In the chaos of the Kassel Mission air battle, 25 of the 35 Liberators from the 445th Bomb Group were shot down within minutes, along with many of the German fighters. One of those bombers was piloted by Reginald Miner of upstate New York.

Earlier this year, on the 81st anniversary of the Sept. 27, 1944 battle, a memorial was dedicated at the crash site of Miner's B-24. Attending the ceremony were three generations of Miner's family: his son, Jim Miner, Jim's niece Kiera, and Kiera's son.

Recently, Kassel Mission Chronicle hosts Linda Alice Dewey and Aaron Elson spoke with Jim Miner after his return from the ceremony in Grebenau, Germany, where his uncle's bomber crashed. Two of the ten crew members, co-pilot Virgil Chima and radio operator Joe Gilfoil, were killed, and Reg Miner, who remained at the controls until all the crew bailed out, became a prisoner of war.

Music for the podcast by Linda Dewey.

Fresh off a lecture about mechanized scooter safety in the halls of his assisted living facility, 101-year-old Jim Baynham sat down for a telephone interview with Linda Alice Dewey and Aaron Elson, hosts of the Kassel Mission Chronicles podcast.

The last surviving participant of the battle between 35 B-24 Liberators and about 120 German fighter planes, Baynham had turned 20 only a few months before and was the youngest member of the crew whose lives were in his hands.

I was a little late hitting the record button and missed the part about Jim's class on scooter safety, but fortunately Jim puts out a sort of blog by email and text, and this morning the following arrived:

"We did it. Actually tested those of us scooter drivers who turned ourselves in. We reported to the residents lounge, carefully threading our way through the spaces between the chairs and table. Carefully, it was no time to have an accident. So we were directed to form a line in preparation for a drivers test among pylons set up in the main hallway. Those of us who successfully navigated the course without knocking over a pylon got a certificate attesting to our successfully completing the test. It was a pretty impressive event. That hall full of old folks showed up and proved we coud still tame our impulses to run over someone and act like we were normal folks with concerns for our fellow man. It was pretty impressive. Love, Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, Jim."

credit: Kasselmission.org

For more on the Kassel Mission:

https://www.kasselmission.org

For more about the podcast hosts:

https://www.lindaalicedewey.com

https://aaronelson.substack.com

The Kassel Mission of Sept. 27, 1944 was not only one of World War 2's most spectacular battles, it was also one of the most unusual, in that it took place between 20,000 and 26,000 feet above what would become the dividing line between East and West Germany.

As a result, half of the 25 bombers that were shot down crashed east of the border, and the crash sites were not accessible to anyone from the West until the German reunification in 1990.

Of the 117 American airmen who died in the battle, eight were still listed as Missing in Action, including five from the Hansen crew.

Just recently, the DPAA (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) announced that through advanced DNA testing of remains, it has identified two of those crew members, Technical Sergeant James Triplett of Spokane, Washington; and Second Lieutenant Porter Pile of Harlingen, Texas.

The two will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery in a special ceremony on October 31.

In this episode of the Kassel Mission Chronicles, hosts Linda Alice Dewey and Aaron Elson discuss the efforts of the Kassel Mission Historical Society to reach out to family members of airmen who perished on the flight, and to coordinate with the DPAA on several active cases involving the six remaining MIAs.

In addition, Aaron shares a recording of P-51 pilot Bob Volkman who tells of a dramatic dogfight between fighter pilot Bill Beyer and a noted German ace.

Thank you for listening, and be sure to visit the Kassel Mission web site, kasselmission.org. Also look for Aaron's oral history of the mission, "Up Above the Clouds to Die," available at amazon and aaronelson.com; and check out Linda's great artwork at LindaAliceDewey.com, where you can order notecards, calendars and many other items featuring pastels of Leelenau County, Northern Michigan and Arizona.