In 1981, pilot Douglas J. Tomas of East Troy, Wisconsin, began research on his great-uncle, TSgt. Charles L. Berg, who was killed when his U.S. Army Air Corps B-24 Liberator was shot down over Vicenza in northeastern Italy on December 28, 1943. Berg was the flight engineer on aircraft #36, serial number 42-72768, “Ready, Willing and Able” of the 512th Squadron, 376th Bomb Group (heavy), the “Liberandos.”
On that mission, three squadrons of the 376th Bomb Group, with a total of 17 B-24s, did not join up with another bomber group and fighters as planned, and were attacked before getting to the target by a large number of German fighters that had not been previously reported. The Germans shot down all six aircraft of the 512th Squadron, and two each from the 514th and 515th Squadrons, leaving only seven aircraft able to return to base. Berg and four others of the crew were killed that day…five crewmembers survived. Tomas was able to contact all five survivors.
Tomas later determined the location of the B-24 crash site with the help of a local Italian, and in 2011, he attended an event where a plaque was dedicated, commemorating that day and the efforts of the crew.
The plaque (in Italian) reads:
In Memory Of The Fallen Crew Of The American B-24 In The 376 Group USAAF Shot Down Here In The 2nd World War On 28 December 1943. The City Of Arcugnano Placed This (Plaque) On 28 December 2011.
Since then, the story has taken yet another twist.
Recently, Tomas met Winona (Swearingen) Walker of Brodhead, Wisconsin, the sister of S/Sgt. John A. Swearingen, a crewmember on one of the other B-24s in the squadron who was also killed on that mission. Like Tomas, her family was unable to locate her brother’s remains, but learned through Tomas that he was unable to bail out of their aircraft, along with six other crewmembers, and after the crash and fire, the Germans, and later the U.S. Army, were unable to positively identify each body. So he, as well as his other crewmembers, were and still are, listed as “missing in action.”
They did learn, however, that their remains were found and moved to the U.S. military cemetery in Mirandola, Italy, and post-war, moved again to the U.S. military cemetery in Florence. So the family now knows where his remains are buried, but not specifically which grave.
