Major NHD Update/ DC Trip

Hello Everyone!
 Major things have happened since I last blogged about my NHD project. A month ago I told you all that I had received an invite from the National League of POW/MIA Families to present my documentary at their national convention. (There will be around a thousand people there!) I will be able to give a two minute introduction before showing my documentary. I wrote that I knew that God wasn't finished with the film, and the the invitation was him moving. That's not all.

However, two weeks after my Mom got a call from the Pentagon. It was the Assistant Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. She said that a family member of a missing soldier had gotten a hold of the documentary, and had passed it to someone in the Pentagon. The documentary made its way up the chain of command all the way to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. Mr. Hagel, it turns out, was very impressed, and asked to meet the person who made the film. The Assistant Chief of Staff  tracked me down and called Mom. She said that Secretary Hagel wanted to meet me. She offered to give us an hour tour of the Pentagon and then said that the Secretary could meet with us for ten minutes! So, on June 16th, my family is going to get a tour of the Pentagon and meet Secretary Hagel for a few minutes! I am in shock as I write this. God has given me such an awesome opportunity. I hope that my documentary will continue to touch people as I go forward.

All that said, we will leave Omaha on Tuesday, June 2nd. We will go through Illinois and visit Abraham's home. Then, we will go through Virginia and visit numerous Revolutionary War and Civil War sites. Then we will turn south to the Carolina's. After a few days there, we will head to Washington D.C. for the POW/MIA conference, NHD and the Pentagon tour. (To any prospective burglars: We have one of my Dad's college military friend staying at our house. He's a second amendment guy. 'nuff said.)

I would like to blog our adventures as we go. So, like last year, I will do a daily update. Hopefully I will be able to incorporate some video as well. I hope that you enjoy the upcoming posts! Thanks for reading!
JM

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

This year, the 26^th of May is Memorial Day. Many see Memorial Day as the spring version of Veterans' Day. This is far from true. Veterans' Day is the day that we remember those who served our country in the military. Memorial Day is the day we remember those who died while defending the United States and the freedom that it represents. One example of this sacrifice is Stanley Dwyer, who saved hundreds of lives while sacrificing his own.

Stanley Dwyer was born in rural Kansas in 1916. He was an athletic young man who enjoyed playing baseball and doing 4-H. His family moved to Nebraska when he was a teenager.  He joined the Merchant Marines in 1939, and the United States Air Force in 1941, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He trained in Nevada to become the pilot of a B-17 bomber. He was then assigned to Florida for a few months before being shipped out to England to begin flying bombing raids.

Every other day, Stan and his nine man crew flew bombing raids over Nazi controlled Europe. These raids were fraught with risk. The B-17's that the Americans flew had only enough fuel to make it to the target and back with no diversions. Many barely made it back to their air bases before running out of fuel. In addition, the Germans were constantly flooding the European sky with flak, or small pieces of metal fired from an anti-aircraft cannon. Some pilots reported that when flying over German military bases, the sky would turn black with all of the flak that was being fired at them. To make things even worse, the B-17s were not bulletproof, and there was very little that the crew could do except hope and pray that they would not get hit. The survival rate for a United States' combat  pilot over Europe during World War II was 50% over twenty five raids. This rate was worse than almost all other combat units during the war.

On May 10^th, 1944 pilot Stanley Dwyer and his nine crew members climbed aboard their plane for what would be their 21^st mission. If they could make it through four more, they would get a few weeks break at home before returning to duty. The raid this day would be on the Austrian city of Wiener Neustadt, the location of most of the Nazi airplane factories. Stanley’s plane was about 100 miles from Wiener Neustadt, near the back of the formation, when its engine was hit by flak. The bomber fell into a dive and quickly caught on fire.

Stan and his co-pilot continued to fly the plane in an attempt to survive. As the plane leveled, Stan ordered all of the flight crew to open the doors and bail. Five of the men bailed out as the B-17 approached the ground. It soon became apparent that the plane was not going to make it. However, the men left inside the plane continued to fly it.

At the last second, it appeared that Stanley might have found a place to land his plane-- a large field of grass next to a village in the Austrian countryside. Unfortunately, there were numerous houses in the clearing, as well as people milling about. With an almost full load of bombs in the bomb bay, there would be a massive secondary explosion once the plane hit the ground.  Stan knew that if he put the plane down there, he might have a chance at surviving, but those in the houses and village were doomed. Stanley chose to save those on the ground.

A boy on the ground watching the burning plane slowly descend, recalled that he could see the pilot as he turned the plane and headed for the forest. The plane was only a few meters from the ground. In a last ditch attempt to put the plane down safely, Stan aimed for a small clearing in the forest. Unfortunately, it appears he lost control and consciousness as the plane fell from the sky crashing into the forest. The following explosion killed all five men aboard.

Almost 65 years later, Stanley’s brother and niece traveled to the site in Austria with the United States government, to search for the fallen heroes and bring them home. They had spent almost a decade searching for the crash site. Unfortunately, the heroes' remains were not found. The secondary explosion had all but obliterated the plane and its contents. However, when the group met those that lived in the nearby village, they found that they remembered Stanley, knew what he had done, and were filled with gratitude toward him and his crew. They credited their lives, and the lives of their children and grandchildren to Stanley, who, instead of trying to save himself, had chosen to save those in the village. Stanley Dwyer's memory lives on in the hearts and minds of his relatives, and also the Austrians whose lives he saved.

On Memorial Day, please stop and remember men like Stanley Dwyer and his crew, who fought bravely and died valiantly for our country and its freedoms. I pray that we never forget these brave men and their sacrifice.

Sources:

Searching for Stanley  By Kay Hughes and Harold Dwyer

Author Interview with Kay Hughes (Stanley’s Niece), January 26^th, 2014

Author Interview with Kay Hughes , February 6^th, 2014

Author Interview with Harold Dwyer (Stanley’s Brother), February 6^th, 2014

Recovering the Missing: Their Right, Our Responsibility, Documentary by Justin Myers

Thanks for reading.

JM