Lest we forget- Memorial Day 2014

[TropiConsul]

In the past several months I have, with some difficulty, succeeded in obtaining from the Dept. of  Veterans Affairs a granite marker to commemorate my uncle's service. He was the only son who lived to adulthood of seven children born to my Mom's parents.  As a member of the USAF reserve called to active duty during the Korean conflict, he died in uniform as a crewman on a B-25 that crashed into a mountain near Golden, Colorado in blizzard conditions. VA was not supportive in locating his records.  They requested a form that the family could not provide and directed us to a government archive in which his documents had been destroyed by fire.

His earlier service in WWII shows that on his fifth combat mission as crew of a B-17 he was forced to parachute to safety over German occupied northern Italy.  The eight other crew were captured within hours of landing and became POW's.  John and one other crewman evaded capture, walked by night and slept in haystacks by day.  It took the two of them over 90 days and 300 miles of foot travel through mountainous terrain to reach the Swiss border. John Altgelt grew up in a community of German immigrants to the Hill Country of central Texas. He had a native fluency in Spanish which allowed him to communicate with the Italian farmers who fed him and directed him from one safe house to another.  I'd like to express my appreciation for the freedom-loving Italian farmers who guided and supported his flight from captivity at the risk of their own lives and the security of their families.   

God bless them all!