Hi,
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. There have been 2 small updates to the website today. We added another 9 photos to the Faces of the 417th Gallery. The photos were supplied by Bob Brennan’s son Mike Brennan. They have been added to the 1st gallery.
We also received a lovely email from Kevin Reeder with a special photo of a painting he received for Father’s Day. The painting is of Henry Lee Gurley’s plane. To see the photo, click here.
Blessings to everyone,
Rich Ziebart
Hello Mr. Ziebart
My name is Joan Bettencourt Coelho. My father is Albert S Bettencourt Jr. and a member of the 417th Night Fighter Squardron. My mom’s name was Mary. Both of my parents have passed on and I am going thru pictures, letters etc. that where is a large truck. I found a letter you addressed to my mom. It had a program in it of the 417th reunion dated June 30, 1994. I was also able to find some pictures on the web of the members but did not find my dad? I did see one picture of Bill Rhodes who I know was a close friend of my dad’s.
My Dad’s Honorable Discharge Papers shows a date of January 12, 1942 as him being accepted for active military service and Oct. 22, 1945 was his date of separation.
I am writing to see if there is any other info I can get on the squadron. I have a 10 year old grandson that is very interested in the Army and what his Great Grandfather went through and where he was stationed at and what country at the time. I was able to find some old letters he wrote home that had a date and country on them but afraid some my be missing.
My Dad did not talk much about the war and the little he did I was a kid and don’t remember much. I do remember him talking about planes, Corsica, France and Germans . He said he was a medic and I have a picture of him standing in front of an Army vehicle that has a red cross. My grandson has asked me a million questions and I must say I am embarrassed to say I don’t know the answers.
I will keep looking for pictures and info on the web.
Thank you for any help you might be able to give me.