Paul's Sentimental Journey
The Mighty 8th
Keep the Show on the Road 
This web site is dedicated to
my father Paul Spodar and his fellow crewmembers of the United States Army Air
Corps of the 384th Bomb Group who fought in WWII on the European
front.
Paul Spodar was born in
Cleveland Ohio. He was inducted into the United States Army Air Corps on October
24, 1942. He did his basic training in Atlantic City N.J., Gunnery school in Ft.
Myers Florida and Armament school at Lowery Field Colorado. After several other
camps, Staff Sergeant Paul Spodar and his fellow crewmates were transferred to
Grafton Underwood England where they joined the 384th Bomb Group, 547th
Squadron. They flew five missions before being shot down on October 14, 1943
(Black Thursday) on the bombing raid of the ball bearing plants in Schweinfurt
Germany. All were captured except one in Alcace Lorraine. They spent the
remainder of the war in Stalag 17B. They were liberated by American troops in
May 1945.
It wasn’t until about a
decade ago that my Dad was willing to talk about the war. During my childhood my
Dad kept in contact with most of the crew, others took until his twilight years
to find. But during those early visits with his former crewmembers we (the
family) were never privy to the reminiscing. In the 1990’s I used to help my
Dad drive up from Florida (my Mom flew). During those hours we had together I
brought along a little tape recorder and I finally asked him all the questions I
longed to have answered. The following stories were taken from these taped
conversations. Take a sentimental journey as you read about these brave men.
Thanks to them and all the others that we still live in the Land of the Free.
God Bless them all…
The following pictures are
from my father’s Service Album. The Autographs of My Friends page has some of
his crew. Jules T. Beck – “Don’t forget to keep the guns in shape or
I’ll have to send an SOB!” James
J. La Croix – “Lots of the Best” Peter Sewiawski – “Keep’m Firing”
Stanley Reuben - “ Lots of Luck
you, Need Ample ------” ( You can find out what the ample was by reading the
story of Black Thursday)
Putting up this website has been a labor of love and a journey. While doing research about my father’s planes that he flew on I have met many wonderful people. Those who are listed on these pages helped me understand what my father went though during the war.
Sharon October 2006
I would like to Thank all the
wonderful people who have helped me fill in the holes of my research. Tony
Plowright in
England… Thanks for helping this Yank! You have been an invaluable source of
information. Thanks to Ken
McPherson 8th AFHS historian who also gave me a helping hand. A Thank you to Neal Dillon who wrote “A Dying Breed,
Courage of the Mighty Eighth Air Force" who helped me figure out everyone’s
position in the aircraft. And to all the others who have reached out across the
web to help me THANK YOU! This web site would not be here without you!
A Special thanks goes out to
Steve who without his dedication to maintaining the Mighty Eighth Air Force
Message Board many people would not have a place to post questions to find out
the military history of loved ones. If you have a family member who belonged to the
8th Air Division or looking for someone who did, here is a good place
to start. http://www.com-web.com/wwwboard/wwxboard.html
Another wonderful site to
start one’s search of the 8th Army Air Corps is Fred Preller’s
Mighty 8th Cross Reference Page.
http://Mighty8thAF.Preller.US/
This site was created By Fred
in honor of his father and Uncle who served in the 384th and 95th
respectively. It’s a site that
encourages people to visit British airfields, cemeteries, museums and memorials
of the 8th. The site illustrates the structure of the 8th
Air Force Combat elements during WWII. It presents photos and information on
most combat units of the 8th Air Force to encourage people to
remember the contributions of the people of the Mighty 8th.
Thanks Fred for a great
research site!
A
nice way to honor the military service of a loved one is through the WWII
Memorial in
If
you would like to read more about Peter’s escape and other stories of the men
who flew the B17’s a good book is “The Bomber Boys True Stories of
B17 Airmen”. This book was written by Travis L. Ayres. Mr. Ayres
interviewed my father along
with the remaining crewmembers for
his book relating to Peter Seniawsky’s escape from
I have a remarkable story to tell about one woman’s search. The page will be dedicated to Jake Martinez ball turret gunner of Dad’s crew. If anyone has information about Jake's family please contact me.
Sharon 2005
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A VERY special THANKS goes to my godson Derek.
Who without his help this website would not be up and running.
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This website was created by Sharon Spodar. All stories, photos and artwork are copyright © by Sharon Spodar and other contributors. It is strictly prohibited by law the unauthorized use of any images, text or photographs from this website without the consent of the webmaster.
If you have any questions or suggestions Please feel free to contact the webmaster...Sharon, that's me! E-Mail to: SharTrek@hotmail.com
This page was last updated on 07/19/08.
