General Posts #254

{s:TopicNav|Lt. Charles Meredith|ForumNew.T1369|ForumNew.T0589|ForumNew.T0579|ForumNew.F01|ForumNew.T0575|ForumNew.T0563|ForumNew.T0005} 
{| class='ForumTopics' 
! Posted !! Message 
|- 
| '''celtic560''' <br/><br/><div class='poster-info'><img src='/public/Attachments/ForumNew.MainPage/NoAvatar.gif' /></div><br/>2/14/2010 5:57:14 PM 
| This story can be told because on that summer evening in 1970 I was the slowest runner of the bunch.   Down the hill on Washington Street that evening a group of younger kids were playing and us guys thought it would be cool to blow off some firecrackers.  Hiding in the bushes nearby we let go a barrage of noisy firecrackers.  We got the kids attention, but also drew the attention of a concerned citizen who chased us out of the bushes and caught the slowest one, me.  Marching up the street, he presented me to my parents and the lecture began.  <br/> <br/> The lecture’s content was what could be expected.  Our lack of concern for the safety of the kids, disturbing the neighbors, illegal goods, and after a short pause – “and you should not be bothering Mrs. Meredith, her son was killed in World War Two and his body never came back home.”  Wow, were did that come from.  Suddenly I forgot my own predicament and started thinking about Mrs. Meredith and her son.  I did not know Mrs. Meredith or where she actually lived, but it must have been in the neighborhood where we were throwing the firecrackers.  At the time I wondered why my parents included Mrs. Meredith and her son in their litany of reasons regarding the firecracker situation.  Years later I came to the conclusion it was because at the time my brother was in Vietnam and I am sure they could relate to her ordeal. <br/> <br/> Soon after, I figured out which house Mrs. Meredith lived in.  Walking or riding my bike past her house I would think of her son who was killed in the war and wonder what happen to his remains.  Based on war movies I have seen, I conjured up some spectacular scenarios on how his life could have end.  Being in my early teens at the time, I figured when he died he could of been just a few years older than me at the time of his death.  I did not pursue finding out the cause of his death because I thought it was inappropriate and be seen as youthful morbid curiosity.  Returning to Hudson over the years and driving up Washington Street, I would pass the house that Mrs. Meredith use to live in and think of her and her son and the body that was never returned. To lose a son was terrible enough but not having an opportunity to bury the remains for closer must have been horrible.<br/> <br/> Fast forward thirty-five years.  My wife and I were in town visiting Arlene and the late Bill Garr.  Bill was looking over the basketball team pictures that he coached at Sacred Heart in the 1950s.  He also had a basketball team photograph when he was a junior at Sacred Heart in 1939.  I recognized a few of the guys in the picture- Bill, his brother Dick, two uncles of mine, Louie Brennan and Russ Roan.  Bill had written on the back of the photo the names of the players and I referred to the list with those faces I didn’t know.  In the front row one of the players was a Charles Meredith.  I thought I knew most of the Merediths of this generation, but I didn’t know Charles.  I asked Bill about him and he responded, “Charles was killed in World War Two and his body never came back home.”  The same exact words I heard from my parents 35 years ago.  Mrs. Meredith’s son.  Here I was looking at the person who I thought about while going past his mother’s house so many times.  A smiling youth with his teammates getting their team photograph.  On that day in 1939 life is good.  Little did any of them know that day, that each and every one of them(10) would be in the U.S. military, stationed all over the world fighting for freedom, and one would not return.  Bill mentioned that Charles was a pilot shot down over enemy territory in Europe.  I did not press Bill for more information because he seemed not wanting to keep the conversation going.<br/> <br/> Shortly and surprisingly after my discovery about Charles from Bill, my brother received a large collection of local newspaper clippings from the 1940s and 1950s. Going through them I came across an article dated September 28, 1944 and titled, Lt. Charles Meredith Missing In Action.  The article states that the War Department notified the family that he was missing in action over Germany since September 9, 1944.  No words are necessary to assume how a mother and family felt upon the news.  The article also states that word will be sent by the War Department when Lt. Meredith is located.  No future telegrams came.  No news about her son’s fate until after the war ended.<br/> <br/> Another article dated July 14, 1945 tells about the tragic end of Lt. Charles Meredith’s life on that fateful day, September 9, 1944.  The article tells that the family received a letter from one of the members of the plane crew of which Lt. Meredith was co-pilot. He informed the family that Charles was killed in the crash.  The author of the letter and another member who survived the crash buried those crew members who were killed.<br/> The two survivors were taken prisoner by the Germans and sent to a POW camp.  They were unable to write information until their release from prison.  Again, no words are necessary to assume how the family felt upon receiving that letter.<br/> <br/> From various websites I was able to learn the plane Lt. Meredith was co-pilot of, nicknamed  Casey’s Strawberry Blonde, left England with 38 other bombers with the mission to bomb railway yards in Mannheim, Germany.  Lt. Meredith was a member of the 401st Bomber Group, 612th Bomb Squadron and the plane he flew was a B-17 Flying Fortress.  Flak from anti-aircraft batteries was intense over the target site and Casey’s Strawberry Blonde took a direct hit at 20,000 feet, almost breaking in half.  Of a crew of nine, only two survived.  Lt. Meredith had only one more mission to go to have completed the required number, with his first assisting the D-Day invasion.  Lt. Meredith’s body was recovered and is now interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery in eastern France. At the time of his death Lt. Meredith was 23, a husband and a father of an infant girl.  He had two brothers also serving in the armed services.  His father, Thomas died a few months earlier in an auto accident.<br/> <br/> <br/> Mrs. Meredith’s first name was Florence.  She died in 1975 at the age of 91 and is buried out at Calvary Cemetery.  Next to her grave is a memorial stone for Lt. Meredith with the words, “He Gave His Life For His Country.” He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross medals.   Naturally I never met Lt. Charles Meredith but I can conclude being a pilot of a plane he had to of been somewhat intelligent and knowing the Merediths of my generation who are all good natured, he had to have had a pretty good personality.  Fortunately for me that evening in 1970 I was a juvenile delinquent.  For if I was home that evening watching tv or washing dishes I would never been exposed to the heroic and short life of Lt. Charles Meredith. <br/><br/><br/> 
|- 
| '''donaldbyers''' <br/><br/><div class='poster-info'><img src='/public/Attachments/ForumNew.MainPage/donaldbyers.jpg' /></div><br/>2/14/2010 7:45:36 PM 
| That was touching and we don't get the history lessons like we use to either, If one head is turned to understand the lay down of one persons life it is a lesson in time!!<br/> <br/> Don Byers<br/> Group Historian <br/><br/>Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.<br/> 
|}
Meta Keywords:
Meta Description:
Change Comment:
Modified on 2024/07/12 22:00 by SYSTEM Categorized as Uncategorized