This was a difficult post to write. On 22 April 1945, hundreds of people, including Chuckie’s squadron commander, from two villages in France paid tribute to Chuckie that day in a public memorial. Yet sadly, due to the need to keep the secrets of the Carpetbagger Project, Chuckie’s parents sat in a small apartment in a small American town unaware with hope still alive that he would return home safely. All they still knew from the US Government was that he was still Missing in Action. It would be another year before they knew what what everyone else involved in the public memorial knew that day – Chuckie was killed in action one year before.
The villagers of St. Cyr de Valorge and Tarare built a monument to honor these men. The held a public memorial to the five American airmen who died there in a crash one year before in a very large public ceremony that included Chuckie’s squadron commander. It was to be the first of a series of memorials to honor Allied Forces airmen who had died delivering supplied and agents to the French resistance forces.
An actual copy of the official Memorial Program from that day.
“Five American aviators were killed in the process of air-dropping weapons.“
Right Side:: 22 April 1945
“Tribute from the French resistance to th five victims”
English Translation
Left Hand side – Title: Tribute to our allies
Main text: The Resistance of St Cyr de Valorges, upon the initiative of the local committee of Liberation, dedicates a memorial to the five American aviators fallen on 28thApril 1944 on the air-dropping field of this municipality.
Bottom left: Unveiling of the memorial on 22ndApril 1945
Right-hand side – Title: Program
Main text:
9:00 am: Welcome of the official public authorities on the square
9:30 am: Official mass
10:30 am: First wreath laying at the memorial
11:30 am: Cortege preparation to march
11:45 am: Blessing of the memorial
Further wreath laying
A minute of silence
Anthem
Speeches
1:00 pm: Official meal
Lt. Col Robert Boone was invited to be present at the days celebration and memorial dedication as a representative of the American Carpetbagger units.
Boone was one of Chuckie’s squadron commanders at Harrington and in command of the 801st Bomb Group. He was responsible for the working up of the air and ground echelons in preparation for the first Carpetbagger missions.
On 13 August 1944 the Carpetbaggers at Harrington were redesignated to the 492nd Bomb Group (H) and the four squadrons became the 856th, 857th, 858th and 859th Bomb Squadrons under Col Clifford Heflin, the first commander of the 801st/492nd Bombardment Group, nicknamed the Carpetbaggers.
Public Memorial Program
9AM Welcome – The public square at St. Cyr de Valorge, near where the crash had occurred, was packed with people from the two villages. Flags of France, the United Stated, and Great Britain were flying, while bands played the national anthems of the three countries. There was much cheering, and hundreds were in tears as speakers told of the stirring days of the resistance.
9:30 Official Mass – The official party and the villagers gathered in the village church, where a priest spoke, eulogizing Chuckie and the fliers. After the mass, the villagers moved to the monument for dedication.
11:45 AM Memorial Dedication
Boone gave his address, which was translated into French by an interpreter, He said that he was happy to be on the ground in daytime to see the beauty of the country – something that was impossible to see at night – and to feel the warmth of the French people – impossible to feel in a Liberator airplane. He said that the men in his outfit remembered the dead men well, and to him the ceremony was evidence that the men fought not only for, but with, France in the war of Liberation.
Photos Above: The memorial from 22 April 1945 above.
1:00 PM Official Meal – After the ceremony, the party moved to a banquet hall for lunch. Colonel Boone was given Lieutenant Ambrose’s identification tags and part of his bracelet, which he promised to send to the lieutenant’s relatives in the United States.
Sadly, Chuckie’s parents, brother and sister went to their graves thirty and forty years later never knowing any of this.
Here is that monument as it stands today, 74 years later.
TRANSLATION:
“In memory of five American aviators found dead in their plane debris, that crashed into flames in this place on 28th April 1944; whose mission was to airdrop weapons to our secret army for the liberation of France and the restoration of our ideals.”
Lieutenant C.W. Ambrose
Charles M. Wilson
Robert H. Redhair
A.B. Pope
Lieutenant Peter Roccia”
Left hand side little black stone: “Frenchy to his friends”
It speaks to the service and sacrifices of all the Carpetbaggers.
- Pilot 1st Lt George W Ambrose; is buried at Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, New York, USA
- Co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Robert Harry Redhair; is buried in Akhard Cemetery, Polk Co, Missouri
- Navigator, 2nd Lt. Arthur Bozeman Pope; is buried in National Cemetery Marietta, GA
- Bombardier, 2nd Lt. Peter Roccia; is buried in Arlington National Cemetery
- Flight Engineer, Staff Sargeant Charles M Wilson; is buried at Rhone American Cemetery, Draguignan, France
Right hand side white stone: “Loved comrade-in-arms on 28 April 1944 James Heddleson”
There were three crash survivors, their stories told in previous posts.
- James Joseph Heddelman
- George Willam Henderson
- James Cryl Mooney
Photo credit.
Unforgotten Glory 
