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One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest Generation' who served our country during World War 11 k
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By Bill Youngkin "When we landed, we had the turret guns pointed down
Special to The Eagle and they drug two channels in the runway. The runway was
J short, and at the end it dropped about 200 feet into the
i Part One ocean. The pilot and co -pilot had the brakes smoking. At
the end of the runway the pilot had the co -pilot release his
During World War 11, from 1942 to 1945, the Air Forces brakes and we made a u-turn with one wing out over the
suffered over 90,000 casualties, with more than 35,000 end of the runway.
captured and becoming prisoners of war. But more than
3,000 successfully evaded the enemy to return home. Robert "Portuguese soldiers came running to the plane and we
H. "Bob" Sweatt of the Gay Hill Community in Washington were taken to the U.S. Embassy, where they put us in civilian
u County was one of those 3,000. clothes. We were in a really nice hotel, and for the first time
His story began on May 9, 1922, on a ranch 13 miles in my life I ordered room - service breakfast. We were there
from Lovington, N.M. According to Sweatt, "I grew up about a month before being taken to Marakesh by a British
riding a horse wherever I needed to go, to include going cork boat and then on to Ben Gazi to rejoin our group.
to Lovington. I attended and graduated from Prairie View "When we arrived at the air base in Ben Gazi, our group, q
School in a class of 17 ranch kids in 1941.1 worked as a ranch or what was left of them, were still in their bunks sleeping. 1
hand and at other odd jobs until I received my greetings They had just returned from the raid on the German oil 4
from Uncle Sam. refinery at Ploesti, Romania. We found out later that none
of the planes on that mission were expected to make it back. A
"I reported to the induction center in El Paso on P P I
September 2, 1941. I was given a bunch of tests in addition By getting lost in the fog we missed the raid on Pelosti, and
to my physical exam. After the tests were scored, I was told that might have saved our lives.
I was being assigned to the Army Air Corps and was sent to "We flew some missions over Italy, to include the area
Salt Lake City, Utah, for more tests. While I was waiting for . the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which we had to bomb in
those results, I saw a lieutenant standing on a box talking a circle so we wouldn't hit the tower. That tactic almost go • to some GIs. I stopped to listen to him tell us that we were us all killed, as it did kill all in the plane ahead of us. One of
getting the " kicked out of us all over the world and the gunners came out in a chute and he was even with our
the Air Corps was desperate for aerial gunners. He also said wingtips in his chute when he came out, but in all that flack,
that the rumors were that the life expectancy of an aerial
gunner in combat was three seconds. He said that is a bunch I know he probably didn't make it.
of" ", it was 17 seconds. And, if I volunteered, 1 would "Back in England we had another close call. We were on
be a sergeant in five weeks and receive flight pay. That all a mission with 1,000 -pound bombs and on our bomb run,
sounded good to me so, I volunteered. flak knocked out the No. 4 engine. The plane flipped over to a .
"I was sent to gunnery school in Las Vegas, where I took 45- degree angle and we headed down. We had to get rid of
a test for bombardier and was accepted, but was told I would the bombs, but we couldn't get the bomb bay doors open, so
have to wait six months for class to start. I decided I wanted Captain Wilhite, our pilot, leveled the plane and hit the salvo
to go now, so I attended armament school and joined the lever, dropping those 1000 pound bombs right through the
389th Bomber Group as part of the original cadre. bomb bay doors.
"We assembled our B -24 crew and headed to England, "We were losing altitude and air speed, but we stayed in
landing there on June 16, 1943. We operated out of an the formation - or rather the formation stayed around us to
air base located at Hethel Air Base, which was outside of protect us. We finally hit the coast of England at an altitude
Norwich, England. Our plane and crew were part of the of 200 feet. We weren't over land more than two minutes
566th Bomber Squadron. Our crew had now been together when the No. 1 engine ran out of fuel and then we lost the r
for almost a year when we started flying combat missions. I No. 2 engine. That left us with one engine. Captain Wilhite
was the waist gunner and we all were very close as a crew. said we were going in.
"We received orders to fly to Ben Gazi, North Africa, "He pulled the left wing up in a turn, leveled for a few
' with our whole bomb group. On the way we ran into fog seconds and belly landed in a beet field surrounded by trees.
so bad we could barely see our wingtips. When an opening He had put us down in a little cove without any injuries of
appeared, we were right over a British aircraft carrier and any significance to any of the crew. He was awarded the
they sent up fighters after us. We dropped our landing gear Silver Star for that landing. We were safe once again until
to show we were friendly and they flew around us and
headed back down. a mission on January 7, 1944, when all aboard, except me,
were killed and my three months of evading capture by the
"We still didn't know where we were and were about out Germans began" f
of fuel when another opening appeared in the fog and we
found we were over Lisbon, Portugal. We were going to have NEXT WEEK: Part Two of Bob Sweatt's story.
to land. Even though Portugal was a neutral country, there If you want to have a name added to the Veterans
were Germans all over the place and they had two planes Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution,
on the runway. We started shredding paper and dropped all or if you know a World War 11 veteran whose story needs to
of that out our bomb bay. We destroyed the computer in the be told, contact the BWM at www.veteransmemoriaLorg
ball turret by shooting it up with my .45. or Bill Youngkin at (979) 776 -1325.
The Eagle
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Robert H. " Bob" Sweatt "
' � " F• ,, of my situation. I still couldn't use my left arm, and blood was
By Bill Youngk
Special to Th Ea
a gle squirting from my neck with each heartbeat. On the ground I
I could see the flames and smoke from the pieces of my plane.
Part Two When I hit the ground, I packed some mud into my neck and
with my scarf, stopped the bleeding. We were trained to bury
More than 3,000 men of our air forces who were shot down our chute so the enemy wouldn't know there were survivors. 1
during World War 11 returned home. Bob Sweatt of the Gay Hill tried to dig in the ground with my fingers without much luck.
Community of Washington County was one of them. His three- All I did was break fingernails in the partially frozen ground.
month story of evasion in German - occupied France began on
January 7, 1944. "I saw a haystack in the field and hobbled toward it. It was
about then that I noticed a man approaching me slowly and
According to Sweatt, "Our B -24 crew was on a mission to without speaking. Without a word, this French farmer spat into
bomb a chemical plant in Ludwighaven, Germany, which was a his handkerchief and began cleaning my face of blood. Some
success. Our B -24 group and a B -17 group, also on the mission, other Frenchmen came up and gave me clothes to put on. It was
then headed home. That day on our plane we had Col. Caldwell then 1 heard German voices and the French farmer motioned for
as our command pilot flying in the co- pilot's seat. Col. Caldwell me to help them lift a part of the plane's wings and carry it to a
was the 'Fearless Fosdick' type, and after we dropped our a burning pile, as they were being ordered to do by a German d
bombs he told the navigator to give us the most direct heading soldier.
to England. Now, our orders called for us to follow the B -17s ,
• back for joint protection and cover, but Col. Caldwell said he "As we went into a gully, a French boy took my end of the
didn't want to wait around for those blankety -blank 17's, so we wing and I moved quickly down the gully to a small grove of
headed to England on the most direct route. trees, where I buried myself in leaves. The Germans came 1
"You could see the 17's pulling off to our right as we went through the woods hunting for me. One soldier with a rifle I
were fi for a while, until about right as
to 2 pmt walked within six feet of me, but they didn't find me. Time 1
left. Things
"You c
when the
navigator we i a o , `a while, it degrees right; w about pm, passed and it was quiet until the nearby birds started stirring. 1
100 miles off course.' That was when they hit us. We were hit I thought the Germans were coming back when I noticed the
by German Fw -190's that had four cannons in their wings and French farmer slowly loading hay onto his cart and coming my way. 1 machine guns on top of their wings. I heard the top turret give down the hillside to was weader toward a b and couldn'tstand, so I rolled
two short bursts and that was it. The German shells poured down ward d the cart.
into the cockpit, killing Captain Wilhite and Colonel Caldwell "When they came to the edge of the woods, they helped z
immediately as they slumped over the cockpit. The cabin caught me into the cart and I sat lodged between two Frenchmen who
fire and I heard a spewing sound. I was on the right waist gun. kept me upright. We headed to their village down a road lined
As I tried to pick up and put on my chute, everything in the with German soldiers, who were obviously looking for me. We
plane seemed to move forward. made it to the village and into a house. I don't remember too
"Until I picked up my chute, I hadn't realized until then that much for the next few days.
I couldn't use my left arm. I put the chute on somehow with my "A week or so later I was moved to another house,
right hand. The plane was starting to spin, and as I glanced out eventually ending up at a house with a French family who had
the window, the No. 4 engine and part of the wing came off and a young daughter of about 7 years old. Before she or any other +
that side of the plane caught fire. That threw me over to the left member of the family entered the house, they gave a special I
window. The spin was accelerating, creating a sound sort of like knock. Living with that family made me realize the great
a siren. I knew 1 was about to black out when there was a terrific danger this whole family was in and what it would mean for
explosion and I was thrown from the plane. them if I were caught.
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; ' "As I fell I tried to pull the D ring on my chute, but couldn't "I was eventually transported to Paris, where I came
;� with my gloves on my right hand. I couldn't use my left hand, under the care and custody of three former members of the
so I pulled my gloves off my right hand with my teeth while French Army, now wearing civilian clothes but still fighting the 1
falling. Fortunately, we were at about 21,000 feet when they Germans. I was sheltered in the home of a French mechanic who 1
hit us. As I pulled my rip cord, our engineer, Max Snyder, came worked for the Germans. I lived in his attic, and right across the
falling past me without a chute. There was nothing I could do to street from his house were the quarters of several companies of
help him. I could only watch him fall. All kinds of pieces of metal German soldiers. I could see and hear them each morning out
and equipment fell around me, but nothing hit me. It was like my window as the Germans completed their morning exercises.
being in the middle of a falling junkyard. And then it was so I guess the French figured the best place to hide me was right
perfectly quiet. under the Germans' noses."
"After a chute opens, there is no sound. I would not have Next week, the conclusion of Bob Sweatt's story of evasion ,
thought we were falling except my pant legs were flapping in and his ultimate return home.
the wind. After the war was over, they recovered Max Snyder's
k body and returned it to his hometown for burial. I attended the If you want to have a name added to the Veterans
funeral but I never told his parents how he died, and I haven t Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution, or
talked about it until now, if you know a World War 11 veteran whose story needs to be
"As my chute floated to the ground, I began to take stock Youngkin at (979) 776 -1325 www.veteransmemorial.org or Bill
The Eagle ...b
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By Bill Youn Australian and two of us were Americans.
Special to The Eagle
We headed out of Paris for the French coast. On the way,
, i Part Three the guy with the blue bag came back and said the Gestapo was
°I on the train checking IDs. He said there were two of them, one
In 1964, the U.S. Air Force organized "The Air Forces checking IDs and one with a machine gun. I sat by the door,
e Escape And Evasion Society" to document the escape and so one of the Australians handed me an old rusty knife and
evasion events of its members. Initially almost 400 veterans of said when they come, they would grab and pull the Gestapo
, World War II were members. Today that membership is down guy checking IDs into the compartment and when they did, I
to three individuals. Bob Sweatt of the Gay Hill Community of was to stab the guy with the machine gun. I had never killed
1 Washington County is one of them. anyone face -to -face, and my hand holding that knife really
Sweatt's B -24 was shot down over German - occupied began to sweat. Fortunately, they never came.
France, and he was the only member of his crew to survive. "When the train stopped, we were motioned to get off by
Local French farmers hid, clothed and cared for him and helped the blue bag guy. We were met by another Frenchman and led
him avoid capture by the Germans. He eventually made his to a stone schoolhouse. A couple of nights later we left for the N.
way, with the help of the French Resistance Forces, to Paris. It beach. It was a perfect night - no moon, no stars. We were told 4/
is in Paris that Part Three of his story picks up. 'absolute silence and do as you are told; our lives depend on 4
According to Sweatt, "I was given civilian clothes so I it.' They led us through a minefield, with each of us with our I
looked like the locals, but one thing all locals had that I didn't hand on the shoulder of the guy in front. At the beach, we had I
was an identification card. If you were stopped by the Germans to slide down steep cliffs to the beach below. On the beach we
and you didn't have an ID card, it was off to jail, and there I waited in cold water for about two hours before two rowboats
would have been found out. One of the guys that was taking came out of the darkness from the channel. The boats, with all
care of me took me to a photography studio to have a photo of us in them, were overloaded and leaked. We bailed water
made for a fake ID they were having made. and rowed until out of the darkness we came to a PT boat. We
"In the photography studio the Frenchman with me climbed aboard the PT boat and headed to England. I am here
told the photographer what we wanted. About that time to tell you, that was a wonderful feeling.
two German soldiers came into the shop for photos. The
photographer sat me in a chair and the photographer moved "When we landed in England, we were debriefed and
behind his camera and under a black hood. He said something asked to sign a pledge to never discuss what had happened
to me but I didn't understand French. He said it again. I for 50 years. We were told this was done to protect the French ,
didn't know what to do so I turned the other way. He yelled people who helped us. They had risked their lives for us when
something else and I moved the other way. He yelled, I moved. they could have turned us in and collected the bounty the
I guess I looked like an idiot, because the German soldiers Germans offered of $10,000 on each of us, dead or alive. I was
started laughing. The photographer finally took a photo and sent home and served the rest of the war as an instructor in
waved us out of his shop. Florida. That was where I met Mary, who has been my bride
"The photo was placed in a fake ID and I became Paul Louis now for 64 years."
Mariel. A few days later we attempted to leave Paris by train at After the war Sweatt attended college, receiving a degree
night but couldn't because the rail yard had been bombed. On in geology from the University of Houston. He returned to
the way back in an old delivery truck, we were stopped by SS school for his teacher certificate and then taught chemistry in
troops at a blockade. The SS guy took my ID, looked at it with Houston high schools until he retired and moved to their farm
his flashlight, put the light on my face and then looked back
;s at my ID and back at my face again. He slipped the ID into my in Washington County.
' coat pocket and patted me on the shoulder. I don't think I took This past year Bob and Mary returned to France, where
F a breath the whole time he was looking at that ID and me. he met that seven - year -old French girl from Part Two, now a
"The second time we attempted to leave Paris by rail we grandmother. He also attended the last meeting of the Evaders
were successful. They drove me to the station, where they Society in 2008. They decided it would be the last meeting, as
pointed out a guy across the station who had a blue bag and there are now only three members.
wore tennis shoes. They told me,'When that guy starts walking As stated by Sweatt, "We managed to evade capture by
to the train, get behind and follow him.' He started walking the Germans, but one thing we haven't been able to evade is
and I did what I was told. I looked back to see if my guys were
still there, but they were gone. But right behind me were five Father Time." When asked about his thoughts about the war,
other guys following me and the guy with the blue bag. his response was, "We don't ever, and I mean ever, want a war
to come over here."
"All six of us followed the guy through several cars till we
came to a compartment where he waived us all inside and If you want to have a name added to the Veterans
closed the door. Three sat on one side and three on the other. Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution,
' We sat there just eyeballing each other, with no one saying or if you know a World War 11 veteran whose story needs to
a word. Finally one of the guys asked if anyone had a light. be told, contact the BWM at www.veteransmemorial.org or
To my relief, we were all evaders. One Brit, one Canadian, two Bill Youngkin at (979)776 -1325.
The Eagle
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