Veteran's Day
2006 Kassel, Germany 1944
Today, Americans celebrate Veteran's Day,
originally Armistice Day, "the anniversary of the official end of World War
I, November 11, 1918. It commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies
and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities
on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning
— the 'eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.'"
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
It is fitting that we pay tribute to the important events of our nation's
past and to remember those who died defending freedom, not only that of ourselves
but for all whose freedom is suppressed.
Ridge Rider News has among its readers, Sarah Carter Shaen Naugher, whose
first husband, Jim Shaen, died defending freedom in World War II. Sarah's
present husband, David Naugher, a veteran of WWII, is representative of the
many who survived the battlefields of Europe and returned to help lead The
United States of America to attain her present status as the most powerful
nation on Earth.
The following article was written by Sarah Naugher and recalls an unusual
happening in her life more than sixty-two years ago. Sarah explains she only
recently spoke publicly of this event.
ESP or Just To Say Goodbye
We said goodbye on a graveled knoll outside the airfield in Topeka, Kansas
on June 6, 1944. My husband of six months, Jim Schaen, who was pilot on a
B-24, was leaving with his crew to fly to wherever his instructions indicated.
I was headed back to Mississippi and the home of my parents in Pontotoc to
await his return from combat.
Jim had convinced my schoolteacher parents to allow me to drop out of the
last semester of my senior year at MSCW to be with him out west while he
trained with his crew. He promised them that I would complete the requirements
for graduation as soon as I could arrange the necessary courses; this was
to help to occupy my time while he flew his missions.
The time we spent together while he trained turned out to be our only time
together as he was reported missing on his 15th mission over Europe.
His 445th bomb group was almost totally destroyed on the infamous
Kassel Mission of September 27, 1944.
Shortly after my return to Mississippi, I discovered that I was pregnant
and "according to his instructions" I enrolled at Mississippi State University
for the summer session. Jim was thrilled that he was to be a father and said
that he wanted a girl. I completed 12 hours at MSU and still lacked 3 hours
to complete my degree work. I received almost daily letters from Jim, who
was stationed at Tibenham, near Norwich near the East Coast of England.
On the night of September 26, 1966, about three days before I was to complete
my final three hours at Belhaven College in Jackson, MS, I went to bed as
usual. My roommate from Brookhaven, MS was sleeping in her single bed nearby.
At sometime shortly after midnight, I was awakened by my bed turning and
spinning so that I had to hold on to the mattress to keep from falling off.
I called to my roommate to turn on the light to see if that would stop the
spinning. It did, but when she turned off the light the same spinning and
turning of the room and bed started again. She turned on the lights again
and it all immediately stopped. After several similar attempts, she said
that she would go down the hall and sleep in another room so that I could
keep the lights on.
I kept the lights on for the remainder of the night and sat up in a chair.
Although I was pregnant, I had had no dizziness or nausea during the whole
pregnancy. The next morning I went down to see the school nurse and she refused
to let me attend my class that day and giving me a permit, sent me back to
my room for the day.
Late in the afternoon of the 27th of September, my roommate came
back to the room and suggested that we go downtown to the orange juice stand
on Capitol Street to get some of their wonderfully cold orange juice, which
helped anyone to feel better. We caught the bus and did so. While downtown,
I bought a newspaper, which was dated the 28th of September, or
the next morning's edition. The headlines in huge letters were 40 B-24's
SHOT DOWN ON MISSION TO KASSEL. My heart leapt within me as I read about
the B-24's being attacked by at least 100 German fighter planes, which shot
down all but four of the bombers. I vowed that if I heard from Jim after
this attack that I would not let myself feel this fear again. I didn't. His
last letter was written and postmarked September 26, 1944.
Following buying this paper, we walked around the block to visit a friend
from Pontotoc who was a hostess on the Rebel (train). I showed the paper
to Carolyn and she remembers it until today. I've kept the paper all these
years, and it is still in my scrapbook.
About two weeks later, when I was back in Pontotoc with my parents, I received
the dreaded telegram telling me that Jim was MISSING IN ACTION. Four months
later in January 1945, I received, yet another, dreaded telegram telling
me that the German Red Cross had reported to the American Red Cross that
Jim had been KILLED IN ACTION on September 27, 1944.
Our baby daughter, Jima, was born a month later and through her Jim now has
three wonderful adult grandchildren, whom he would never see, and today has
five great grands whom he will never see. Following, was his interment with
six other deceased airmen from the Kassel Mission in the city cemetery in
the village of Gerstungen near where his plane crashed in East Germany. Since,
I have had his remains re-interred in Arlington National Cemetery near
Washington, where all of his descendants can visit his grave.
Was he telling me GOODBYE, as his plane was going down on that fateful flight?
What do you think? I had never had such a feeling before, nor have I had
a similar experience since.
Sarah Schaen Naugher July 5, 2006.
Note: The Kassel Mission battle of 27 September 1944 was remembered
in a special memorial rededication ceremony in Germany on August
1st, 2006. [T]ravelers toured Kassel Mission crash sites where
twenty-five B-24's came down within a fifteen-mile radius…More than
400 attended [the rededication ceremony]. Sarah Naugher and Juanita Jones
laid a wreath at the three monument stones¾
one with names of the dead Americans, one for the Germans who died that day,
and a center monument telling the Kassel Mission story.
Source: 8th Air Force News Magazine
Mama's Day 2006
Continuing A Tradition
Though a special day of recognition for all mothers, past and present, is
firmly established as the second Sunday each May, in my family we gather
in late October for a special remembrance of my mother, Frances Crausby Carter,
who died on October 25, 1989, two days before her seventy-first birthday.
Not one of my siblings remembers when Mama began what came to be known as
Mama's birthday tradition, but my wife, Barbara, recalls the tradition was
in place when she became a part of the family in 1967. We could not depend
on the calendar to pinpoint a given date for Mama's birthday dinner, for
some years the dinner fell on the Sunday before Mama's birthday and some
years the dinner was held on the Sunday after Mama's birthday. Loosely described,
Mama's birthday was observed on the Sunday closest to her birth date, but
she got to choose the Sunday.
Mama was a good cook and was able to make the simplest of fare something
enjoyable. I ate so many field peas in my youth that I grew to view them
as common and wished for something better. Yet, my friend, Tony Austin,
considered Mama's peas manna from Heaven, befitting a king, and his appreciation
for Mama's peas earned him a special place in her heart. Tony, though smaller
than me, could eat two or three helpings of peas to my one.
Needless to say, after eating field peas, fresh and of the home-frozen variety
for months on end, I was always ready for Mama's birthday dinner. I knew
I could expect a drastic change in our Sunday dinner. A typical Sunday dinner
might have consisted of Southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and field
peas, though often a pot roast took the place of the chicken.
Mama's birthday dinner always and I do mean always, consisted of chicken
and dressing for the main course. Chicken and dressing was one of Mama's
favorite foods, and ours, too. However, she didn't consider warm weather
a time for chicken and dressing; it was a winter food. So, from about Easter
each year until her birthday, she didn't serve chicken and dressing.
Mama was buried on her birthday in 1989. That year, Barbara took the initiative
to continue Mama's birthday dinner tradition. The fourth Sunday of last month
marked the eighteenth consecutive year of celebrating a tradition Mama began.
There were sixteen people at our house that day and not all of them were
family members.
We remain pretty true to tradition with respect to foods served. We had candied
sweet potatoes, a corn and green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, English
peas, cranberry sauce and rolls. We also had a congealed salad and of course
the chicken and dressing. There were plenty of desserts, but I don't recall
a sweet potato pie this year.
For special occasions, I still prefer to eat family style, but with our need
of three tables to accommodate everyone, we opted to set out the food
buffet-style.
The family of my youth was always grateful for the bounty of food served,
but only on special occasions did anyone pray, "ask the blessing," or give
thanks for the food. Some families pray before each meal; ours doesn't. However,
since Mama's birthday dinner qualifies as a special occasion, I voiced a
prayer as everyone gathered in the kitchen to get in the buffet line.
There were few times during the many years I sat at Mama's table that she
didn't exclaim, "Well, I hope you can eat it," which was her self-deprecating
way of saying dinner was ready to be enjoyed.
As amens were heard following the prayer, Barbara echoed Mama's famous words,
"Well, I hope you can eat it!"
We managed to do so rather well, I believe. Both my sister and my wife have
learned to make cornbread dressing as good as Mama used to make. As a family,
our next exposure to chicken and dressing will be on Thanksgiving, which
traditionally is observed at Sarah's house. I'm already looking forward to
it.
Bodock Beau
Physicians & Guns
The following was received from Ed Dandridge a few weeks ago.
Physicians:
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The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
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Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
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Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
Guns:
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The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80 million..)
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The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
-
The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188.
So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than
gun owners.
FACT: Not everyone has a gun, but almost everyone has at least one
doctor.
Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before
this gets completely out of hand!
Out of concern for the public at large, statistics on lawyers have been withheld
for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention.
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