Bill Beigel's War Casualties Blog

Many causes contributed to these unfortunate deaths.  Among them were rushed training programs, the very young age of the flyers involved, and the unsophisticated and un-proven technology of the aircraft themselves.

 

Young flyers from all over the country were among the casualties of flight training.  Of the 72 alumni from North Community High School in  Minneapolis, Minnesota,  that gave their lives in the War, 9 died in  this manner, a tragically high percentage of over 10 per cent of the school's casualties.

 

These are their stories.

 

The first of the nine from North High School to be lost was 2nd LT James Kriss.  On May 13, 1942, less than 6 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, LT Kriss took off from Bolling Field in Washington DC for a routine flight.  His aircraft was a P-40 'Warhawk', a single-engine fighter plane.  Shortly after takeoff, a witness heard the engine of the plane cut out.  After banking to the left, the plane glided to its starting point at Bolling Field, only to crash while attempting a landing, killing the pilot and destroying the plane.

 

The first crash of 1942 occurred on January 24th, within the boundaries of White Sands National Monument, near Alamagordo, New Mexico.  Staff Sergeant Willard Schrader was aboard a B-24 'Liberator'.  The 'Liberator' was a large, four-engine heavy bomber.  This aircraft was on a practice bombardment and gunnery mission.  Since there were no survivors of the crew of 11, investigators could not determine a cause.

 

About four months later, on May 17, 1943, 2nd LT Edwin M. Gabrielson was piloting an AT-17B.  This was a small, twin-engine advanced trainer known as the 'Bobcat'.  The aircraft had recently undergone repairs, and was being returned to its base at Douglas Army Air Field in Arizona.  For reasons unknown, the aircraft entered into a spin and then a 45-degree dive, crashing 8 miles north-west of the field.

 

Exactly two weeks later, Aviation Cadet Raymond Beck was flying in the rear cockpit of a BT-13A 'Valiant'.  The 'Valiant' was a trainer used by almost all flight trainees as they entered the second phase of their flight training.  The aircraft was faster and heavier than the aircraft used in the first phase, and was challenging to many new cadets.  Coming into its home field after completing a routine instrument training misson, the aircraft stalled and then went into a spin, crashing at Toyah Auxillary Air Field near Pecos, Texas.

 

Only eleven days later, another North High alumnus was killed in a crash.  Aviation Cadet Randolph Glance was also aboard a BT-13A 'Valiant'. Cadet Glance was on a routine training flight when the aircraft crashed 16 miles southwest of Madill, Oklahoma.  There were no witnesses to the crash, and since Cadet Glance was the only flyer aboard, no cause was ever determined.

 

1944's first crash involving a North High alumnus occurred on February 12.  Corporal Donald Kairies was aboard one of three B-25 'Mitchell' medium bombers involved in a spectacular mid-air collision near Greenville Army Air Base in South Carolina.  The three bombers were part of a larger flight of 24 aircraft , on a formation flying excercise.  As the formation entered into a turn, one of the bombers was buffeted by propeller turbulence from another, and so drifted to the left, where it collided with yet another plane in the formation. Both planes began spinning out of control towards the ground.  On their descent, one of the planes collided with still another, and soon all three came to earth.  There were no survivors.

 

On May 13, 1944, exactly two years after the crash that killed LT Kriss, 2nd LT Robert M. Krietzman was piloting a B-24 bomber as it tried to make an emergency landing in Miles City, Montana.  LT Krietzman had radioed the field that his plane had suffered an engine failure and was coming in.  The bomber overshot the runway, cartwheeled into the ground, and exploded.  Althought LT Krietzman and six others aboard were killed, miraculously four of the crew survived.

 

Corporal Jerome Esser was serving as assistant flight engineer of a B-17 'Flying Fortress' heavy bomber on September 29, 1944.  The aircraft had taken off on a routine instrument training mission.  For reasons unknown, the bomber went out of control and crashed 19 miles from Avon Park, Florida.  There were no witnesses to the crash, nor were there any survivors of the crew.

 

The last fatal crash involving a North High alumni occurred five days later, on October 4th.  2nd LT James A. Lund was serving as a bombardier on a B-24 that crashed on a practice run out of Gowen Field, Idaho.  About 15 miles after takeoff, in an area of rising terrain, the bomber crashed, with no cause ever being determined.

 

These nine flyers joined their 62 brother students who were killed in the War.  Whether killed in training stateside, or on, or above, the battlefields of Europe or the Pacific, the sacrifice of all were equally important.