Personnel

Capt. Glenn Teska



subject: 100th Bomb Group General Feedback Form



email: rteska@kc.rr.com



realname: Roger Teska



purpose: Report website error



feedback: First of all, I am very impressed with your website!  I just want to report an error in the auxiliary personnel section.  You have a terrific photo of Chaplain Phillips and my father, Chaplain Glenn Teska, together.  However, you have the name (Teska)spelled incorrectly. Thankyou.





Hi Michael,

 

Sorry for the delay in responding, but my wife has been ill for the last three days, and I had to get that situation taken care of.  In any case, I have done some research on what you are interested in getting about Chaplain Teska, and can furnish some things.

 

To the best of my knowledge, Dad did not keep a diary of his time at Thorpe Abbotts.  He used to talk about things that happened there, and now I wish that I had recorded what he said.  I do know that he had great affection for the members of the 100th BG that he knew, which must have been most of them.  He highly respected the commanders of the group, and often spoke of them by name.  A close friend of his, as I recall, was Eugene Rovegno, who passed away some years ago.  Dad spoke of him often!  One thing that saddened Dad, greatly, was to see a number of B-17's

take off on any given mission, and see perhaps half that number return home.

 

I would like to share a story with you about Dad, even though it happened years after the war.  My younger brother, Lowell, wrote to me about this event.  This happened in June 1964, when Dad oversaw the 20th anniversary of D-Day at Omaha Beach cemetery.  Dad was responsible for organizing the entire religious ceremonies part of this multi-national military and government undertaking.  Quite a challenge, and honor!  Lowell said that he and Dad were walking along the cemetery beach front sidewalks one afternoon when Dad saw a man looking down into a ravine from atop the bluff.  Dad sensed the man's feelings, and told Lowell to go find Mrs. Teska and our sister, Carolyn, to see how they were doing.  Dad then approached the man and learned that the man had charged right up that ravine 20 years earlier.  The man recounted his story to Dad, and broke down in tears as he remembered the horror of it all.  Dad sat with him there on a park bench for several hours, comforting him and helping him through his feelings -- even with the pressure of all these ceremonies going on.  It wasn't until Dad died (Sept. 1999) that Lowell really remembered and thought about that story, and realized that, even 20 years after the war, Dad was still actively ministering to the men of  WWII.  That must have been his mission in life.  He did it extremely well, and was so loved for it.

 

Very briefly, there was another occasion, at one of the 100th

BG reunions, when a member who had liked Dad, suffered a heart attack during dinner and collapsed on the floor.  Dad and others immediately rushed to his side.  Dad comforted him until the ambulance could arrive, and told him not to fear death because it was just a passage into the life hereafter.  The man later died in the hospital.  I believe that this man was one of the Jewish airmen for whom Dad had held worship services during the war, with sermons based upon the Old Testament.  The Jewish airmen asked Dad to do this, as there was no rabbi at Thorpe Abbotts.  They gave Dad an Omega watch in appreciation, at the end of the war.

Michael, you may have been at that particular reunion, for all I know!

 

One last thing, I do have some photos of Dad (military and non-military) that were taken by our family.  I would be glad to send copies by mail, as I do not have the capability of sending electronic versions of the photos.  Would you please send a mailing address.  I hope all of this will prove to be useful to you and to the 100th BG.

 

Sincerely,

 

Roger Teska     (I am now 65 years old!)





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Teska's Obituary:



News-Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, IN) - September 7, 1999



Deceased Name: Glenn F. Teska Columbia City - 1912-1999 



Glenn F. Teska, 87, of Columbia City, a retired Air Force chaplain, died Sunday, Sept. 5, 1999, at The Oaks Living Center. 



The Chatfield, Minn., native served as Methodist chaplain for 23 years, retiring in 1972, had served as chaplain of the 100th Bomb Group of the Army Air Corps during World War II, and was a member of Minnesota Conference of United Methodist Ministers and Retired Officers Association. 



Surviving are his wife, Carol; sons Roger G. of Lenexa, Kan., and Lowell F. of Columbia City; a daughter, Carolyn R. Hartranft of State College, Pa.; and seven grandchildren. 



He was preceded in death by a brother, Byron, and a sister, Gladys. 



Services are 2 p.m. Friday at Ranfranz Funeral Home, Rochester, Minn., with calling two hours before services. Calling is also from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Smith & Sons Funeral Home, Columbia City. Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery, Rochester, Minn. 



Information provided by Smith & Sons Funeral Home, Columbia City, 1-219-244-7601. 



News-Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, IN) 

Date: September 7, 1999

Edition: FINAL

Page: 6S

Record Number: 9909070176

Copyright © 1999 The News-Sentinel