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donkirk
10/27/2010 2:23:50 PM | Thomas J. Wetherbee, Jr., was a waist gunner in the crew of Capt. Richard D. McCord from mid-1943 till late summer, 1944. My brother, Charles Kirkman, was the radio operator in the same crew. As far as Charles and I can determine, he is the last survivor of the crew (one man's widow is still alive), but we haven't been able to find what happened to Sgt. Wetherbee. He apparently came into the service from somewhere in New England, and may have left the crew earlier than the rest when crews were reconfigured from ten men to nine. I haven't found any reference to him in the WW II enlistment and draft registration records.
Charles and I would really like to know what has happened to him since he left the crew. Can anyone help, please?
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donkirk
11/1/2010 3:14:09 PM | Thanks to the people who tried to help me find Sgt. Wetherbee. I've found some of his information, and my immediate search is over. It turns out that his name, which I got from a source I trusted (and AFAIK not affiliated with the Association), was wrong. I went back to some loading list copies I've had for a while, and I found three versions of his name: Winfield Weatherbee, Winfield Wetherbee, and Thomas J. Wetherbee. Two or three times it's Weatherbee, and one single time it's Thomas J. Wetherbee, obviously a mixup with another Thomas in the crew. Nearly always it is Winfield H. Wetherbee, agreeing with the public records I found.
To me, this shows the importance of obtaining as many of the Air Force and NASA archived records as we can so the Historian can correct and update our mission and crew information. IMO we owe that to the men who flew and kept the planes flying and managed the whole 401st BG in its outstanding job for our country. Please do what you can to accumulate the needed funds for the research project approved by the Board at the 2010 reunion.
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Mac McCord
8/2/2014 4:39:28 PM | This is Ken McCord. My father was Capt. Richard D. McCord. Winfield Weatherbee was on my dad's crew, we have a number of photos with my dad's handwriting on the back listing the names of the men in the photos. I do not know what happened to Winfield post-war.
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donkirk
8/3/2014 2:57:46 PM | "Mac McCord":
This is Ken McCord. My father was Capt. Richard D. McCord. Winfield Weatherbee was on my dad's crew, we have a number of photos with my dad's handwriting on the back listing the names of the men in the photos. I do not know what happened to Winfield post-war.
Ken, I'm really glad to hear from you. My brother was your father's radio operator, Charles C. Kirkman. I don't remember clearly now just where all I looked for information on Weatherbee, but I don't think I found anything post-war either. By the time he died my brother's memory was not totally reliable but he might have been in contact for a while after their service. The only photos I have are the ones on the Association site that I assume are from the National Archives. If you're interested in possible research and/or sharing you can reach me at donsno2@charter.net.
My brother pretty much idolized your father and felt close to all of the crew he flew with. He was the last survivor, dying in early 2012. He also reminisced a lot about Ice Cold Katy, the plane he flew in for the most missions of his 33. Your message is reviving memories of conversations with my brother and of the research I did several years ago when Don Byers was startng to document the history of the Group. I'd welcome the opportunity to learn more about the crew if you are willing to keep in touch.
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