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Jersey Airman sleuths out WWII Belgian crash site of great-uncle

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Shane S. Karp
  • 177th Fighter Wing
ATLANTIC CITY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.J. --  The date is Dec. 24, 1944, in the midst of World War II, and while most Americans are at home preparing for a Christmas with their families, 1st Lt. Cuno Vernal Becker, an armament officer with the 836th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, is boarding his B-17 Flying Fortress, about to take part in mission number 760 - the 8th Air Force's largest single mission of the war.

Vern, as he is known by his family, was not originally meant to be part of that mission, but as the story is told, he gave one of his enlisted members the day off for Christmas Eve, and manned the tail gun, said U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. James McCloskey.


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