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Welcome to the Hell From
Heaven Men website |
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January 13, 2008
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Visitors
since:
July
28, 2002
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Thanks for visiting! |
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Last
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Sunday, 13-Jan-2008 18:14:31 MST |
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 This site
is dedicated to the 53,000+ men who were trained as bombardiers
during WWII. From the movie "Bombardier" come these words spoken by
General Eugene L. Eubanks,
"Upon him finally depends the success of any mission
on which he participates. The greatest bombing plane in the world with
its combat crew take him into battle. Through weather, through enemy
opposition, just so he may have 30 seconds over the target. In those 30
seconds he must vindicate the greatest responsibility ever placed upon an
individual soldier in line of duty. I want you to know about him and about
those who had the faith, the vision and foresight to bring him into being."
If you are a
WWII era bombardier or have
knowledge about one, please go to the
Database
Section and see how to add your information to the database.
I am looking for
class books or photos.
I am not asking for the originals, just electronic copies. If you can
help, click here.
Webmaster recommendation:
Rhapsody in Junk
by Marilyn Walton
This book is the culmination of three year’s of
research in four countries. By meticulously combing the archive records
in England, Germany, Poland and the United States, Marilyn Jeffers
Walton has reconstructed the final mission of her father and his crew
and located the German cemetery where one crewmate, killed the day the
plane was shot down, was buried. She searched for and found the
remaining men of the crew of “Rhapsody in Junk” and reunited them after
sixty years. Interviews with the crew and fellow prisoners of war
contributed puzzle pieces, put together bit by bit, that enabled her to
find where they were captured and interrogated. By searching old
records, letters, diaries and mission records, she was finally able to
return to Germany and find the crash site of her father’s B-24 where
pieces of the plane still remained. To her astonishment, she met the
woman who watched her father bail out and saw the very field where he
landed. During her return to Germany, she connected emotionally with the
people of the peaceful farm community of Wagersrott where her father was
taken prisoner over six decades before.
This site is divided into two sections:
Bombardiers:
Kirtland class 42-13:
This is a personal research project. Two of my relatives were
bombardiers during the war, LT. Robert Tooley (Childress 45-05) and
LT. Robert
Carlson
who was one of
the 119 men to graduate from the Kirtland 42-13 class. Carlson was later killed in action in May of 1943 while serving with the 427th
BS/303rd BG based in Molesworth, England.
I
had been my family's historian for many years but had not
researched anything on Carlson. As
I began this work a family member discovered a class photo and the list of men
who attended this class. I realized that the only person who could be
identified was my relative and I wondered what became of the other men. Using
the internet I looked up some of the names and found a fair amount of
information. This prompted me to begin
researching all 119 names on the list and to identify as many as possible.
I began this research in April of 2001.
Ray Diltz, nephew of
Lt. Raymond Diltz (325th
BS/92nd
BG and 813th BS/482nd BG), has joined with me
in this effort. I am grateful for his assistance.
We
hope that you will visit this section, as it contains information,
pictures and personal stories. We of course welcome any input that you can
provide. Please see the
Contact Us section.
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