Stanton M Rickey

    STANTON RICKEY, age 89, a  Polk County, Oregon resident was one of 95 ex-POWs from WW II, Korea, and Vietnam inducted into the Oregon Military Hall of Fame on Apr 18, 2009 before 650 guests at the Red Lion Hotel Jantzen  Beach in Portland.  He resides at 2128 SE Rhododendron Ave, Dallas, OR 97338 with his wife, ADELINE.  Tel:  503-623-9679. 

   STANTON retired from the US Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1971, after a 33 year career in the US Marine Corps, Army Air Force, and US Air Force.  His service encompassed World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.  He served initially as a bomber pilot and later worked in Target Intelligence and War Planning at the Pentagon, Tactical Air Command, and Pacific Commands.  In 1968 & 1969 at 7th Air Force in Saigon, he was responsible for selecting targets for strikes against North Vietnam and Laos.

   In 1944 he was a 1st Lieutenant pilot of a B-17 bomber based in Italy with the 15th Air Force.  He was assigned to the 817th Sqdn, 483rd Bombardment Group (www.483rd.com) and flew 27 missions to strike targets in Germany, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Hungary, Austria, and Italy.

   On July 18, 1944 the target was Memmingen Airfield in southern Germany, which was a Research and Development base engaged in fabrication of the Messerschmitt 262, the world’s first jet fighter.  167 B-17s were launched against the target, but encountered severe weather over the Adriatic Sea and Alps.  Most of the 15th Air Force were recalled and returned to base.  However, the 483rd Group continued to the target.  26 B-17 bombers without fighter protection were met by 200 German fighters.  In the ensuing air battle the US lost 14 B-17s and the Germans lost over 100 fighter planes destroyed in the air or on the ground.  A Presidential Unit Citation was awarded the Group for that action

   Of RICKEY’S 10 man aircrew 5 were killed in action and 2 wounded.  RICKEY bailed out of his burning plane and landed on a tree top in the Bavarian forest.  He evaded capture for 7 days and made his way to Konstanz on the border of Switzerland, where he was picked up  and questioned by police.  He was turned over to the Luftwaffe and sent to their Central Interrogation Center near Frankfurt, and eventually sent to Stalag Luft One, a prison camp near Barth, Pommerania in NE Germany on the Baltic Sea.  This Stalag, which contained over 9000 US and British airmen, was liberated on May 1, 1945 by advancing Soviet troops. 

   In 2006 RICKEY was contacted by LUDWIG HAUBER, age 42, who

had located his crash site in Germany, near the village of Buchenberg.  LUDWIG was guided to the site by his uncle, KURT HAUBER, who as an 11 year old boy was an eyewitness to the Memmingen air battle.

   LUDWIG traced the serial number of one of STANTON ‘s 13-50 caliber machine guns through a database of 3000 crash sites maintained by a friend in Munich, and identified the tail number of STANTON’s aircraft.  They kept up a lively correspondence by E-Mail ever since, and LUDWIG visited the RICKEYS twice, bringing over some 50 pounds of aircraft parts from STANTON’s plane. 

   In 1998 the Kempten, Bavaria, Germany Historical Society erected a

plaque in the village square at Buchenberg, which listed the names of 29 American dead from 5 of the 14 bombers shot down and killed during that 1944 raid.  Those 5 planes crashed near that village and the remains were buried next to the Buchenberg Churchyard.  The 5 airmen Killed in Action of Rickey Air Crew are listed on the plaque, along with their rank, crewposition and hometown 

   During the elaborate dedication ceremony, two former German fighter pilots, themselves wounded and shot down that day, were among the speakers.  A book has been published describing the Memmingen Air Battle from the perspective of both sides.  It is written in German and entitled Luftschacht Uber Buchenberg (Air Battle Over Buchenberg).  The book contains 1944 and 1998 photos of WILLI UNGER and HANS WEIK, and their “After Action” reports each describing shooting down one B-17.  STANTON expressed a desire to meet them someday, but was informed they are unfortunately now deceased.