Ken Elder Bledsoe
Author of Echoes From an Eagle

Ken Elder Bledsoe is the son of Sgt Vernon O. Elder, a B-17 Flying Fortress tail gunner that served in the 19th Bombardment Group (19th BG), 30th Bombardment Squadron (30th BS) who flew combat missions from Java, Australia and New Guinea during 1942. He is the author of the book Echoes From an Eagle about his father's experiences.

Tell a about yourself and you became aware of your father’s WWII service?

Since I was born in 1944 during WWII along with others of my generation, we were demographically classified as "war babies". As these babies grew up they became a collective group in which their fathers and mothers had faced one of the greatest challenges in American history. They grew up in an economically challenging period during the 1930's. They then went off to war or worked in factories and farms. Many of my generation lost their fathers or mothers and grew up not hearing the stories of their experiences. Many of us learned about them years later as we discovered old letters that had been written to their loved ones. They had saved our nation (and others) on two fronts from the militant powers of the time period. When he left the service at the end of the war, Vernon made a model of a B-17 bomber. He would let me play with it when I was a young boy. At the time I was too young to understand the significance of this model. Thus the story began. Probably his most historic mission with the 19th Bomb Group was August 7, 1942 raid on Rabaul. The Chicago Daily News written by George Weller gives a detailed account of this mission in Echoes From an Eagle.

What motivated you to research and write your father's memoirs?

When my father died in a car accident, information about his war experiences was limited to a few stories told to me by relatives. When we discovered his letters he had written home to my grandmother, and my wife Phyllis put them in chronological order, a dramatic story unfolded which included his crash "somewhere in the Pacific." After ten years of research and reading letters from other WWII friends, we were able to locate the general location of his crash site. It led to our great adventure to Australia, finding the wreckage off a remote island, and then doing a dive on the wreckage.

Speak about the collection of his wartime letters and how you used them in your research.

Vernon's letters had to be vague because of censorship, but by reading countless books about the war in the SW Pacific, I was able to use his letters to place him in certain locations and even battles. Logistically, the letters themselves did not provide the specific location of his crash site. But through the letters he had written to other friends, it led us to find the "ultimate letter" in Echoes From an Eagle.

My goal was to tell his story and the events that forever changed his life. However, there were many questions about his story that intrigued me and demanded pain staking research. As a retired history teacher, the discoveries of information from research has its own rewards. In my case it was personal, silent communication to his only child. His life was cut short. My intention was to pick up the baton and finish the race.

Among his letters, we also found a scrapbook of over 70 black and white photos that he brought home. The letters provided a visual story covering action scenes, Mareeba base life, and the journey home across the Pacific on the MS Torrens.

Talk about the crash of B-17E 41-2655 and your father’s story of that mission.

This mission on 14 July 1942 was to bomb the Japanese base at Lae, New Guinea. Take off time was 0330. I interviewed Ralph Dietz, a survivor of the crash. According to Ralph a tropical storm was pounding Horn Island at the time at the time of take off. According to the "long lost letter" Vernon described in detail what took place that night. Three died in the crash, including his best friend, Houston Rice. The crash a huge had a huge impact on Vernon and the Rice family. A detailed description is in Echoes From an Eagle.

Describe some of your efforts to locate veterans that knew your father.

I first read about these crashes on Peter Dunn's Oz at War. He suggested that I contact Vanessa Seekee, who lives on Horn Island and knew Ralph Dietz, one of the survivors of the crash of B-17E 41-2655. After contacting her she encouraged me to contact Ralph Dietz, a survivor of the crash. After many phone conversations with Mr. Dietz, Phyllis and I flew out to Clarion, Pennsylvania where Ralph lived and I spent two days interviewing him. He insisted that I make corrections that in some accounts it was B-17E 41-2636 that crashed out a mile from Horn Island. He adamantly insisted that it was B-17E 41-2655 that crashed a mile off shore and # 2636 crashed just off the runway into the mangroves. Also my father's letter to his friend Otto Weiser confirms that it was his bomber #655 that crashed "about a mile out" from Horn Island. Lt. Frank Cappelletti, documented all the crashes of B-17's and again listed #655 as having crashed out one mile from the northern shore of Horn Is. Echoes From an Eagle Chapter 8 "The Letter" describes more detail of the crash of #655 written by my father.

Tell about your trip to Australia in 2010 and visiting the B-17 crash site.

Our main purpose in going to Australia was to reach "the top" and Horn Island north of Cape York Australia. We of course saw the sites, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, and Mareeba, QLD, where the 19th Bomb Group was based. All I knew when I started this project was that my father's B-17 bomber crashed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, that was it. Nearly ten years later, We achieved our goal of finding my father's crash site. It was a powerful moment in my life.

Are you still seeking information on his service or people that knew him?

I will continue to seek information about the 19th Bomb Group. He was to have received the Distinguished Flying Cross but never did and I'm trying to correct the mistake. There are many stories yet untold about the "Greatest Generation." We must find and preserve these stories... Lest We Forget.

Thank you for the interview Mr. Ken Elder Bledsoe
Visit KenElderBledsoe.com via WayBack Machine March 23, 2017 author's official website and to order Echoes From an Eagle.

References
FindAGrave - Vernon O Elder (photo, grave photo)

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