This website is dedicated
to the
28 WORLD WAR 2 Airmen who lost their lives at Naper Nebraska.
This story began about the first of November, 1998 when dh, a retired businessman and ex-USAF Korean Jet Fighter pilot, decided to check out a vague story of a single WW2 aircraft accident somewhere in Nebraska that claimed the lives twenty six new pilots.
He did know that the flight started from Bruning AA Field near Bruning Nebraska.
That hazy story had been bothering him for then too many years.After making a call to the the Bank at Bruning Nebraska, the president suggested that dh contact Virginia Priefert, the current Bruning Army Air Field historian. Virginia said it was a true story but due to the War Time news restrictions very few facts were ever known .
dh was hooked!
In viewing the recently released government documents and in retracing the events leading up to this accident dh realized that he had a deep emotional connection to those 28 airmen.
He now hopes that his gathering of the facts of the accident will provide closure for himself and all the others who have now become involved with this tragic event.
Briefly the facts are as follows... Click on the Links below to read about this tragic event
During World War II, a military passenger plane (C-47) disintegrated in flight near a line of violent thunderstorms in Northern Nebraska, a few miles Southwest of a small town called Naper. There were 28 fatalities representing the crew and all passengers. Hence the name The Naper 28
The singular and most unusual element of this story is, with the exception of a Flight Surgeon passenger and the aircraft crew chief
all of the passengers and crew were P-47 fighter pilots. The Crash occurred .. 2025hrs (8:25PM) August 3, 1944
A deep sense of gratitude from dh to Dewaine Erickson, Larry and Vi Carpenter, Virginia and Stub Priefert. Their valuable advice and efforts in the research made this website possible.
(All involved consider Larry C to be the best "people finder" going !!)
If you have problems opening any links PLEASE contact dh
- A
detailed news item written shortly after the crash
by a very independent minded Newspaper Editor
-
The Airmen - Photos and who they were..
- The Initial USAAF Accident report
- The followup USAAF Accident report
- Official USAAF Narrative of Events
- WW2 Fairbury Journal News Account
- Original Crash Map
- Army Air Forces Aircraft C-47 Photo
- First group visit to Crash Site - April 1999
-
Wooden Cross replacement project 2001
-
Interview - Lt. John Allison, the original AAF Investigator (now deceased)
-
It was a very rare opportunity
-
- Capt Berchem (now deceased)
Interviews - Persons with first hand information on the accident-
Persons who were still living June 1999
- Capt Berchem (now deceased)
-
Interviews - Crash eyewitnesses