European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 17, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine bavarian Hamlet s memorial to yank airmen of world War ii Story and photos by Charlie Bowden Munich bureaus or More than 43 years Ernie Johnson believed that he had bailed out Over Austria. But a letter last year from a Man in Otting a tiny Hamlet deep in the rolling Hills of Southern Bavaria set the record straight. He actually had drifted to Earth Over a chunk of nazi Germany. Johnson today is a retired Petroleum products distributor living in Omak Wash. But on feb. 25,1944, he was a second lieutenant and Bombardier on a b-24 flying out of a captured Airfield in the Boot of Italy. The Mission for the 10-Man Crew that Day was As part of a massive Daylight raid on German factories in and around Regensburg. It was the Young Crew s 12th Mission. It would be their last regrouping Over Chi Emsee after a successful run on the aircraft components factories the bombers headed for the Alps and the safety. The hundreds of massed bombers had been flying without fighter escort since crossing the Alps the limit of the Range of the Small fighters. Suddenly groups of German fighters Rose to meet them. Like a swarm of angry bees the fighters dashed amidst the cumbersome bombers dealing their deadly sting. Johnson does t recall their Liberator dubbed Dumbo Iii being hit. He does remember it starting to fall out of the formation. He saw that the plane was on fire and next came the alarm to bail out. Johnson scrambled to get on his Parachute and the next thing he recalls is floating through the icy Winter air toward the Snow covered ground following pieces of the flaming plane. I still Don t know How i got out that plane Johnson said. I must have been blown out when it  Andreas Seehuber was 14 at the time and like Many of the other villagers watched in Awe the spectacle of the droning bombers with tiny fighters darting through their midst. Their tiny town of less than 1,000 population had sent dozens of its sons off to War but wednesday August 17, 1988 Ernie Johnson with wife Vicki in front of Chapel at site of b-24 bomber crash during world War ii plaque honors the crewmen who were killed. Had otherwise been spared. Now As the disintegrating bomber spiralled toward Earth in a dance of death the War came to Otting. Pieces of the bomber landed in various places around the Village. Several chunks barely missed some farmhouses. One Wing slightly damaged a Linden tree planted by the town s world War i veterans on a Large Knoll in Seehuber s pasture. Four of the Crew made it out Landing in scattered spots around the Countryside. They were captured and spent the rest of the War in a prison Camp. The other six Crew members died with their plane and were buried in a Corner of the Village cemetery. After the War their remains were moved to other cemeteries three to military cemeteries in Europe. But the events of that Day have remained fresh in the memories of the villagers Seehuber in particular. A plaque in the local cemetery bearing the names of the dead airmen serves As a constant reminder. The surviving German soldiers returning to a devastated and divided Germany erected a Chapel of peace on the same Knoll where the Wing of the b-24 landed parts of the bomber were used in building the tiny Chapel and another plaque recounts the Day s events. Seehuber prospered in postwar Germany and was elected to the bavarian parliament. For years he said the thought of tracing the survivors and relatives of the dead airmen had been in the Back of his mind. Three years ago he turned thought into action. After dozens of letters to various . Government agencies and veterans groups Seehuber found Johnson and a few of the relatives. He invited them to Otting. His plan was for a simple commemoration at the Chapel for All the local citizens who died in the War and the six american airmen. Some 50 present Day . Soldiers and airmen and their families were invited. Seehuber described it As his own grass roots Effort to further German american relations. Early in August Johnson landed once again in Bavaria this time accompanied by wife Vicki. In Otting a Parade was held in his Honor and he led a brass band at the Beer tent. Everyone wanted to shake his hand. Johnson was overwhelmed with the warmth of the reception tears streaked his face then and even As he later recounted it. I did t know what to expect he said. It was just overwhelming to see All these people take  Rosetta Brewer and Minnie Doyle also were on hand. Their brother staff sgt. Lloyd Wright was a gunner on Dumbo Iii and Rode it to its fiery death. They too were surprised and awed by the reception. It was like Johnson was the Long lost son returning Home. Watching the people Brewer said it s like they be been waiting for him to come Back. Like they feel that they saved him and he somehow belongs to their town to  and if he did t before he does now. The stars and stripes Page 13