John J. Witt
9/10/2008 1:53:10 PM | Hello, all. I'm the soul surviving son of bombardier 1st Lt. John J. Marshall, who was in the 614th squadron (I learned this on your website today). His aircraft was "Betty's Revenge", and they were shot down by flak during the mission over Politz Germany on Oct. 7, 1944. I was born on Nov. 24, 1944, so I never knew him. Recently, I visited his grave site at Rock Island Arsenal National Cemetery in Rock Island Illinois. This is how I found out he was in the 401st, which led me to your website. I see that five of his crew managed to bail out, and they became POWs. If any of you are one of his crew, I sure would like to call and talk with you about my Dad. Also, anyone else who is related to the other two air crew that were killed please contact me if you like. I was adopted by mother's second husband, which is the reason my name is Witt. I'm very late in introducing myself and joining your organization, but my deceased grandmother always said that my Dad was buried at Arlington in Va. I planned to visit Arlington over the years (I live in a suburb of Chicago), but I thought recently that I should get it done, so I inquired of my congressman about my Dads grave site. To my surprise, I found out that he was in Rock Island, which is only about 180 miles away. When I saw his gravestone, the 401st was carved on it, so as a result, here I am. I wish I would have found out long ago about your organization, but anyhow, here I am. Thanks for your excellent web site, which is so informative to me. I will be looking forward to any communication with any of you.
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donaldbyers
9/10/2008 8:01:50 PM | Welcome John,
I have searched the 2005 Directory to try and find any of the crewmembers which are listed with your dad's crew but didn't find any.
If you know your Dad's service number go the this web page and write for the IDPF: http://donald-byers.com/IDPF.htm
Don
Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
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