John Warner

Many of you have already heard that our friend, our comrade in arms, our valued volunteer at the 390th Memorial Museum has passed away. John had three major surgeries in the last few years and unfortunately succumbed to respiratory failure on April 29,2006 just after our last Bulletin went to press.

For more than two decades, John Warner served the 390th Memorial Museum and the Veterans Association in many capacities. He was an important part of both serving on both boards of directors and working as a volunteer as the Director of Research for the museum. His service encompassed the better part of 25 years.

John’s son, Stanley Warner, sent the following as excerpted from his letter to Museum contributors which eloquently exemplifies the memory of our dear departed comrade:

“He spent the last 20 plus years of his life in volunteer service, dedicated to helping establish and expanding this museum; doing painstaking research and documentation and helping many people around the world understand what really happened to their Dad, brother, uncle, grandfather, etc.

I think that this museum was very important to him for two reasons:

1. As a veteran of 35 combat missions over Germany and occupied Europe he wanted to preserve for all future generations the importance of the 390th and the entire Eighth Air Force in defeating Nazi Germany.
    

2. More importantly, I believe that my Dad sometimes struggled with the common question of surviving veterans of “Why me? Why did I survive?” When so many tens of thousands of his fellow airmen met violent and random deaths, cut down in their prime..

I do not know for sure, but I think this question ultimately influenced all of his life decisions. As a college and Law School graduate, he had already started on a civilian career in finance and banking when he decided to enlist in the Army Air Corp to join the struggle to save the world from tyranny. After the war, he went into the OSS where he helped draft the National Security Act of 1947, which established the CIA and the NSA. He also remained on active duty in the newly established Air Force. He eventually became General Counsel for the CIA and attained the rank of Major General in the Air Force Reserve. I do know that he had several offers for much more lucrative positions in civilian life but chose to continue to serve his country for his entire career and then at the museum as a volunteer for many years after he had retired from his dual careers. Perhaps he was always driven by the “Whys”. I believe that he always considered the real heroes to be the ones who never came home.

My Dad was among the last of what Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation,” who have all but passed on. But most of all, I hope you will better understand and honor all those (past and present) in all branches of the military who put their lives on the line to allow the rest of us to live our free and comfortable lives. And always remember that freedom is and has never been “free.”

On behalf of myself, my family, and the 390th Memorial Museum, my sincere thanks for your condolences and your support.

Stan Warner