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Mary Studeny
9/8/2002 10:03:02 AM | What a true joy to have found this website! My Dad died in 1995 after a two year battle with kidney and brain cancer, but how he would have loved to have seen your site! He refused to involve himself with a computer--stubborn man that he was--but I surely would have printed out this entire site for him. I live outside of Philly now (after some 27 years in NYC working at Albert Einstein medical school in molecular biology research), moving here in 1994.
My mother still is alive, living in their house in Erie, PA.
I would truly LOVE to hear from anyone in the group who knew my dad, and absolutely would love any stories of his life in the Group!....
Unfortunately, my own health has not been the best and I had to stop working 3 years ago (at the University of Pennsylvania in the medical school...again, biomedical research), and now I am on full disability---so I have time (and the desire) to spend time on the computer. I finally got married in 1997 and finally have my own home (with a yard so big, we use a tractor to cut the lawn!). Alas, Dad did not live long enough to see either...but I somehow believe he can "see" it all now anyway.
How he loved to talk to his 3 kids throughout all our lives about the 401st! and the reunions, etc. Please know that I am overjoyed to have found your website...and am spending my Sunday (9/8/02) savoring the pages! -Mary Studeny
P.S. My older brother John is an attorney in Pittsburgh and my younger sister Kathy is a research editor in New Jersey.
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Scott McElvain
9/9/2002 2:27:46 PM | Will look up his crew, missions, planes and get back with you. If you can narrow down what squadron he was in, that will narrow down the time it takes to find him.
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L.A. Mitchell
9/9/2002 7:00:01 PM | Mary, your father was Engineering Officr with 615th Squadron and was with us wa back when we were in training in Montana.Why not click on "Mebership" on website and see form for dependents to join our 401st Association. $10 a yr.dues. We have quarterly newsleter..Poop frm Group.. Reunions every two years.Next in Tucson,Az in October this year ..2002A bi g WELCOME to .
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Scott McElvain
9/10/2002 7:48:04 AM | Could not find him among the crew listings for the 615th which probably verifies L.A.'s findings. That's not to say he didn't fly on any missions, but he wasn't assigned to any crew.
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Mary Studeny
9/10/2002 1:10:21 PM | I believe he was part of a ground crew--I know he used to go to the 401st Reunions a lot annually before he died...I do have (from my mother) an assortment of patches (?) from his uniform. There is a circular blue patch (several of them) with a large "8" in the center in gold, with wings (gold) attached to the bottom of the number 8. In the center of the lower circle forming the number 8 is a white star with a red dot in it's center. Another patch has an enlarged white star with center red dot where two gold wings are attached to the start on the top two edges of the white star. Another patch has a small white star with red circle in middle (this is centered at the top of the patch and is small. ..below that is a very large gold eagle, carrying in its feet some kind of gold elongated object?? On his ID card, it says John Studeny, Capt,,4C dated 22 July 1945. Under his photo and below his name is 0862441. On back of this War Dept ID, there is a number C 374538. His date of birth is Feb 14, 1916--a Valentine's baby.
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Scott McElvain
9/10/2002 3:03:37 PM | I probably met him at one of the reunions. Have been going to them since '88 with mom who died in 1999. The "8" patches are 8th Air Force which the 401st was part of - they were also part of the 1st Air Division. The 0862441 is probably his serial number. My dad kept his throughout his career as opposed to using his social security. After the war was over, there were some flights to give ground crews a view of the areas fought over. During the war, I'm sure there were a few ground crew members that were able to fly on missions one way or another.
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Mary Studeny
9/10/2002 4:41:19 PM | I just located this in another section of your website----mentions my Dad (Studeny is quite an unusual name)
A Trip on the "Paris Express"
29 November 1944
I was invited to be radio operator on a flight to Paris. It did not take me very long to accept the invitation. Others on the crew were: "Jumbo" White, Ralph Dempsey, Rufe Causey, Harold Kuenning, Bill Dolan, Russ Newman, John Studeny, Cloyd Sellers and Mac McDevitt. There was one passenger aboard, Harold Bowman.
There had been a number of rumors concerning Colonel Bowman's call to Headquarters, United States Air Forces in Europe. After we took off and I was settled in the radio operator's seat, Colonel Bowman came into the room and sat on the floor next to me. I offered him my seat, but he refused saying that I had a job to do and should be in the seat. We had a very interesting chat on the way to France. I asked him if he thought that he would be transferred. He answered that he hoped to talk General Spaatz into allowing him to stay with the 40lst. I wished him good luck and said that we all hoped he could stay with us.
Captain G.I. Blumenthal
Communications Officer
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