- There is a cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts called
Hope Cemetery. It is a beautiful place filled with ancient trees, impressive
monuments and mausoleums. It also serves as a place of refuge for many
different types of flora and fauna, including myself. My family says
I spend more time in this incongruously named location than I do at home.
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- Shortly before Memorial Day last I came to enjoy
the beauty of the flowering shrubs and fruit trees. As I walked past
the White family plot I received the equivalent of a "PSSSST!"
from beyond the grave. The flags had recently been placed on the graves
of veterans in anticipation of the Memorial Day events. As I walked up
to the White family's eternal home I noticed the grave of John White
Jr. The plain, white, marble plaque simply said: John White Jr., Massachusetts,
SGT 487 AAF Bomb GP, World War II, July 3, 1922 March 19, 1945.
As I stood amidst the sea of flags gently flapping in the breeze I couldn't
help but notice that John had been forgotten. There was no flag on his
grave. My first thought was that it was awful that he had gotten all
the way through the war only to die weeks before the end of hostilities.
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- My second thought was essentially, "What does a
dead person have to do to get a flag around here." I assumed that
I had been called over in order to find whomever I needed to in order
to obtain a flag for John. I searched the cemetery and found the ROTC
personnel and students who were placing the flags. I explained the situation
and convinced them to give me a flag for John. I placed it on his grave.
Assuming that my work was done I turned to leave, but was then informed
that there was something else that needed to be done.
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- As I stood there looking at John's grave I got a
vision of B-17 Bombers over Germany. I heard a voice say, "There
was a big explosion. The other guys bailed out." I knew by this
point in the war the Luftwaffe had been decimated. I also knew that there
was still plenty of triple A (anti-aircraft artillery) so I thought that
John's plane must have met its demise in this way. In any case, I have
to admit that at this point my interest was piqued and I decided to go
home and research the 487th Bomb Group online and see if I could find
anything about John White and what had happened to him.
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- I was surprised to find that the 487th Bomb Group
had a website. Unfortunately the only thing about John on the site was
the fact that he was killed in action and the date. I decided to email
the webmaster to ask him if he had any additional information. I also
told him that I had found John White without a Memorial Day flag and that
I had provided one for him.
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- The next day I received an email in response to my request.
The webmaster was the son of a now deceased member of the 487th. He
wrote to give me a brief bit of info about John and to tell me that he
had written to a man who could provide additional. Several days later
I received an email that told the story of what happened to John White
and included a photo of John and his other crew members shortly before
they were killed. This is what I was told by the people at the 487th
Bomb Group's website.
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- John White Jr. was born in Maine in 1921. He completed
four years of high school.
- His civilian job was managerial. He lived in Worcester
County, Massachusetts, and was single, without dependents.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Private at Fort Devens, Massachusetts,
on 28 September 1942. His Army Serial Number was 31183916.
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- He was the Engineer on the Daniel C. Smoke Jr. crew in
the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group. This crew arrived at Lavenham,
England, on 26 February 1945. On 19 March 1945, Lt. Smoke's crew flew
B-17G 43-38038 with the 836th Squadron on the mission to Zwickau, Germany.
During formation assembly, at 15,500 feet over Clastres, France, Lt Smoke's
B-17 collided with Lt John R. Virgin's B-17G 43-37969. All of Lt Virgin's
crew bailed out and survived. None of Lt. Smoke's crew was able to bail
out, and all nine were killed in the subsequent crash near Couvron, France.
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- This is the picture of John White Jr. and the
rest of Lt. Smoke's crew.
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- The email response from the 487th Bomb Group's webmaster
also requested that I provide a photograph of John White's grave site.
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- The Tuesday after Memorial Day I went to Hope Cemetery
with my 16 year old niece Amanda. I do not have a digital camera and
needed her to come so I could borrow her camera. We took the photo and
started to drive out of the cemetery. My niece turned on the radio and
tuned it to the college radio station for Holy Cross College. They play
a fairly eclectic assortment of rock music mostly punk rock. The song
that was playing finished as we approached the gate of Hope Cemetery.
Then something happened that really seemed beyond all probability. The
song "I'll be seeing you", a song well known to most service
members during WWII started to play on the radio. I looked at my niece
with my mouth open in shock, the hair stood up on my arms and the back
of my neck. The song played in its entirety and we bawled like babies
all the way home.
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- I'LL BE SEEING YOU
- I'll be seeing you
- In all the old familiar places
- That this heart of mine embraces
- All day through.
- In that small cafe;
- The park across the way;
- The children's carousel;
- The chestnut trees;
- The wishin' well.
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- I'll be seeing you
- In every lovely summer's day;
- In every thing that's light and gay.
- I'll always think of you that way.
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- I'll find you
- In the morning sun
- And when the night is new.
- I'll be looking at the moon,
- But I'll be seeing you.
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- I'll be seeing you
- In every lovely summer's day;
- In every thing that's light and gay.
- I'll always think of you that way.
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- I'll find you
- In the morning sun
- And when the night is new.
- I'll be looking at the moon,
- But I'll be seeing...you.
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- As someone who clearly understands the way in which meaningful
coincidences are used as a form of communication by those who have passed
over, I can only see this song as a thank you from John White. A thank
you for the flag and for reconnecting him with his still surviving buddies
who had no idea where he had been interred.
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- I send my kindest regards to all of the men and women
who are currently serving in our armed forces, and especially to those
members who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
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- This is the picture of John White Jr.'s headstone. It
can also be viewed at this link http://www.487thbg.org/Photos/WhiteJ.shtml
which will allow access to other information about the 487th Bomb Group.
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- Sandra Belanger
- www.heliumraven.com
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