Crews of the United States 8th Army Air Force were required to fly 25 missions before getting a furlough.  Many crews did not make half of that.

The job of being a crew member on any of these aircraft was the most dangerous job in any theatre of operation during WWII. 

Personal Flight Logs were frowned upon by the brass but 1st Lt. Charles L. Gempel, my great uncle, recorded 23 of his 25 missions, and these were returned to my great grandmother after the war, within his personal effects, that were returned to the family.  I am excited to share this  bit of history and my family heritage with you. 

These men and so many others in American Conflicts across the ages deserve our respect and adoration as we reminisce about what was and is now and into the future.

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All Missions Flown By: Charles  L.  Gempel Of The 44th Bomb Group  506 Squadron Missions Flown: 25

Mission Date	Mission No	Aircraft No	City	Country	Target
7/7/1944	182	42-95207	Bernburg	Germany	Aircraft Factory
7/11/1944	184	42-94952	Munich	Germany	Target of Opportunity because of weather conditions
7/12/1944	185	42-95207	Munich	Germany	Marshalling Yards
7/16/1944	187	42-95207	Saarbrucken	Germany	Rail and Communications
7/18/1944	188	42-95207	Troarn (Caen Area)	France	Troop Support
7/19/1944	189	42-95207	Koblenz	Germany	Marshalling Yards
7/20/1944	190	42-95207	Erfurt	Germany	North Airfield
7/21/1944	191	42-95207	Oberpfaffenhofen	Germany	Armaments
7/24/1944	192	42-95209	St. Lo	France	Support American Troops
7/25/1944	193	42-95209	St. Lo	France	Support American Troops
7/29/1944	194	42-95209	Oslebshausen	Germany	Ship Building Buildings
8/6/1944	202	42-50626	Hamburg	Germany	Oil Refinery
8/9/1944	205	42-50733	Saarbrucken	Germany	Marshalling Yards
8/13/1944	207	42-50733	Le Havre/Rouen	France	Road Junction (Lisieux)
8/14/1944	208	42-50733	Lyon/Bron	France	Airfield
8/25/1944	213	42-50626	Schwerin	Germany	Assembly for FW 190s
9/10/1944	220	44-10523	Ulm	Germany	Marshalling Yards
9/11/1944	221	44-10523	Misburg	Germany	Hanomag Works
9/28/1944	229	44-10523	Kassel	Germany	Motor Works
10/5/1944	233	42-50644	Lippstadt	Germany	Airfield
10/12/1944	237	42-50535	Osnabruck	Germany	Marshalling Yards
10/14/1944	238	42-50644	Kaiserlautern	Germany	Marshalling Yards
10/17/1944	240	42-95209	Cologne	Germany	Nord Marshalling Yards
10/18/1944	241	42-95531	Leverkusen	Germany	Chemical Works
10/30/1944	245	44-10523	Hamburg /Ueterson	Germany	Oil Refinery

(Spreadsheet format Courtesy of  http://www.8thairforce.com   Computer Generated Data Ltd.  (c) 2013 All Rights Reserved. date links will take you to http://www.8thairforce.com )

 (Data supplied by hand written flight logs of Co-pilot Charles L. Gempel, 1st Lt. USAAC. Circa 1944. Originals from Jack R. Gempel Family Collection.)

1944 Videos from the Normandy Invasion showing how the Allied Bombers supported the Allied ground troops (in 6 clips).

Memorial Day 2013-Remember. Always!

Stars and Strips, Old Glory, These Colors don't run!

P-47 Thunderbolt ---Fighter and Support for B-24 Crews Made in Evansville, In by Republic Aircraft Company

 

P47 Thunderbolts were Made in Evansville, In and in Up state New York by Republic Aircraft.[/caption]

 

 
 This is the one at the Petersen AFB Museum in Colorado Springs, Co.

The photos above were taken by Myself(Doug Gempel) when I toured the Petersen AFB Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  This aircraft (type) was vital to the war effort and was made in my adopted home town of Evansville, IN at the Republic Aircraft factory that was there.  The building is still here and represents several generations of Evansvillians who have either worked at or know someone who worked at the plant site on US41 in "Stop Light City" USA.  The factory has been several different companies.  Republic Aircraft built the plant.  Shortly after the war it sold  to International Harvester, then became Chrysler, before being converted to the Whirlpool Corporation North American Refrigerator plant.



AS economics and times change the plant was closed by Whirlpool, in 2010 and operations moved south and west to Mexico and China.  Whirlpool however had a history in the war effort as well having several patents on machine guns and munitions at the Whirlpool Ordinance Operations. The local historians advise that the plant was painted blue and decorated above to look like regular land to fool enemy planes in case they ever made it this far inland.  The building is still here today in its same blue color partially empty but being leased out as an industrial park and warehouse.  The P-47 Thunderbolt is mentioned in these media presentations made during the height of the war.  Enjoy!

We never know how our history shapes our future.  What comes around goes around.  Within this media presentation you will hear references to P-47 and you may also see photos of LST's landing in Normandy on D-Day.  Evansville, IN is the home of the LST 357 that was rescued in the mid to late 1990's from a beach head in the Mediterranean sea.  The reason Evansville was chosen as its home was because a large portion of the LST's built were assembled here in Evansville and in a town in Illinois on the Northern Mississippi River.  The LST 357 was one of 10 prototypes that came from a shipyard in Philadelphia, but was given a Midwest home because of this towns war time heritage.

Imagine, never getting away from home and then as a young man or woman being thrust in to the middle of the D-Day carnage that took place in June of 1944.   Talk about culture shock.  These young people were brave but scared.  The unknown has a way of doing that to us.  Many never made it off the beach.  Some drowned trying to get to the beach some were maimed as they hit the sand.  Others made it through to save the world.  All of these soldiers were fighting to save the world but fate or karma  steps in and the rest is history.  As you look through some of the videos, consider what it mus have been like to be going towards that beach with flak and shells bursting around you and the gate beginning to fall and getting the first glimpse of the beachhead and seeing the German Wall of death as your buddies and you struggle to get to a safe place so you can return fire and work your way inland.  The men (and soldiers) around you taking hit after terrible hit and in the midst of this forces you to realize that you are the one that needs to make it to the edge of the bluff so you can take out the snipers and machine gunners that keep lobbing their steel death at you.  Boom! Kapow!  Argggh!  Gurgling wounded around you taking their last gasp of air.   It goes into a short chant or poem that you repeat and pray.

As the Bombs Burst.

A poem by Doug Gempel

5/28/2013

As we float in towards shore,

We realize, this, for sure,

That our time on this beach,

Is going to teach,

Men to pray,

And for this I say,

“My father in heaven,

Please save me from harm,

As I work to save

Humanity,

For thee I sing,

Please reduce our sting,

As the enemy hails bullets around us,

Protect our resolve,

To help us solve,

The battle we are in,

To save us from sin,

And protect those men

Again and again.

Amen!”

We near our thirst,

 as huge bombs burst,

within our ranks,

please accept our thanks,

for what you have done thus far,

please heal thy scar,

as I climb the bluff ahead,

This is enough said,

Till the next time I pray,

Keep me safe today,

 as I look for a better

tomorrow.

Video of a B24 from the WWII Era

A look inside a B24 with 360 degree panoramas.

http://i-ota.net/B-24Witchcraft/

As the positions for each crew are visible, if you click on the box it takes you to a 360 degree view of that crewman’s visible area on the B24.


(***** A special thanks is given to http://i-ota.net 
  http://i-ota.net services and Panometrics Technical Imaging provided this item and this was copy-written by them in 2012.  Permission for use on the Bentcliff Website received by email from Frank Gillespie on 6/3/2013. *****)