Memorial

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"After bombing our assigned target on 22 February 22 1945, I (Kelly B. Converse) flew low to take photographs of the damage done. When I had completed this, I climbed back up and my flight rejoined me (Fairdown Red Flight). I called on the R/T and told the rest of the squadron to fly west and pick up the bombers we were escorting. The remainder of the squadron was not in sight, but I followed a box of 4 P-26s which were being escorted by two flights of P-47s and were heading west, about 20 miles southeast of Munster. As we were attempting to overtake these ships, I identified 10 ME 109s approaching us from 5 o´clock high. I called these bandits out of the R/T, and when they dove on us from six o´clock, I called the break into them. That was the last I saw of Red 2 (Lt Morgan Spielman Jr) and Red 3 (Lt George H. Holland). They followed me into the flights to ME 109s, and a general dogfight ensued. Approximately 2 minutes later, more P-47s arrived, and it was impossible to tell who was who. I noticed one parachute in the air and saw several planes spinning down, whether P-47s or ME 109s, I could not identify for sure."