360. D-Day plus 50 years 361. D-Day: being there 362. Looking for dad 363. Cambridge ceremony & & & & & & & & & 360. D-Day plus 50 years by TSgt. David P. Masko Air Force News Service UTAH BEACH, Normandy -- As two presidents stood together on Utah Beach, the national anthem played and with it thousands of onlookers smiled with the knowledge that the day had come to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the vast Normandy invasion. The Utah Beach ceremony was the first to be hosted by President Clinton and Francois Mitterrand, president of France. As a steady drizzle came down, the somber weather seemed to reflect the mood of the day-long ceremonies. All along the Normandy beaches on June 6 each nation mourned the people it lost on D-Day, 50 years ago. The United States and French marked ceremonies at Utah Beach where Clinton and Mitterrand laid wreaths as a tribute to those who died. Clinton led a moving ceremony at Pointe du Hoc early in the day to mark the heroic efforts by American soldiers who knocked out the six big 155mm howitzer guns the Germans used to cover both Utah and Omaha beaches. Prior to the Pointe du Hoc ceremony, thousands of people crammed on a sea wall to watch 14 Allied soldiers wade from a landing craft on the Normandy beach while each carried his nation's flag. The 14 soldiers symbolized the countries who made up the invasion forces. At a previous day's ceremony, Clinton summed up the reason for the D-Day events, saying too many Americans do not know what this generation of World War II veterans did. The main international event of the day was the commemoration at Omaha Beach and the American cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer in the presence of Clinton and other heads of state. Colleville-Sur-Mer is one of the most famous, and biggest, graveyards in the world. With more than 9,300 graves, its rows of pure white crosses -- faced west toward the United States--are not easy to forget. "We hit the beach and I turned around for my friend. He just fell to my right and died. This was Omaha Beach...," said Michael James, a former member of the Army's 4th Division. At Omaha Beach this day it was hard not to feel sad, not to cry with the old World War II veterans. Here, 3,000 Americans lost their lives. The shoreline around Utah and Omaha is still laced with trenches and German pillboxes. At Omaha Beach, for example, there are pictures of how it looked on D-Day and a story of how the Army's 1st Division took the beach's eastern half, clearing the way for 35,000 men and thousands of tons of equipment. Near the west end of Omaha Beach, Clinton paused with thousands of veterans, active duty members and tourists at the National Guard Memorial. Here, they could remember the "home town boys" who volunteered to fight and, eventually, die together. The gray sky reminded one veteran of the smoke all over the beach during D-Day. He said the Germans' big guns and grenade explosions, along with the rat-tat-tat of machine guns, made this beach "really something." The veteran said he would like to go over to the German graveyard at Normandy after seeing Colleville-Sur-Mer. "I don't hold anything against the Germans," he said. "They were following orders. They didn't know." For SSgt. Robert Ziesche, a former Army Air Corps loadmaster with the 438th Troop Carrier Command, there's a feeling that this D-Day celebration will be the last "big" commemoration of World War II. "Many of my friends won't be around much longer. And we won't ever see anything like what we saw here today," Ziesche said. As for all the stately displays seen at the Normandy beaches June 6, Ziesche said it's "really not about presidents or the queen of England, etc." "It's about the troops I helped load in the C-47s on D-Day. That's what it's all about." On the evening of June 5, 1944, Ziesche recalled his C-47 and Army paratroopers being in on Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's agenda. "We couldn't believe it. There he was, Ike." By the time darkness started to fall over Normandy -- the beaches of Omaha, Utah, Sword, Juno and Gold -- veterans of the Army's 29th Division had set up a formation near the water where D Company hit the beach. Each man, with his World War II medals and worn-out uniforms, just cried and sang...and saluted one last time. & & & & & & & & & 361. D-Day: being there by TSgt. David P. Masko Air Force News Service NORMANDY, France -- Urgent: June 6, 1944, 9:15 a.m. "Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the Northern coast of France." This is the text of a press release that Eisenhower scrawled on a pad of paper after his decision to attack on D-Day. Here, 50 years later, under the same sullen sky, the 14 Allied nations that participated in the invasion commemorated the day when Normandy's landing beaches were packed with men and machines. Operation Overlord -- the D-Day code name -- was the largest, most complex and hazardous amphibious operation ever undertaken. The invading fleet included 8,000 aircraft, 1,200 warships, 4,000 landing craft and 1,600 other ships. Eisenhower called it "The Great Crusade." Today, Normandy is 50 miles of coastline filled with monuments to the war. You can still see every hedgerow that the soldiers had to fight in, and if you follow a French sign saying "Circuit do Debarquent," there's a landing where you can see Utah Beach where American troops fought their way inland under heavy German fire. Down this stretch coast is probably the most famous plot of land -- Omaha Beach. It is here where thousands of Americans died. It is here where Pfc. Sandy Conti said "you were taught how to shoot and kill." Conti, a former civil engineer in the Army Air Corps, said his unit hit Omaha without losing a man. However, after advancing, "We had enough experience of death to last a lifetime." For 36 hours prior to the invasion on the Normandy landing beaches -- Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword -- Army Air Forces bombers and fighters from 8th and 9th Air Forces had reached a high degree of technical perfection in keeping the skies free of German airpower. To continue with this mission, a directive from Lt. Gen. Carl Spaatz ordered engineers to build airfields on Normandy beaches after the invasion. For example, on the dawn of June 6, 1944, Conti remembers seeing Allied propeller-driven fighters looking for a place to land. "It was our job to wade ashore and build forward airfields for the P-47 fighters," he said. "We were not so concerned with killing Germans as to getting airstrip A5 built. After the fighting let up, we found a flat field up behind Omaha and staked it out." Charles Mlynek, a former 9th Air Force staff sergeant, remembers A5 but said his unit of maintenance troops called it "The Apple Orchard." "It was simply an apple orchard and a farm," said Mlynek, who turns 86 the week after this year's D-Day celebration. "On D-Day, I was almost 36 and probably the oldest NCO in the 9th... most of us were 19, 20, 21." Mlynek said D-Day was simply "a horror," but said he had to keep his head so the P-47s could continue to fly. "I remember we found this white duck who turned out to be better than a siren. Whenever the Germans came near the apple orchard -- by land or air -- she'd announce it. We named her Gladys and she usually parked herself under the P-47 wings." Another former 9th Air Force maintenance troop was TSgt. Ralph Powers Jr., who kept a diary for his unit -- the 371st Fighter Group and 404th Fighter Squadron -- when it was flying missions from England on D-Day. "The previous day orders had come through to paint black and white stripes on all aircraft before dark -- invasion stripes. We were notified that we were restricted to the area for the next 24 hours and to get a good night's rest," Powers' diary said. "By the time we turned out for a 0400 pre-flight and briefing, we knew the score. This was D-Day." According to Powers, the 404th Squadron was the first to get into the air. "It was a dive-bombing mission during which Lieutenant LaRochell's plane collected a load of German ack-ack, and he was forced to hit the silk just off the Cherbourg Peninsula, near Granville. Several more ships were shot up, although they were able to make it home. "The waiting ground crews who excitedly scrambled up the side of the returning planes said, 'What does it look like over there?'" During the next two days, Powers said his unit was "jammed with missions" that kept the squadrons busy from early dawn until dusk. "Late at night weary ground crews and pilots clambered slowly aboard trucks to return to the area, only to be up again before daylight," the diary said. "Three or four hours sleep was the rule rather than the exception, yet no one kicked. This was what they had come over for. Ships would take off and many would limp back splattered with flak and riddled by ground fire. "An inborn pride welled up in the pilots and ground crews alike in the ability of their 'babies.' They could take it and still come home." Four days after D-Day, Powers said, his unit's advance echelon was ordered to set up operating facilities on some field not even taken yet on Normandy. They started packing, and seven days later, on June 17, they landed across the channel and dug in with Conti, Mlynek and "Gladys the Duck" at the apple orchard called A5. & & & & & & & & & 362. Looking for dad by TSgt. David P. Masko Air Force News Service SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE, France -- Half a century ago, several thousand soldiers of the American 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions parachuted into Sainte-Mere-Eglise on the eve of D-Day. On this day, June 5, 1994, almost 40 of the original did it again. Not to the surprise of Joe O'Brien Jr., the 70-, 75- and 80- year-old veterans made it with only a few sprained ankles. "I knew they'd be able to make it...but, I wish my dad was here," said O'Brien, who made the journey to the fields of France from his home in Boston. O'Brien wears a floppy green hat that says 101st Airborne Division on it, along with other parts of his father's uniform. His goal, like hundreds of others, is to capture the past of his father. "He never talked about the war much. He died in 1976, and now I'm ready to see what he went through," O'Brien said. A few hours prior to when American veterans were scheduled to airdrop at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, O'Brien was trying to speak French and get the ticket seller at the Cherbourg train station to give him directions. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and the Cherbourg train to Paris does not stop at Sainte-Mere-Eglise (a hamlet of about 2,000 people) on its route east. Cherbourg is about 30 miles up the road. "D-Day was probably the most important day of his life. Today, it holds a special importance for me because I miss my dad," said O'Brien, his eyes watering. "All I know is, he jumped with the 101st into Eglise on D-Day." Faced with missing the 50th anniversary of the first town to be liberated by American troops, O'Brien decided to hitchhike. Meanwhile, two former Polish sailors, who were brainstorming with O'Brien on how to get out of town, started screaming at the train station people: "Don't you understand ... it's D-Day ... D- Day!" Victor Stankiewiez and Stanislaw Sliski said they are frustrated, but don't want a "train" to ruin their day. Both escaped to England in 1940 after Germany overran their country. Although they have O'Brien's moxi when it comes to getting to the anniversary celebrations, they are both 80-something and don't want to hitchhike. "So, if we don't get to Sainte-Mere-Eglise, we go to Caen," said Sliski. "When we get to Caen, we'll get someone to take us to Sainte-Mere-Eglise." Prior to D-Day, the assault on Sainte-Mere-Eglise was a "Sunday punch" for the Allies. According to a French government historical report, the city was occupied by 0430 on D- Day, and by the evening of June 6, 1944, American and Allied troops had liberated it. During the effort, 23,250 men landed and 197 were killed. "Our friend jumped in the French countryside, but the Germans got lost trying to find him. Our people found him and killed the Germans," said Sliski. As the noon train left Cherbourg and headed for Caen, Stankiewiez and Sliski spotted O'Brien walking along the train tracks. "Looks like he'll make it," said a smiling Sliski. "He'll be with his father in Sainte-Mere-Eglise." & & & & & & & & & 363. Cambridge ceremony by TSgt. David P. Masko Air Force News Service CAMBRIDGE, England -- World War II P-47 pilot Edward MacLain called Air Force people buried at the Cambridge American Military Cemetery "the pride of the nation" during a special remembrance ceremony June 4 that included President Clinton, Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E. Widnall, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Merrill A. McPeak and thousands of local people and World War II veterans. The ceremony, for nearly 4,000 Americans buried at Cambridge, opened a weekend to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day. After being introduced by MacLain, Clinton referred to the dead as American heroes, and talked about the tough job they did under hazardous conditions. "We have come here, all of us, on a journey of remembrance. It is a journey to honor those who fought and those who died. In this moment, all of us are joined in a sense of pride, a sense of indebtedness," said Clinton, his eyes fixed on World War II veterans seated nearby. Although a fierce, steady wind and light rain continued throughout the ceremony, the rain stopped for a short while during the president's speech. Fifty years ago, Clinton said, Americans fought "a great evil which threatened to destroy our way of life." Cambridge, with its focus on the veterans of the Army Air Forces, gave Clinton a chance to talk about airpower and Air Force history. "The RAF (Royal Air Force) and Army Air Corps joined in countless sorties to cripple and to decimate the Nazi war machine," he said. "Pilots going down with burning flames to give all the rest of the crew a few more seconds to get out. And as one American remembered, 'The flak sometimes seemed so thick you could walk on it.'" After his speech, Clinton and British Prime Minister John Major greeted veterans near the rows of grave sites aligned like white spokes on a wheel. At one point, appearing visibly moved, Clinton hugged a 9th Air Force veteran and clasped the hand of his wife. The Cambridge Cemetery, outside the university town of Cambridge, north of London, holds 3,812 American war dead, representing 42 percent of those buried in England and Northern Ireland. The cemetery features a reflecting pool bordered by polyantha roses that stretch eastward to a memorial called "The Wall of the Missing." Nearly 500 feet long, the wall records the names and units of 5,125 soldiers, sailors and airmen missing in action. Among them is the famous band leader Glenn Miller. Miller's music and a fly-by of vintage Army Air Forces aircraft gave the ceremony special poignancy. On hand for the ceremony was famed newscaster Walter Cronkite, who said, "As you watch the veterans stroll around the cemetery -- past the graves of airmen too numerous to name -- it's inspiring. "Cambridge Cemetery is unforgettable," he said, "and so are those buried here." -- //^\\ /// \\\ <---- new uniform 8-)! /// \\\ /// \\\ Air Force News Agency | | Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, USA \\ {*} // bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil \\ CMSgt // ___________________ /____________________________________ \\ Mike // \\Bergman/ \\ // ~~ Part II 364. Cronkite talks D-Day 365. Remembering the women of World War II & & & & & & & & & Part II 364. Cronkite talks D-Day by TSgt. David P. Masko Air Force News Service NORTH ATLANTIC -- In a meeting room onboard the luxury line Queen Elizabeth 2, a jaded audience of D-Day veterans listen to an Air Force News Service interview with Walter Cronkite. Cronkite, a legendary radio and TV journalist, talks about being assigned by United Press to cover the Army Air Forces during World War II, saying, "It was my beat." As most veterans can remember, Cronkite and other newsmen gave eyewitness accounts of the June 6, 1944, invasion of Normandy, France -- forever remembered as D-Day. For this 50th anniversary celebration, Cronkite and nearly 350 9th Air Force Association veterans chose a novel way to commemorate D-Day. On May 29 they began a transatlantic crossing from New York to Southampton, England, on the QE2. Many of these veterans sailed the same route on the original Queen Elizabeth when it was refitted for war in the early-1940s. After a week's journey that included crossing the English Channel, the QE2 anchored off the Normandy beaches June 6. The mighty ship sent "V for victory" messages out all that day -- three dots and a dash. During the interview at sea, Cronkite got up from an overstuffed captain's chair and peered out the port hole. He recalled how a similar ocean liner was sunk by a German U-boat on the way to England. Cronkite said "thank God" the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary -- carrying thousands of U.S. troops to Europe -- fared better. A tall 78-year-old, Cronkite has a big smile, an engaging laugh and his famous twang that gives special importance to such words as "D-Day," "Normandy" and "airpower." It's no surprise to the Air Force people listening to Cronkite, on this cold and windy June day, that his philosophy about the D-Day invasion of Normandy centers on airpower. D-Day is ultimately the story of how airpower simply overwhelmed all opposition, said Cronkite, pointing out that 76,000 tons of bombs had been dropped on vital German tactical targets prior to invasion day. As Allied troops poured ashore on D-Day and afterward, scarcely a German plane appeared in the sky to attack the landing forces. Cronkite, who's probably done more than any other public figure to educate people about World War II, said the Allies had more than 10,000 warplanes for the invasion. By that time, the German Luftwaffe had only about 800 to defend the Normandy coast. "We flew about 1,800 sorties over Normandy on D-Day while the Luftwaffe only managed 100 and only two sorties got to the beach," Cronkite said with a smile. "Now, suppose that was turned around. Suppose the Nazis had 1,800 sorties over the beaches strafing our boys. By the time we got to Normandy, the 8th and 9th Air Force, and the RAF of course, had pretty well swept Western Europe clean of the Germans. Our ground forces almost never suffered a serious attack by the Luftwaffe." After the avalanche of men, vehicles and equipment that stormed ashore at Normandy, Army Air Forces planes were credited with stopping German resistance. "If any side was going to have the run of the air, then we had to have it. We couldn't have won the war without it. We couldn't have stayed on the beaches," said Cronkite. "Oh, airpower was essential." Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander on D-Day, shared Cronkite's view. In his memoirs, written in 1948, he said President Roosevelt had decided that Nazi Germany -- and not Japan in the Pacific -- was the main Axis Pact foe for the Allies to defeat first. For a good campaign, Eisenhower said the Allies needed preparatory bombing and continuous air cover by the Army Air Forces and the RAF. "Our success was not only because of tactical air, but strategic air by the long-arm missions of the 8th Air Force, and later, with the 9th Air Force, we eliminated the Luftwaffe," Cronkite said. Before, during and after D-Day, waves of Allied bombers continued their giant 1,000-plane raids against Germany industry, especially the oil refineries. According to Air Force history, German production increased in some fields despite the heavy bombing of factories, but the lack of oil and gasoline made most of these production gains useless. For the invasion of Europe, Cronkite flew in a variety of Army Air Forces aircraft but fondly remembers his B-17 and B-26 bomber missions. "At 26,000 feet, it was pretty cold up there," he said. "But that was the job and I was lucky to fly the first B-17 missions over Germany when they permitted correspondents to go. And boy, to see those 9th Air Force boys up there protecting us over the channel was pretty nice." Cronkite explained how P-51 and P-47 aircraft escorted B-17 bombers into enemy territory. Foremost of these were the men and planes of the 8th and 9th air forces. On D-Day, for example, B-17 and B-24 bombers formed the spearhead of the Allied attack, while three squadrons of P-47 fighters covered the assault beaches throughout the long day. At the same time, four more squadrons of P-38 fighters patrolled the English Channel, protecting the shipping convoys. Edward MacLean, a fighter pilot in the newly formed 362nd Fighter Group -- the first P-47 group in 9th Air Force --said he'd rather be in the air than on the ground after D-Day. The job was to fly in front of the B-17s, weaving back and forth to clear the way for the bombers. When you saw German fighters below, you just rammed your throttle forward and dived, MacLean explained. "Although combat was dangerous, our base in England was being targeted by German V-1s. You'd hear them come whistling in...but that wasn't the problem. When you didn't hear the V-1s, then you were hit. That's why we wanted to get the hell off the ground and back into our P-47s," he said. The V-1s were small, pilotless jet aircraft, each carrying a ton of explosives. Many had been sent against England. Cronkite spoke of a "secret" mission he went on. "They (headquarters) said it was going to be special, but couldn't give me details. I said what good was it if I couldn't write about it. After we hit the target, I said, My God, that was a V-1 site. It was such an explosion." & & & & & & & & & 365. Remembering the women of World War II by Maj. Susan L. Hankey Across the globe special ceremonies and events commemorated the 50th anniversary of World War II, "The War to End All Wars." As nations and people joined together to remember those who fought so bravely to defend freedom, one group was often overlooked -- the women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. My mother was one such unsung hero -- 1st Lt. Julia Ramacciotti, Army Nurse Corps. As I was growing up, my mother occasionally recounted stories of her days in the U.S. Army. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, there was a real need for nurses to join the Army. My mother and her best friend, Jane, decided to do their share for the war cause. They were sworn in to the Army Nurse Corps and then headed to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. There, they worked in a station hospital for five months before heading to the 45th Evacuation Hospital, Camp Gordon, Ga. The nurses would undergo four months of training before heading out for duty overseas -- she would pack her bags and head to a small town in England, to wait. The year was 1944, and little did she know at that time but her and the other nurses would wait -- for D-Day. Before my mother died in 1990, I asked her to reflect on her life and on her service in the Army. As the memories were put to paper, one segment talked about the Normandy Invasion. "It was June 16, 1944, when we received orders to leave England and wait for the invasion. We went by truck to South Hampton, the departure point for many American troops. "Our outfit was a semi-mobile hospital with nurses, doctors and corpsmen. There were 500 of us all together, under the command of Gen. Omar Bradley, U.S. 1st Army. "We were destined to cross the English Channel and head to Omaha Beach, Normandy, to care for the wounded soldiers who had been fighting there for 10 days." The ride across the Channel wasn't a smooth one for the nurses. The waters were very choppy. But the ride was smooth compared to the landing. "As we approached the Normandy shoreline we were quickly hustled into landing crafts (called LSTs). There were three or four nurses in each boatload of GIs. We were told the LSTs would roll right up to the sand, drop their tailgates and we'd never get wet. Boy, were they wrong! "The water was so rough the waves made it over the sides and much of our clothes, from our fatigues to our boots, got soaked. "Once we all were ashore we had gathered in small groups to dry out a bit on the beach. As we sat on these wooden crates relaxing for a moment, smoking a cigarette, we got the strangest looks from some of the soldiers passing by. It wasn't until a few moments later one of the nurses noticed the boxes were labeled TNT. Needless to say, it was a short break." It wasn't long before an Army truck came and got the nurses. That truckload of nurses, fatigues and all, was a welcome sight to the GIs. "You should have seen the welcome we got when we reached the top of this hill and these GIs could see it was a truckload of nurses. Since we were all dressed in fatigues it must have been our figures and lipstick that gave us away as females. "We thought we were headed to an evacuation hospital, but discovered only a large field with trenches and hedgerows." The nurses' tents and equipment were stuck on board the transport ships -- the weather and seas were too rough to try and offload the gear. Another truck came to take them to the evacuation hospital. "We grabbed our stuff and jumped in the trucks -- headed toward the evacuation hospital to start working. There, we drew straws to see who would pull the first shift. Half of us worked the first shift, night duty, to relieve the unit who'd been working non- stop tending to the wounded soldiers for the last 10 days. "My first night there I worked in an isolation tent. There was a young soldier who had gangrene, which is very contagious, and a wounded French civilian. We only kept patients in our hospital unit they are strong enough to be moved back to a station hospital." The next few weeks the nurses helped care for the wounded following the invasion. As the battle for liberation continued, the hospital was constantly on the move. "When our equipment was finally unloaded at Normandy, we set up operations 10 miles outside St. Lo, a small town in France. We survived the invasion, but the wounded just seemed to come in non-stop. The battle went on for about two weeks. One day we took the town and then the next day the Germans took it back. Finally our troops took it again and moved rapidly into enemy territory. "We'd set up our evac hospital in one area and a few weeks later, as our troops advanced on enemy, we'd set up a new evac hospital in the next town. This was called leap frogging, and continued until we were about 30 miles outside of Paris." Despite the wounded and the long hours, the young nurses found the chance to get to Paris and escape the war. One morning, my mother and four other people decided to take a jeep and go sightseeing. So, they drove off to visit Paris. Today, it would probably be considered AWOL. But, the city was beautiful and the Parisians anxious to welcome any Americans. "Paris had been liberated by the American for about a week, after being occupied by the Germans for four long years. We saw the Champs Elysee, the Arc d' Triumph, the Eiffel Tower and Versailles. "Everywhere we went the French were excited to see us. They traded perfume for our cigarettes and K-rations. It seemed strange that anyone would want K-ration, until you realized they couldn't eat perfume. "When we got back to the American headquarters looking for our jeep, it was gone!!! Some German snipers were still in Paris, and we guessed one of them had stolen our jeep to get away. Fortunately, luck was on our side as we happened upon an ambulance which was headed our way. When we got back to the hospital, no one had missed us." From France, the nurses and hospital crews would follow the troops to Germany, through Liege, Belgium. As the American forces pushed their way into Germany, the Germans pushed back hard one last time. "We were in Aachen, Germany, ready to move further into the country when the German army made its last push to win the war. It was known as the Bastogne, or the Battle of the Bulge. "We set up a hospital to treat the wounded at a spa. The Germans had occupied it before us and it seemed like a great spot - - real beds, instead of Army cots, hot showers and the works. But, the delight was short-lived when we woke up the next morning covered in bed bug bites -- courtesy the German army." By now the casualties were greatly reduced as the war was beginning to wind down. The elation of pending victory was short-lived when the nurses made their last stop in the small German town of Weimer. "General Patton had liberated the town and found a concentration camp -- Buchenwald -- only 10 miles away. There were still many prisoners at the camp and we had expected to work there. But tuberculosis was rampant and they wouldn't let us help for fear of spreading the disease. "We're only about 90 miles from Berlin and the talk was how the war was almost over. The big four powers -- President Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill and deGaulle -- has made the decision to let Russia take Berlin. So, with the number of wounded soldiers down to a handful, our hospital closed down." With the surrender of Germany, the nurses were given two weeks leave. They first headed to the French Riviera, where they would hear that the war was officially declared over. From there, the group headed to Switzerland and Austria for some more sightseeing. "We visited Berchesgarten, where Hitler had a home on the top of the Austrian Alps. We rode an elevator that took us through the mountain and exited in the hall of his home. It was a spectacular view, but by now all we could think of us getting home. "We came home aboard the USS Independence. It was a nine- day trip before we docked in New York City. The Statue of Liberty never looked so good." (Hankey is 633rd Air Base Wing public affairs officer, Anderson AFB, Guam) -- //^\\ /// \\\ <---- new uniform 8-)! /// \\\ /// \\\ Air Force News Agency | | Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, USA \\ {*} // bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil \\ CMSgt // ___________________ /____________________________________ \\ Mike // \\Bergman/ \\ // ~~