proud of and proud to share his name.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 01-07-2009 02:00 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Adrian Stevenson** · 01-07-2009, 02:03 PM

Hi Joel, welcome to the forum.

Thank you for sharing your family's story about your Great Uncle with us. It is always great to hear about stories like his.

You are right to be proud of him!

Cheers, Ade.

**stuka f** · 01-07-2009, 02:11 PM

by Adrian Stevenson

Hi Joel, welcome to the forum.

Thank you for sharing your family's story about your Great Uncle with us. It is always great to hear about stories like his.

You are right to be proud of him!

Cheers, Ade.

Absolutely!!

**Ben Evans** · 01-07-2009, 02:39 PM

Hello and welcome, thanks for sharing that with us

**Joel109** · 01-07-2009, 02:47 PM

Thanks guys. I have been a member of the U.S. Air Force for nearly 14 years now and have tried to serve my country as best I can but I doubt I will ever come close to doing what my great uncle Jay did for America and the world. I don't want to make it seem as though he was better than anyone else who fought the axis though. There were millions of other great people out there who deserve just as much praise.

**lach470** · 01-08-2009, 12:43 AM

Wow....very cool story! Thanks for sharing with us - and welcome aboard!

Cheers!

Rob

**ironcross1** · 01-08-2009, 03:41 AM

Welcome aboard mate , awesome story , and a great piece of history , you are lucky to have so much info on your uncle and his service , great reading cheers Raymond

**Nick VR** · 01-08-2009, 07:54 AM

Hi Joel109

Welcome to the forum, that was an interesting read. The remark of 50 German fighterplanes is indeed a good point considering it's in the Normandy region by mid 1944...

Do you collect?

Greetz

Nick VR

**LUCKYSTRIKE** · 01-09-2009, 01:15 AM

Thank you for your very moving story. I was just wondering have you ever had the opportunity to visit Normandy before. Perhaps even his crash site and grave. Do you know which cemetery he is in, I usually visit Normandy in the Summer and could visit his grave to pay my respects a could take a few pictures to send to you. He was a brave man.
LUCKYSTRIKE

**Joel109** · 01-09-2009, 06:04 AM

No, I don't collect. I tried to get into it about 14 years ago when I first joined the service, but I got frustrated with all of the fakes floating around out there. There was a guy in my squadron though who had tons of Nazi medals, patches, etc that his Grandfather would send him from England. He showed me his collection one time and I was quite amazed. No, I have never been to Normandy but I would love to go someday. I have been to Germany a couple of times though when my squadron was deployed there or when just passing through when coming back from the middle east. As for where in Normandy my great uncle is buried, I did some research on the internet and this is what I came up with. His ID was 0-674346. He was a First Lieutenant with the U.S. Army Air Forces, 365th Fighter Squadron, 358th Fighter Group. He died on July 14th, 1944 and is buried at the Normandy American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. His grave location is Plot B, Row 13, Grave 13. Some of his awards were the Air Medal with 9 Oak Leak Clusters and the Purple Heart. He flew the P-47 Thunderbolt in 25 missions with 50 sorties.