jjacobs64

According to a diary Carol L. Caldwell kept while in England he flew 35 missions from October 1944 through April 1945. His diary is not very specific; it only lists dates, location of target areas and type of target, i.e., oil, marshaling yards or railroads. Occasionally he would mention the type of flak (light or heavy) and number hits that the plane received. Some entry Example: Mission # 3 Munster - October 28, 1944 - Marshaling Yards, first time we were hit - 8 holes, concentrated and accurate flak. Mission #6 Metz - November 9, 1944 - Ground Support, made landing at Great Dunbon (?) as our field clouded in. Had close call nearly colliding with another ship. Mission #8 Merseburg - November 21, 1944 -Oil -Longest mission & roughest so far. Heavy & intense flak. One crew in our barrack went down - saw 5 chutes open up. Mission #11 Kassel - December 4, 1944 - Marshaling Yards, supposed to hit Kassel but plane couldn't keep up with formation, so fell in with another group & bombed Soest. Mission #19 near Kassel - January 1, 1945 Railroads - hit hard by flak. Mission #28 Berlin - March 18, 1945 - Railroad Station, accurate flak - first time we were attacked by jets' - 263's. Mission #34 Rotenburg (?) - April 4, 1945 - Air Field, made several bomb runs. Carroll was my father, he never mentioned the name of his aircraft or talk about any of the missions. I was glad to find him listed with a B-17G crew. ...more

Her given name is Viola.

Through her frontier spirit and strong-willed determination to provide a good home for her children, Mary "Polly" Long without thinking helped with the development and traditions in the new Republic of Texas. As a widow with four young children, she immigrated to the Texas frontier around the latter part of 1836, applying for and later acquiring a land grant from the Mexican government. Mary's sons were successful in protecting the homestead from numerous Indian raids and Mexicans bandits with the skillful help of their mother who molded lead bullets and loaded rifles during the fearful raids. While waiting for a land grant from the Mexican government, Mary and the children lived with her cousin in Nacogdoches, James P. Henderson, who later became the first governor of the Sate of Texas. In June of 1838, Mary qualified for a Second Class Headright (conditional certificate #53) on land located a few miles from Douglas, Texas. Three years later she was granted an unconditional certificate #122 in the same area. Her sons built her a fine home on the land. ...more

James K. Riley married Mary E. Gray on the 26th day of Oct. 1876 in Wheeling WV. This is recorded in Marshall Co. Marriage Book B at Page 141. The Wedding was performed by John J. Kain, Bishop of Wheeling. Mary was listed as 21 years old at this time. She is listed as born in Ohio Co. VA. I Believe Mary To Be The Daughter of George Gray and Mary Gray who were living in the SandHill District of Marshall Co. for the 1870 Census. ...more