Gosh, it’s a small world.

I have recently  been contacted by a 19 year old WWII enthusiast  in France.  He recently found the military certificate of Lt. Samuel E “Sam” Russell buried in the grounds of a former US Staging area near Marseille.   He is after a photo and more information on Sam.

Based on my research and the documentation I have on hand,  Lt. Samuel E Russell was originally with the 414th as a  navigator and was transferred to the 417th in October of 1944 in Le Vallon, France.

Lt. Russell lived to be 100 and passed away quite recently (18 Nov 21).  I think this would make Sam one of the longest living 417th members.  I would love to tell his story and share a photo.

If you have any information, please get in touch via the contact us page.

From the National Air and Space Museum’s Facebook post on May 26, 2022:

I have recently been contacted by an amateur historian in France who is doing research leading up to a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Vannes, France.  The 425th NFS was stationed in Vannes and the town plans to pay tribute to the members of the 425th NFS and honour 3 members who died during missions flown out of Vannes airfield (1st Lt. Nelson D. WILLIS (pilot) – August 26, 1944 / 2nd Lt. Joseph C. WEBB (pilot) and 2nd Lt. Robert E. English (radar-operator) – August 28, 1944)

The historian found this website thru a You Tube video that was produced by George Hoover  (you can find the link here).  There are several shots from Vannes along with a few of the P-61 that may have flown out of that airfield.

The celebration in Vannes is scheduled for 2024.

I am after any of the following information:

o Contact information (email or home addresses) for family members of anyone who served in the 425th NFS.

o photos from Vannes that may have been taken by members of the 425th during their time there.

o A list or photos of P-61s flown out of Vannes.  I currently believe the “Plenty of Pissed Off Patootie III” and “Wabash Cannonball IV” were flown out of Vannes. Others???

o Contact information for Jerry Moore, Charlene Smith or Thomas/Rita Rose  who attended the 2007 NFS Reunion

If you have a anything to share, please contact me via the Contact Us  link on this website, or place a comment on this post with details on how I can get in touch with you.

Many Thanks!

Jackie

There are two new stories I hope to have posted in the New Year.  The first involves an original member of 417th NFS.  His name is Lyle James Montbriand.  His son has located Lyle’s army issued personal diary which tells the story of his time from the creation of the 417th in Kissimmee then on to New York, Scotland, England, North Africa, Corsica, Belgium and back to the US.  Here is a photo of Lyle along with a handwritten note listing his “war buddies”.  More photos and info to come in the new year.

The 2nd story I am working on is that of my father, Richard Ziebart.  After he passed away in 2018 I found a collection of momentos he kept from his time with the 417th.   These items have helped me piece together his journey and the timeline associated with it.    I hope to complete my research in the fist quarter of 2022, so stay tuned.  For now, I will leave you with this photo of my dad taken in Biloxi where he underwent Cadet training:

Until then, I am sending my Christmas and New Years wishes to you all and we will talk again in 2022.

Cheers,

Jackie

After a bit of a delay, I have finally gotten around to adding the 80+ photos from the collection of the 417th Photographer, Charles Fahrbach.  Some of the photos may be duplicates that already appear on the site, but most are new.  I have gathered them into a permanent gallery located  on the Faces of the 417th page.  Click on this link  and it will take you directly to the page.  You will need to scroll down to the bottom.  The gallery is located just before the comments section.

I don’t have a lot of details on location or the people in the photos, but if you spot a location or person you know, please drop me a note and I will add those details to specific photographs.

In addition to the photos, I received a number of documents related to Charle’s time in the service, so I have included them here for reference.  My favourite is the Western Union Telegram to his wife.