Memorial Commemoration of Aviators
Saturday August 23, 2003
Speech by Paul Fellinger, Mayor of Schoeneck, France,
translated by Zona Mitchell

Ladies, Gentlemen:
Allow me to welcome all of you and all those you represent for attending the commemorative ceremony in homage to the members of the team of B-24 bombers that fell to earth in our town on August 26, 1944. This plane, returning from a mission on Ludwigshaffen, had just been hit by the DCA.

I welcome especially George Lesko, second commander of this aircraft.

I offer apologies for Mr .Armand Croutsch, president of the local section of former fighters, who is away, thus the Conseiller General (county commissioner), Jean-Claude Holtz is here.

It has been 5 years to the day, that we inaugurated the memorial dedicated to the members of the bomber's crew.

The crash of B 24 in our city, on a summer day in 1944, at about noon, had practically disappeared from the memories of the former Schoeneckois. It was one event among so many that took place during that war.

However it was awakened anew when, in 1991 Tim Shaffer, a nephew of the crew's commander Ralph Shaffer, returned to Schoeneck in hopes of recovering the remains of his uncle.

I compel you to recall here that of the 10 crew members that parachuted out of the plane, 6 were killed, even savagely assassinated, of which the commander Shaffer is still one today, were reported missing without any further information.

Tim Shaffer established a link with Raymond Englebreit, historian and local correspondent of the Republican Lorrain.

The latter, moreover, was very preoccupied with this case. He questioned former Schoeneckois that still had memories of this event. They met together on several occasions and visited the sites of the plane's impact. The profound emotion on each visit to the site by Tim Shaffer brought forth the idea to erect a Memorial.

The project submitted to the group of ex-servicemen and to the municipality received a favorable response and materialized thanks to a fund initiated by the Schoeneckois and patriotic associations.

I also want to underline the appreciable participation of the Souvenir Francais. To cultivate the obligation to remember is one of its principal missions.

I made a point of briefly recalling the history of what we call the memorial of the aviators because we celebrate the 5th birthday of its inauguration. It took place on August 23, 1998 in a ceremony filled with dignity and emotion in the presence of many French, American, and even German personalities, of associations and 3 survivors of the crew: Mr. George Lesko, Mr. Albert Lang, and Mr. Norman Phillips, accompanied by their families. The monument is composed of a pink granite stone engraved with the names of the 10 members of the crew which will recall to passersby) (old and young) of the drama which occurred in this place on August 26, 1944.

To remember a dramatic past, due to the confrontation of the people, this monument is also the witness of the reconciliation of the enemies of the past. It is one of the stones of European construction in a union of peace and fraternity and finally, it incarnates the marks of recognition, gratitude and homage which we make a point of expressing to our liberators from the United States, of France and elsewhere, to release our ground of the yoke of the cruel Nazi regime. We think particularly of those who made the sacrifice of their young lives and who rest forever in the military cemeteries of our country.

Yes, it is to all these combatants from different backgrounds that we owe this freedom which we enjoy today. We have the duty to transmit this message to the younger generations so that they do not forget and that they ensure the relay of our message and our recognition. Yes, as opposed to what some claim, the French are not ungrateful. They proved it on several occasions. The simple fact that France did not follow some of its allies in the Iraq conflict and to have affirmed its sovereignty is not a reason to describe us as ungrateful and all of the criticisms that followed.

There were differences between the French government and that of the United States on this quite particular problem.

But between allies and long-time friends, as in the most united couples, problems occur. I would even say that it is normal. But this is not a situation that should nullify the good relations and friendship that have existed between France and the United States for nearly two centuries.