Frankfurt CrashOne We Will All Remember

World War ||

By: Wrenzi Wrzesinski

Dedicated to: Donald Schwend

My Family Tree

Gray font means that, that member of my family has passed away.

Me: Wrenzi WrzesinskiBrother: Cleet WrzesinskiDad: Jon WrzesinskiMom: Michele WrzesinskiAunt (on my mom’s side): Melissa CarlsonMaternal Grandma: Carla SchwendMaternal Grandpa: Ricky-Ray HinandGreat Aunts and Uncles (on my mom’s side): Stephanie, Richard, Darcy, Douglas and Donald.Maternal Great Grandma: Jean SchwendMaternal Great Grandpa: Donald SchwendGreat, Great Grandpa (on Donald’s side): Leo SchwendGreat, Great Grandma (on Donald’s side): Bertha Schwend

Frankfurt CrashOne We Will All Remember

! My headphones crackled, then a faint voice sounded. “Don, one of the engines has been shot. It’s now lost most of it’s power, and we’re one supercharger down,” John alerted me.!! “Do we stay with the formation?” !! “We’ll have to. We’re almost at bombing altitude, and we’re pulling all three engines. We need to stay on target,” he demanded brusquely.!! “Got it, Pilot,” I answered, “Over.”

! I gazed out the window hoping to see a clear sky, but to my dismay it was nothing but a haze of fog and soft, white snow. It was challenging to fly in these wretched weather-conditions. A usual amount of flak came our way as another frightening message came through to my headphones.!! “We’ve just been shot again. One more turbo loss,” John informed me.

! Although we had been trained to fly with the loss of one engine, I began to wonder if John and I were going to be able to manage with only two engines left.

Bursts of flak shot towards us. The flak I was used to seeing was thick, black, and gray smoke from dark powder. This new flak was peculiar though. They were white puffs off in the distance unlike any flak I had seen before.

! After slightly trailing off I got back to the serious problem. I was beginning to get nervous so I decided to attempt to clear things up. I didn’t want John Mitchell to think I was starting to panic so I tried to keep calm.!! “John, how far are we going to make it?”!! “I plan to land in Paris, refuel, then fly to England,” he replied.

! To me, Mitchell seemed very comfortable with the whole situation. I realized that we had been in quite a few crashes with the Jeannie Bee and we had all come out all right, but it was just something about this mission that I was on edge about. I wiped the sweat drips from my forehead with my damp palm. The smoke and the fog made the mission harder than it already was, but now it just got a whole lot more challenging.!! “Alert the rest of the crew about the news,” Mitchell commanded.!

! My response seemed shaky in my head. “Got it, Pilot. Over.”!! Wondering about what the rest of the crew would think, I made my way through the plane, cautious of all the guns and ammunition.!! “Crew number 81, I need your attention,” I continued. “ We’ve lost two engines, but we hope to make it to Paris.”

! John Liana, our navigator began to speak. “Frankfort is approximately 297 miles away from Paris.” “From my calculations I believe we won’t make it,” John warned.!! “I’ll alert the pilot,” I announced.

! I jogged back into the cockpit just as careful as I had been before.!! “Mitchell, Liana has just told me he doesn’t think we will make it to-” I was interrupted by Mitchell in mid sentence. !! “I know. Prepare for a crash landing,” Mitchell alerted.!! “I will go tell the others.”

! I prepared myself to make the announcement. I didn’t expect the best of reactions. At this point, we were facing death.!! I started to think to myself, “If I die now I won’t ever see my wife again.”

My palms began to sweat for the second time, but this time more rapidly as I made my way towards the radio operator so he could alert the others.!! “Crew number 81, prepare for crash landing, prepare for crash landing.” I felt like a record player replaying over and over.

! Jaws dropped once I finished speaking. I turned around to head back to the cockpit.!! “We’re not in Paris though,” Liana mentioned.

! I didn’t want to waste time, so I decided not to answer the obvious. I just kept walking. When I got back to the cockpit I noticed Mitchell frantically pressing buttons and flicking switches. Now there was no one in the whole crew that wasn’t feeling the heat. I sat back down in my seat, ready for action.There was a sudden jolt.!! “We’re going down!” John declared.

!! “How much time do we have left?” I questioned.!! “Ten to twenty minutes, max.”!! I stared out the window to nothing but a sheer drop. Although just then a glimpse of black color caught my eye. It was in the midst of all the snow.

! “Down there is a landing area,” I told John.!! “The black patch?”!! “Yes,” I responded.

! Just as I was starting to feel lucky that we might have a place to land we began to drop towards the midnight colored field. The plane jerked as we plummeted towards the ground. I had expected to see the light to my death when we hit what seemed like solid rock. Instead, seconds later I was breathing in the scent of burnt cabbage. I had somehow made my

way outside of the Jeannie Bee. I turned around taking in all of my surroundings. I was now standing in what seemed like a pit because of the soil that the plane had dug out. Our propellers had also managed to shred all the cabbage that stood in it’s way. I couldn’t help but imagine the stench of the cabbage when it thawed. I noticed all the members of crew number 81 were standing there with me, awestruck.!! Seconds later my eyes made it to crew number 81’s beloved Jeannie Bee. I gasped at the sight of our damaged B-17. The wingspan was definitely no longer the original 109 feet, 3 inches. The Jeannie Bee had been in 80 plus combat missions with us, and now she was most likely going to be gone.!! Tears filled my eyes as I began to think. “What if this is the last time I see her?”

! I didn’t have time to mourn the loss of the Jeannie Bee though, we were now in an open battle field and we were the target.

Reflection

1. How has working on this project helped you learn about your family’s history and given you a better sense of your identity?

Before doing this project I didn’t even think my mom met my great grandparents. I thought that they had passed away before she met them. Before doing this project I didn’t even know my great grandpa fought in the world war two, let alone that he was a co-pilot on the B-17, Jeannie Bee. Before doing this I didn’t even know all of my grandma’s siblings names or my great grandparents names.

2. Why do you think doing a project like this is important?

I think this project is important to do because it teaches us about our family’s history and history itself. I also thinks it connects us more to our family.

3. What part of this project did you enjoy the most? Why?

My favorite part of this project was writing the narrative. To be more specific my favorite part of writing was when I had my idea and was sure about what the plot of my story was going to be. This was my favorite part because I was going super fast, and I think I was doing my best writing then.

4. What specific challenges did you face during this project and how did you over come them?

Starting was a big challenge because I wasn’t confident with my moment. The reason I wasn’t confident was nobody really knew much about the event in my family. Also, my great grandfather who I was writing the story about already passed away so I couldn’t interview him either. To overcome this I read as much as I could in the book to give me useful information. I also researched a lot on my laptop about many different things.

5. What advice would you give future students as they begin this project?

(a). My advice would be not to procrastinate. Why? Well, because although you may think this project is easy it takes a lot more steps than just writing.

(b). Another tip would definitely be take any information or help your parents or other family members give you. Although it may seem useless at the time just wait and see. It will be a ton of help once you get deeper into the story.

(c). One more thing would be to meet with Mr.Robinson whenever you can. He is a ton of help too. Just don’t meet with hime too much because he might get a little annoyed. Trust me I’ve been there.

Interveiw Questions and Answers:

1.What is a story that Donald told you about?In Germany, Don crash landed in a cabbage patch.

2.Do you know why they crashed?Plane malfunctions, because the plane was being shot at.

3.How many people were on the plane?Nine people.

4.Do you know what kind of plane were they flying in?B17. Name of the plane was Jeanie Bee, named after his wife Jean.

5.Do you remember any other details of this story that I haven’t asked?No one died during the crash.The last time they ever saw Jeannie Bee was after the crash. It was a smooth landing on a hill.

6. Once they had landed what did they do?They were met by someone from the U.S.

7.What were the names of the men or women on board during the crash?Crew number 81 was: (Only remembers):1. John. E, Mitchell2. Donald. G, Schwend8. What role did they each play?1.Pilot2. Copilot

9. The original Crew: When?• Came into existence in 1944.Where?• Lincoln, NebraskaWho?Original Crew:(Only remembers):1. John, E. Mitchell2. Donald, G. Schwend,

Research Notes

Information on the B-17:The Jeannie Bee, B-17 was designed and first flew in 1935. It had four turbo supercharged engines developing a total of 4,800 horse power. The wingspan was 109 feet, 3 inhes. Fully loaded it weighed over 65,000 pounds, and could develop a maximum speed of 300 miles per hour. It could carry 5,000 to 8,000 pounds of bombs, and 2,800 pounds of gasoline. Jeannie Bee served in 80 plus combat missions then ended her war.

The people onboard when the pane crashed: 1. John. E, Mitchell2. Donald. G, Schwend,3. Stanley. J, Hartfield4. John. J, Liana5. Stanley, Fetsch6. Graham. W, Raiford7. Yale. L, Lidsky8. Julian. A, Budziak9. Roman. J, Herman9.L. E,Dougherty

After the crash:h

They were met by US. Infantry from battalion that had just been over run by the start of the German offense. After they took them to their headquarters station just a short distance away in a little town of Staney, France.

What role did they each play?1.Pilot2. Copilot3. Bombardier4. Navigator5. Engineer6. Radio7. Gunner8. Gunner9.Gunner

The original Crew: When?• Came into existence on May 24, 1944.Where?• At Lincoln Army Field, Lincoln NebraskaWho?Original Crew:1. John. E, Mitchell2. Donald. G, Schwend,3. Stanley. J, Hartfield 4. Benny. C, Lawrence 5. Graham. W Raiford6. Yale. L, Lidsky7. Julian. A, Budziak8. Roman. J, Herman9. Mike. M, Banovich

Bibliography:

"B-17 Pilot Training Manual." - Page 1. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. <http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/html/ mshwpmn1.htm>.

"Distance between Frankfurt and Paris." Travel Distance between Frankfurt, Germany & Paris, France. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. <http://www.distance- calculator.co.uk/world-distances-frankfurt-to-paris.htm>.

"Links." Marshall Stelzriede's Wartime Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/html/ mshwbev.htm http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/html/ mshwpmn2.htm#crashl.

"What Is the Distance between Frankfurt and Paris?" WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/ What_is_the_distance_between_Frankfurt_and_Paris>.

"World Book Online Reference Center | Online Reference Book| Online Encyclopedia." World Book. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. <http://

www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar610460>.