Ye Old Pub B-17 Bomber

Question

With a combined total of nine silver stars, and one Air force Cross , Charlie and his crew are one of the most decorated bomber crews in history. As of 20th December 1943, the crew was as follows

2nd Lt. Charlie Brown: pilot / aircraft commander https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Brown-109062&public=1

2nd Lt. Spencer "Pinky" Luke: co-pilot https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Luke-1631&public=1

 [[Sadok-1| 2nd Lt. Al "Doc" Sadok]]: navigator

2nd Lt. Robert "Andy" Andrews: bombardier

Sgt. Bertrand "Frenchy" Coulombe: top turret gunner and flight engineer https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Coulombe-399&public=1

Sgt. Dick Pechout: radio operator https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Pechout-1&public=1

Sgt. Hugh "Ecky" Eckenrode: tail gunner killed in action 20th December 1943 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Eckenrode-128

Sgt. Lloyd Jennings: left waist gunner https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Jennings-9941&errcode=new_profile

Sgt. Alex "Russian" Yelesanko: right waist gunner

Sgt. Sam "Blackie" Blackford: ball turret gunner https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Blackford-497&errcode=new_profile

I have decided that this crew needs some recognition, i have started some very basic profiles, but I think I have bitten off more than I can chew, any help will be much appreciated. I have managed to connect Hugh Eckenrode to the tree, but sources are a little scant

Answer 1

Wow!  Those are quite the resumes.  I'll try to put in some work on these guys over the weekend.  I've also added the military and war tag to the post so that we can get the attention of the entire spectrum of M&W WikiTreers.

With these guys having so many duplicate awards, for their sticker templates they will need to have an extra category parameter.  See this post for details:

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1041472/how-alter-the-text-medals-sticker-without-altering-category

Answer 2

Charles Brown  1930 census 

Charles Lester Brown (1922–2008) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch

Delores Elaine Taylor (1924–2007) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch

 "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMHS-DMF : accessed 19 June 2020), Charles L Brown in household of Charles M Brown, Weston, Lewis, West Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 3, sheet 3B, line 73, family 80, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2539; FHL microfilm 2,342,273.

Answer 3

Spencer's death record but the date of birth is in conflict 

 "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGPS-KN7 : 26 November 2014), Spencer Gregg Luke, 02 Apr 1985; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.

"Brasil, Cartões de Imigração, 1900-1965," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V1SL-QSL : 8 May 2019), Spencer Gregg Luke, Immigration; citing 1955, Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (National Archives, Rio de Janeiro).

Answer 4

Based on a sample of two (LOL) there are sources available at familysearch.org -- I suppose (without actual knowledge) you can get access to Folder 3?

Comments

Are you referring to the paid website fold3.com?

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Ellen, I don't know anything about Folder 3 except the name  shows up in discussions and online and so forth ... it is supposed to be a good source for info or so I gather ...  

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I do believe you are referring to the website fold3.com. It is one of the websites in the Ancestry.com family. The site has many U.S. military records that are not available anywhere else.

They are likely to have free access to some of their  records for the 4th of July holiday, so you can check out the site. I have gotten some good material on fold3, but I find the site hard to use.

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 Good to know you have the faith, Ellen. As I say, I merely have seen it mentioned and have seen "stuff" online from it and about it ... 

Answer 5

Great stuff Will, thanks for creating these profiles and sharing this story. To me, this is what WikiTree does that other genealogy websites don't.

Not sure if I can be of any help, but looks like plenty of folk are offering to help. Good luck!

Comments

Although it might be appropriate to make a FreeSpace for this to move the narrative on to.

And maybe make a profile for Franz Stigler?

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have already made one for Franz stigler

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stigler-142

I have also linked his profile on the profile of Charles Brown because you really cant have one without the other.

Franz wrote to Charlie the following words,

 "In 1940, I lost my only brother as a night fighter. On the 20th December, 4 days before Christmas, I had the chance to save a B-17 from destruction, a plane so damaged, it was a wonder that she was still flying. The pilot, Charlie Brown is for me as precious  as my brother was. Thanks Charlie, your brother Franz"

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLjp9_Ws3J0

you will get an idea how close these two men became

Answer 6

Awesome! Thank you