Personnel

CREW



2ND LT JAMES D. COCCIA               P POW 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG

2ND LT STANLEY S. DIAMOND       CP KIA 28 JUL 44 MERSEBURG (while flying with the Albert S. Spear Crew)

2ND LT ROBERT D. FULKERSON    NAV POW 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG       SN# 0-713164

2ND LT ROBERT E. MARSHO        BOM POW 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG

S/SGT HARRY E. WHITFORD        ROG POW 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG

S/SGT JOHN R. VUCHETICH         TTE POW 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG

   SGT BERNARD V. BAUMGARTEN WG KIA 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG

   SGT HARRY G. FELDKAMP         WG POW 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG

   SGT JAMES A. HOOTS               TG NOC 

   SGT FRANK MADRID                 BTG POW 29 JUL 44 MERSEBURG



MACR #7815, Microfiche #2862   A/C #42-107007  "SHE HASTA"



351st Sqdn.. This crew joined the 100th on 17 Jul 44



29 Jul 44 this crew suffered flak damage over the target (Merseburg) and was forced to ditch in the North Sea off the coast of Ameland.  Made it to shore & immediately captured.  Baumgarten severly wounded and went down with the A/C.  William L. Greiner was flying as  pilot to break in a new crew and became a POW. Lt Stanley Diamond asked for a transfer from this Crew because he was fearful of Coccia's flying ability.  He was sent to the Crew of Lt Albert S. Spear an was KIA on 28 Ju 44 over Merseburg. 



CREW

DATE: 29 July 1944  351st Sqdn.                 A/C #42-107007 "SHE HASTA"



MISSION: Merseburg                             MACR #7815lMicro-fiche #2862



1st Lt William L.Greiner,Jr.         P       POW

2nd Lt James D.Coccia             CP      POW

2nd Lt Robert D.Fulkerson       NAV    POW

2nd Lt Robert E.Marsho         BOM     POW

 S/Sgt Harry E.Whitford,Jr.     ROG     POW

 S/Sgt John R.Vuchetich        TTE      POW

   Sgt Frank Madrid                BTG      POW

   Sgt Bernard V.Baumgarten   WG      KIA

   Sgt Harry G.Feldkamp         TG        POW



All of the above except for William Greiner were members of the James D.Coccia

crew which had joined the 100th Gp. on 17/7/44. Greiner was flying as pilot

on 29/7/44 "to break in a new crew".



EYEWITNESS: " A/C #007 was observed to have one engine smoking as it went over

            the target. It dropped back and took over the lead of the second

            element of the low squadron and gradually lagged further and fur-

            ther behind. Friendly fighters were all around and when last seen

            the A/C was under control and appeared to be in good condition.

            This A/C later was seen over Wesermunde by a flight of P-38s from

            Station 337,479th Fighter Group. A jet propelled E/A was attacking

            and was driven off by the P-38's. The B-17 was escorted until it

            reached the Frisian Islands where the P-38's were forced to return

            to England becauce of a shortage of gasoline. When last seen all

            engines were operating and the A/C was headed for home at 10,000 feet."



The A/C ditched in the North sea a few miles off the island of Ameland and

all save Baumgarten made it to shore in the rafts. They were immediately taken

prisoner.



Sgt.Baumgarten had been badly eniured by flak (Left leg nearly torn off &

wounds in abdomen) and was unconscious in radio room when plane ditched.

Attempts by Sgt,Vuchetich & another to get him to a raft were not success-

ful. Ship stayed afloat only about 30/45 seconds.

This was the 2nd mission for the Coccia crew,



MISSIONS FLOWN BY LT ROBERT FULKERSON (mpf 2001)



1. 24/7/44 ST LO (with Lt E.J. Simmons Crew)Replacement Nav.

2. 25/7/44 ST LO (with Lt E.J. Simmons Crew)Replacement Nav.

3. 28/7/44 MERSEBURG

4. 29/7/44 MERSEBURG-Flak damage



"I was the navigator on the James Coccia's crew in the 351st Squadron, 100th Bomb Group and arrived at Thorpe Abbotts on July 17, 1944.  July 24 & 25 I flew as a replacement Navigator with the EJ  Simmons Crew on the two St Lo Missions.  July 28 & 29th, Coccia's crew flew on the Merseburg Missions.  William Greiner, whose crew finished all their missions, flew with Coccia's crew on the July 29th Mission to "help break them in" and to fly his "last mission".  On the July 29th mission, my fourth mission, as a result of losing one engine over the target, subsequent loss of a second engine by more flak and a brief encounter wiht  a ME 262 German Jet fighter, our crew ditched our B-17 "SheHasta" in the North Sea.  After four days at sea, having been spurned by a Danish ship on our second day at sea, we landed on Ameland, one of the Frisian Islands North of Holland.  We were captured by the Germans as we landed on the beach.



After a few days in Holland, we were taken to Germany.  At Stalag Luft III, located southeast of BERLIN.  I lived in a room across the hall from where the tunnel began in the Great Escape which occurred before I arrived.  Fifty of the POW's that had escaped and had been re-captured were murdered by the German by orders from Hitler.  Another Tunnel was ready to break out at the time the Russians were advancing in our direction.  Hitler, not wishing to allow the Russians to liberate us, wanting to keep us as hostages, ordered us to evacuate the camp and march 56 miles in blizzard conditions before packing us into boxcars and shipping us to Stalag XIII D at Nurnburg.  After two months at Stalag XIII D, American Forces began advancing in our direction.  We were evacuated and forced to march approx 100 miles to StalagVII A at Mooseburg Germany.   April 29, 1945, we were liberated by Gereral Pattons Third Army."

   (Lt Robert Fulkerson, Jan 2001  mpf)





Story:

John R. Vuchetich



John Richard Vuchetich, age 87, of Park Falls, died on Sunday July 10, 2011, at his home surrounded by his family, after a battle with cancer. He was born on May 13, 1924, in Park Falls. 



John's parents were Croatian immigrants who ran Vichy's Bar in Park Falls for many years. John was a graduate of Lincoln High School in Park Falls and the University of Wisconsin-Superior. John was a member of the 100th Bomber Group of the United States Army Air Corps in World War II. He was the flight engineer of a B-17 crew that was shot down over the North Sea. He survived four days in a life raft at sea, nine months in a German prisoner of war camp, and a forced march across Germany.

POW/KIA notes: Crews 2nd or 3rd Mission.