Aug 29,1944 - program of the 65th anniversary commemration

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Hope Kelly Meyrick and her family won´t mind it and Todd Weiler as well, but I just have to post it. Got it few minutes ago from Todd...

Just a note to let you know that something special happened at the "America" spot this year. August 29th, 2009 was a rainy day after a week of perfect sunshine in CZ. At Slavicin the rain stopped enough to allow the laying of the wreathes for the 28 airmen's grave, but at the dedication of the Edward Sallings' hide out house in Preckovice the tears from above poured for 10 minutes. The continuing rain drops caused the afternoon outdoor mass to be moved inside in Rudice. But the Meyrick family wanted to see the site of Russell's death and his memorial. Just before sunset we set out in a van to the site.

As we arrived the forests were still full of wisps of fog blowing through the fir trees and the fields. (See attached pictures). As the family exited the van, the sun broke through the clouds to the west and shot golden beams of light underneath the dark forest canopy. It illuminated the white floral wreath in a radiant light. My knees weakened and my eyes watered as I realized what was happening.

I ran 100 yards out into the neighboring meadow and saw the sign in the sky of Russell's approval. A huge rainbow was spread end-to-end over "the place they call America"! Four generations of Meyrick's where being united in a very, very special way.

These and many more unforgettable special moments highlighted this year's reunion. Hope to share it all with you some day.

Keep 'em Flying!

Todd Weiler
2nd Bomb Group Historian
 

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nope- don't mind here.

Post away.

hope "T" loved school and all went well!!! How'd your 1st day back at work go??????????

I got the cutest pictures of the kids together- I'll get them on a CD along with some that my kids took and get them in the mail soon. I think the last person to get photos out should have to buy the beer next time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Oh- Roman, it was the LIberty Belle that the pilot let us sit in the bombadier seat.

here's a pic of the kids in front of it! I'll have to find the pic of us in the bombadier section later when I get home. I think it's on my desktop there. (I'm still at work)
 

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Welcome back Kelly!
Tommy was crying the 1st day but now seems to be O.K. No wonder, he learned there are some obligations in the school...
As for me beeing at work after some 10 days- it was crazy but I didn´t expect anything else.

Yeah, and Liberty Belle- we spoke about a lot of things at the beer but maybe I´ve forgot to tell ya we (Anton,Tommy and me) were in Duxford, England (Flying Legends) last year. Liberty Belle was there as well after its overseas flight and 2 more Forts- British Sally B (stationed in Duxford) and French Pink Lady (stationed in Paris). Very rare event to see 3 Forts together...
So, some pics attached. Small world!

Say hello to your husband, Mike, Andy, Casey from our family!
Did your husband already tasted our firewater (Slivovice) or are you hiding it for yourself?
 

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Hi Roman and a huge thank you from me for inviting me over to your amazingly friendly country.

I met some of the nicest people in the world and though i have no real link to the events of aug 1944 in the skies above the sites we visited i was made to feel a part of the whole event by roman and the other Czech people we met and also all the american relatives of the brave airmen involved !

only got home from Terry's house earlier today so will start sorting pics out soon including one of Mr fox himself

Terry and i also met some veteran Czech paratroopers and swapped a few bits and bobs and i almost cried when one of them gave me his veteran pin badge and told me i was now a Czech veteran

oh yeah and the beer was damn good to
 

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Hey Karl, welcome back. Glad you and Terry had a good time. Photos are great. Looking forward for more (including that one with Mr Fox himself)...
 
Nope- haven't shared the Slivovice yet. Czech Airlines marked my bag as Dad's and sent it to Denver by mistake. Just got it at around midnight last night- much to my dismay as I was just falling asleep when the guy called and said he was on his way. 2 hours later he showed up!! UGH!!! now I'm tired again.

Karl- good to meet you and Terry too! And I second your beer comment. I;m missing it already.

Off to work.
 

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Hi Kelly!
I´m missing the beer as well. So I go out with my two little diablos and will have few beers.
One of them for you

Terry and Karl!
Thanks so much for your attendance during the commemoration and I´m sure it wasn´t our last meeting.
Try to get in touch with all of you this evening, as I said, gotta go out now...
 
Roman

maybe you or KMeyrick could please fill all of us in on these forums how the Meyrick Familie fits into this course of things on this date and in the area.

the book you mentioned sounds like a good deal to have on hand as a reference with the void of so many individualo air battles this will be right up there with those that have become favs of mine I can well see it.

thanks you gents for the fotos
v/r E ~
 
No problem.

Russell Meyrick was the bombadier on "Tail End Charlie" on August 29, 1944. He was killed when his plane was shot down and according to eye witnesses, his chute failed to open. He was found in the field in the photos above and buried in the cemetary in Rudice along with a crew member- Joe Marinello.

It is his tree and his and Joe's grave site that we are standing by in the photos.

Russell was my father's uncle, my great uncle.

Have to pick my students up from lunch now, but I can add more information later if anyone wants.
 
thanks Kelly now it is understood. yes if time permits please add more, not everyone will be able to pick up the squad history due to whatever reasons.

E ~
 
Erich,

this might be interesting for you as well:

A fitting tribute: 'They call this place America'

Five years ago, four unlikely friends stood on the wooded fringe of a Czech meadow. Behind them, misty hills rising into the forested foothills of the White Carpathian Mountains, ancient footpaths wound through fragrant fir forests to link white-washed, red-roofed villages with one another.

The friends, however, were not interested in the scenic vista to their rear. Instead, their attention focused on a simple metal plaque affixed to a sturdy tree trunk. "29 August 1944," the plaque read. "2LT Russel [sic] Myrick [sic]. Bombardier. B17 Flying Fortress. Tail End Charlie. 15th U.S. Army Air Force."

"They call this place 'America'," Jana Turchinkova said quietly. Turchinkova's grandfather, Mojmir Baca, first sheltered Russell Meyrick's navigator, Loy Dickinson, when the young teenager from Berkeley, Calif., parachuted onto Baca's family farm on that August day in 1944.

Sixty years after that fateful summer day, Turchinkova escorted Dickinson through the countryside of Moravia, stitching together the string of crash sites that marked the demise of Dickinson's and Meyrick's squadron of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. Seven of the bombers had left an airfield in Italy in 1944 to bomb the industrial city of Moravska Ostrava. Ambushed by a swarm of German fighters, none returned.

Michael Zitnick, a local historian, was the third member of the group. He stepped forward and explained that here, near the small village of Rudice, Dickinson's bomber crashed and burned. Dickinson and seven comrades managed to bail out. Bombardier Russell Meyrick of Springfield, Mass., and ball turret gunner Joseph Marinello a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., were not so lucky.

Later that day, the Germans pulled Meyrick's and Marinello's bodies from the wreckage and buried them in Rudice's village cemetery. A propeller blade from Tail End Charlie, jutting up from the dark soil, marked the grave site. The bodies remained there until Sept. 4, 1946, when U.S. military personnel exhumed the bodies with full military honors and transported them home.

"They call this place 'America'," Zitnick repeated, nodding at the plaque.

My father rounded out the quartet standing before the plaque. He had accompanied Dickinson to the Czech Republic to research the forgotten air battle of Aug. 29, 1944, that claimed Meyrick's and Marinello's -- and nearly four dozen fellow aviators' -- lives.

Elsewhere in eastern Moravia there are other places one could call "America." In the cemetery at Sanov, a tall rectangular pillar commemorates the nine men who did not make it out of the B-17 Wichita Belle alive. Outside of town, a sculpted "aerial heart" marks the bomber's crash site. Another monument, engraved with an airman's iconic face and a plunging B-17, stands in an open field near Krhov. It honors the nine men that Ball of Fire, the bomber piloted by Jim Weiler, of Burlington, Wis., took to the grave.

Yet another monument, this one of luminous black granite, sits in Slavicin's cemetery. It marks the original burial location of 28 of the American airmen who lost their lives in the raid on Moravska Ostrava. Each engraved name bears silent witness to the sacrifices of Aug. 29, 1944.

A memorial stronger than granite, however, exists in the bonds of friendship that grew among the survivors of the mission against Moravska Ostrava's refineries and marshaling yards. Dickinson, for example, stayed in close contact with the Baca family, even helping to sponsor Turchinkova on a Rotary Youth Exchange visit to his hometown of Denver. Today, those bonds even extend to their children and grandchildren. Several will make the pilgrimage to the Czech Republic to mark the battle's 65th anniversary where each year the Catholic priest in Slavicin offers a special mass for the 28 airmen once interred in his town's cemetery. Their bodies are no longer there. The same team that recovered Meyrick's and Marinello's bodies recovered theirs as well. Now, only the mass, the memorial and the memories remain. Nevertheless, it is enough to ensure that such places are still called America.

Jim Noles, an attorney in Birmingham, Ala., co-authored "Mighty by Sacrifice: The Destruction of an American Bomber Squadron, August 29, 1994," with his father.

A fitting tribute: 'They call this place America' -- chicagotribune.com
 
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