Docents Corner

Fall, 2003

I had an interesting thing happen to me on Saturday at the museum. A group from Germany, (2 couples), pointed out to me that the day before, (August 8), was the 60th anniversary of the 390th's first mission. They found this on the mission board and map. One of the reasons they took notice of this is that they were from the "target town," which was Bonn. Interestingly, after talking about this, we also noticed that this was the only time the 390th "visited" Bonn.

Tom Woodhouse

Editors Note:
On the first mission, the Group suffered its first casualty, Democrat Tscuhnikas, who died from anoxia (political allegiance unknown).

The Research Department of the 390th BG Memorial Museum is normally a dedicated and serious organization but sometimes an inquiry comes in that brings forth a chuckle.  I'd like to share a couple of those chuckles with you, so you will know we are not a straight-laced bunch of old timers!

I answered an inquiry from a young German gentlemen, and he was so pleased with the information I was able to provide him that he e-mailed me back immediately and said he would like to give me a big German kiss.  I was flattered of course, but when I wrote him back and told him I was a grey-haired old lady who hadn't been kissed by a German since 1951, in Frankfurt, and that I was looking forward to receiving my reward -  I never heard from the young man again.

The inquiries from school children are fun to receive.  They usually come in on a Monday and go something like this: "Please send me all the information you have on a B-17 - my report is due Friday".  I have written several of these reports, but unfortunately they never write back to tell me what "grade" I got.

To you veterans reading this, please be careful what you tell your grandchildren as I receive many requests asking about their Grandfather's (Uncle, father, etc.) combat record.  Sometimes I find that Grandpa's combat career in shooting down many enemy fighters, or taking over the aircraft when the rest of the crew has bailed out - is just a figment of Grandpa's imagination. This is when I apply a little creative writing, as every veteran of the 390th is treated as a hero in the Research Department no matter what his job was.

Carolyn Beaubien - Research Dept.