Happy Veteran’s Day, and thank you to all those who have served!  I am looking forward to our program at school tomorrow, and sharing the meaning of this holiday with the students.

When we think of the crew of the Little Beaver who crashed on August 31, 1943, it’s hard not to think of loss and the great sadness that the Byrnes’ and other families felt in the days, months and years that followed.  I have often thought about what it would have been like for me and my brother and cousins to have known Bud.  From everything that I’ve read, our lives would only have been better for knowing him.  It is that thought that helps me recognize the great sacrifice that is made by all of the men and women in uniform – current and former.

So when I received an email in early September from the daughter of one of Bud’s crew mates in Papua New Guinea, needless to say, I was shocked.  Marcia Fette explained that she was the daughter of Elmer Sturm, who was a member of Bud’s crew that was injured by a gun shot prior to the plane crash.

He was not on the plane.  He had survived and went on to marry and have six children.

As soon as I read the email from Marcia, I knew that I had already heard this story…from Bud’s journal.  Here was his entry:

Elmer Sturm had been injured and would not be on that plane on August 31.  Bud mentions him on two other occasions.

Marcia explained to me that this injury left her father disabled, but if not for that mishap, Marcia and her siblings would not be here.

Speaking with her over the phone in late September was such a gift, for several reasons.  I loved the idea of speaking with someone whose father was my uncle’s friend.  It was also such an honor to share with her what Bud had written about her father.  Like my own family, Marcia shared with me that her father did not speak freely about his service, so I was able to give her some details that she was unaware of.  Finally, Marcia shared a labeled photo of the crew that you will see below.  It is the mirror image of the one I used at the top of the blog.  She grew up with it in her household, as I did, but she knew all of those boy’s names.  I had always assumed that all of them were lost, but of the 10 in the photo, 2 were not on the plane: Elmer Sturm and Shorty Recker.  I hope to research Recker more and find out what his fate was in the war.

I always think of Bud on Veteran’s Day, and I always will.  Now I will also think with happiness about Elmer Sturm, the veteran on Bud’s crew.