To: Rick Staton
House Majority Leader - West Virginia House of Delegates

Reference - Jack W. Staton

It is with great pleasure that we three survivors, George Lesko, Albert H.
Lang and Norman H Phillips, endorse and recommend the naming of a Mullins, West Virginia bridge in honor of our deceased crew member - Jack W. Staton. Our hearts swell with pride and we hope to visit the bridge in the near future - 2003.

In May/June 1944, Jack Staton became part of a newly assigned B-24 (Liberator) bomber crew as Nose Turret Gunner at Davis-Monthan Air Base at Tucson, Arizona. Our crew, by rank, crew position and home state was as follows:

1st Lt. Ralph V. Shaffer Pilot Ohio
2nd Lt. George Lesko Co-Pilot Ohio
2nd Lt. Herbert Rubin Bombardier New York
Flight Officer Norman H. Phillips Navigator New York
Tech Sgt. Charles E. Wyatt Engineer Oklahoma
Staff Sgt. Frank W. Loichinger Radio Oper. Illinois
Sgt. Jack W. Staton Nose Gunner W. Va
Sgt. Albert H. Lang Ball T Gunner Missouri
Sgt. Ted Zomonek Waist Gunner W. Va.
Sgt. Willard R. Fetterhoff Tail Gunner Michigan

Jack Staton impressed our whole crew with his great personality and he
always smiled. He was an extremely handsome young man and displayed an abundance of energy. While at Tucson, Shaffer and Lesko had minimal time to visit with the crew members due to the extensive pilot training involved. I, (Lesko) understood that Jack and Anna June and Al and Mardine Lang spent much time there in Tucson together.

Also, in mid June 44, our new bomber crew went to Karnes Air Base near Salt Lake City and then to Topeka, Kansas where we picked up a new B-24 to ferry to England. Our route to England was via a North Eastern Air Base and an overnight stay at Reykjavik, Iceland. We delivered the aircraft and never again flew that B-24.

Our crew was assigned to the 446th Bomb Group, 706th Bomb Squadron (APO 58) at Bungay - North East of London near the English Channel. The complete history on the 446th Bomb Group, including persons assigned can be found on on my website - www.georgelesko.com - and clicking "Interesting Links" - 446th Bomb Group.

As a crew - we flew 9 missions (Shaffer and Lesko - 13). A mission on 6 August 1944 to Kiel was extremely difficult with much flak encountered. On 26 August 44 (our fatal mission) at about 5:00 AM, we were briefed that our mission and target was the Farber Chemical Factory at Mannhiem/Ludigshafen, Germany. It was an extremely well fortified target and knew that there would probably be casualties. Our originally assigned aircraft was changed and I did not notice that it had the name "Ginger" painted near the nose since pre-flight was done in semi-darkness. The aircraft flew beautifully and we had excellent flying weather.

Our Bombardier, Herb Rubin, did not fly with us since he was cross training as a Navigator and flew with another crew on the same mission and target. Rubin was killed in a crash landing in Holland undoubtedly about the same time "Ginger" came to rest in France. Jack Maxwell flew on his first mission in the available seat. Maxwell was a member of the ground crew and decided he wanted to fly combat. He was approved to fly with our crew. I do not remember the circumstances or how it was possible but we followed the orders for him to go?

He was a very nice YOUNG person.

We encountered much flak at our assigned target. I saw two flak bursts -
the first one at about 300 yards and the second burst at about 150 yards and knew we were in line for a third burst - we were. Jack Staton in the nose turret also undoubtedly saw the bursts. We were hit severely and went into a dive and semi spin. Shaffer - who always kept his oxygen mask on at all times (I only used mine at very high altitude) and suffered temporarily from oxygen starvation and Al Lang provided another oxygen bottle and plugged it in for Shaffer. We had a great problem controlling the B-24 with 3 of the 4 engines out. Using brute strength we must have popped many of the aircrafts rivets but "Ginger" held together and we got one of the dead engines running but we started encountering more flak at about an altitude of 2 - 3000 feet. We talked to Jack Staton on intercom and he said he was alright as were the other crew members. All ten of us parachuted and "Ginger" came to rest at Schoeneck, France - a few kilometers from Saarbrucken, Germany.

Jack Staton's body was recovered from the Saar river in Saarbrucken and he was temporarily buried at the Saarbrucken - Burbach cemetery and then exhumed for return to West Virginia. Jack Staton's cause of death has never been verified other than German documentation which stated drowning in the Saar river. I am not sure I believe that since Jack would have been wearing his "Mae West" (floatation device in water) so am inclined to believe he was shot and died in his parachute OR was not able to free himself from his parachute harness due to being wounded. Thanks to the help of Klaus Zimmer who speaks excellent English and of course -German and I think French (klaus-zimmer@onlinehome.de) - he put me in contact with Theo Mannes who
witnessed Jack Staton's body being removed from the Saar river on 26 August 44. I visited with Theo and his son Thomas (ThomasMannes@aol.com) with Dominique Jansen at his home. As per the request from Anna June, Jack's wife, we visited the bend in the river where Jack's body was recovered said prayers and took photo's of the bend in the river and sent them to Anna June. We could not get very close to the river bend because an autobahn and buildings had been constructed. Thomas Mannes, Theo's son also speaks English, fly's aircraft, and invited me to fly our route that our B-24 flew from Ludwigshafen to Schoeneck, France - someday.

Staton's other deceased crewmembers (Wyatt, Zemonek, Fetterhoff and Maxwell) were captured by the German SS and after surrender - were marched into a forest and shot in the back of their heads. Case 12-1545 (32 pages of War Crimes Trial) found their executioners guilty. They were executed - by hanging for the deaths of Wyatt, Zemonek, Fetterhoff and Maxwell. Vince Shaffer's fate is still a mystery. His relatives, in Columbus, Ohio, have recently told me that they have provided a Military Agency with DNA samples in the event something on Shaffer materializes. They are Norma and Joseph Maneri - e-mail - normaPM@webtv.net.

Jack Staton was and is a real hero. His name is on the 6' granite Monument in Schoeneck, France and every year on the Saturday closest to 26 August the town of Schoeneck honors Jack and the crew of "Ginger" with a parade and flowers are placed at the Monument -which is very near where our B-24 "Ginger" came to rest. We survivors (Lesko, Lang and Phillips) think of Jack often. Many times I think and lived with the fact that I could have possibly controlled us bailing out just one minute earlier or one minute later that may have saved the lives of all that perished.

George Lesko
Phone - 816.246.0022
e-mail - george@georgelesko.com
Website- www.georgelesko.com