Posted by Chuck Gardner
on 2/25/2008, 10:19 pm, in reply to "Re: Thornwell Rogers"
209.215.57.95
Hi, Ed. Just a note concerning Thornwell Rogers. I was a PBJ mechanic in VMB-423 and just happened to be assigned to the plane that Thornwell was in that failed to return from its mission. It was on June 22, 1944. That happened to be a beautiful day with no bad weather at our location.
Thornwell was with Air Intelligence and was not attached to our squadron. This was the first and only time that I saw him. For some reason, he was sitting in the co-pilot's seat when the plane taxied out of the revetment to the runway.
It was late afternoon and I happened to be standing on the side where I had a good view of him. This scene is just as clear to me today as it was on June 22, 1944...one that I'll never forget. The plane was due back around 2100 and turned out to be one of the longest nights that I've ever spent.
Ed, is your dad still living?
Semper Fi,
Chuck
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