Continuing with the previous post.
Bernard Harding, 90, of New Hampshire traveled to Klein Quenstadt, Germany, southwest of Berlin to look for his pilot's wings. His B-24 bomber was shot down the same day as Jack Glenn's.
he was captured and held in a farmhouse. fearing that he would be beaten and killed if they found out he was a pilot, he dug a small hole in the basement and buried his wings.
Long story short, he did not find his pilot's wings.
However, Heinz Kruse gave him Glenn's bracelet.
On July 7, 1944, Kruse was planting potatoes when he saw a B-24 overhead pursued by German fighters. It broke apart and fell to earth. He rushed home. At midday, an adult told him to help a classmate drive a horse-pulled wagon to retrieve an American body.
As they loaded the body, Kruse saw the bracelet and gave it to a major who wrote down the name and returned it, saying, "You keep it as a remembrance." He had it all these years before giving it to Harding.
Glenn's body is buried at the U.S. Cemetery in Belgium.
Kruse was drafted into the German Army in 1945 and captured by the Soviet Army and held until 1949.
An Interesting Story. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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