The Saga of Sunshine
posted by markmelchMy dad, Angelo Melchiorre, served in the Army Air Corp during WWII as a tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator named Sunshine. On March 29, 1944 Sunshine was forced to land in enemy territory. My dad and the rest of the crew spent the next 13 months in a German POW camp.
Read the story: The Saga of Sunshine
Keywords: 719th Squadron, 449th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force, Combat #5, Serial# 42-52106 , Grottaglie, Venegono Inferiore, Varese, Italy, Italia, Stalag Luft #1, Barth, Germany, WWII, World War II
Tags: history
December 10th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Dear Mark,
It was a pleasure for me to read the story of the Sunshine and of your father. In 1944 when the plane landed I was 10 years old and I live there with my family. The exact name of the area is Venegono Inferiore, in the Province of Varese, Italy, about 40km. north-west of Milan and about 20km. south of Switzerland. I did remember that enormous plane, compared to the Italian Savoia-Marchetti 3-engine ones at the time. As I am a radioamateur since 1957 (my prefix is: I2GAG). If you would like to send me your e-mail address, I would be pleased to attach 3 original photographs of the B.24 Liberators taken on the Venegono air strip just after landed! I would be very interested in learning which kind of radio was the Sunshine equipped with. I do not know whether you still speak some Italian, anyhow I wish you all the best for you and your family from Italy.
Ciao! Sergio
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:49 am
Milano, Italy 23/12/2007
Tanti Auguri Mark di Buon Natale e Nuovo Anno,
a te e famiglia, e anche a tutti i parenti Melchiorre,
di America e anche a quelli che abitano in italia.
Sergio
(Google translated text:
Mark, Good wishes for a Merry Christmas and New Year, to yourself, your family, and all the Melchiorre relatives in America and those who live in italy.)
March 14th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Milano, Italia, 15 marzo 2008
Un Augurio di una Buona Pasqua, che sia di Pace e prosperita’
a tutte le Comunita’ del Sito WEB (family.melchiorre.com)
Saluti a tutti
Sergio Gaggiani (I2GAG)
March 27th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Sergio,
I’m Mark’s mother. It was so interesting to read your story about my husbands airplane and thank you for your Holiday greetings to us.
May you have a good year. God Bless You.
Mary Lee
June 7th, 2008 at 8:50 am
my dad aldo tersillo was in the 449th 719, his plane was lonesome he was part of the orinanal 449th north africa. grottaglie, he met my mom there married her and brought her to the states, he passed away sept 1 2006, im looking for any info on ther 449th im part of the 2nd generation group,
July 15th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I loved stumbling across your story. I’m pretty sure that the Samuel Guttenberg, navigator, in your story is my father-in-law. I know that he was a B-24 navigator and was a POW in Germany for about a year. He passed away in 2001, but is survived by his wife, four children, and 3 grandchildren. His family home in New Orleans was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. (At the time of the storm, his widow and daughter still lived in the house.) The house was very close to one of the levee breaches, so there was 8 to 9 feet of water in the entire neighborhood for about 3 weeks. Their house was one story, so needless to say, everything was destroyed. (Not much survives when it sits in water for 3 weeks.) Can I get a reprint of your story. I have printed it from the internet, but would love a better copy, along with copies of anything else you care to share. It will be wonderful to share this with his widow and pass on the story to my two sons. Sam was a man of very few words, especially when it came to his wartime experiences. You’re a great story teller. Thanks for sharing.