Hero's forged by fire



In your day to day life do you  experience stress?  Maybe you had a near miss during your commute to work; maybe a business project isn't going well  or possibly your profession does require you to be in a life threatening situation daily?  If you're alive and reading this then I know that you've experienced or can relate to, at least once in your life, a gut wrenching, muscle tensing, high adrenalin situation where you've questioned the survival of you or others.  It's amazing that we survive as long we do!  It's our small, insignificant experiences of high stress moments in life that give us a basis, a foundation to feel, in a vicarious way, what someone else must have been feeling during a harrowing, life threatening moment.  These are the reasons we feel emotion when we read a story; the feelings that bring a tear to one's eye.   Below is a copy of a story I obtained from the "Missing Air Crew Reports (MACR)"  the US government has on microfilm.  This truly is an amazing story of survival.  I'm sure that many, many air crews experienced this or worse;  "Our guys" ultimately did.  This story was released to the papers for print and may possibly been printed in the New York Times. I know for a fact that this story was recalled in the book "One Damed Island After Another, The Saga of the 7th".  The existence of this book was brought to my attention by Phil Brodziak, nephew of Philip Brodziak,  top gunner of the Pistol Pakin Mamma.  The book is quite expensive but I will own it some day  (I own it now. $50.00 at Amazon for a good used copy. Fantastic book!).  It is my personal feeling that the photograph of the whole crew in front of the PPM was taken just after this "fruit juice" occurrence.  My reasoning for this is:  there are 11 men in the picture and I think Sgt. Temple is the man who is peeking over a shoulder and only showing his face.  Another reason is: I assume the tank with the hose (bottom center) in the photo is actually some type of hydraulic system purge pump or hydraulic filling pump; why else make it the center of a photograph? (also: Philip Brodziak is painting the 54th mission bomb. I've been able to count the missions by comparing photo's of the Mamma.  So, I believe the story is incorrect by stating "a veteran of 55 missions")  Read on and appreciate.  I've done the best I can do identifying the crew in the photo.  Most I'm sure of, with help of labeled photo's from the Brodziak family, but some I'm not.  If I'm incorrect, please let me know so I can correct any errors.

One note: Benjamin Cook (co-pilot) was not on board the PPM at the time of loss (9-11-44), William Chambers was co-pilot at that time; I'm not certain why at this moment.

Also,  If you click on the text and photo's they should enlarge for better viewing.

To start I'll name the men in this photo that I'm reasonably sure of:

Rene Brabender, standing, right elbow against prop.

Philip Brodziak, standing, painting bomb on fuselage

Robert Dempster, Jr., kneeling w/"pith helmet"

George Thompson, kneeling, right of R. Dempster, left of frame

Richard M. Smith, standing, right hand on right knee, "crush hat"

Warren Leland, sitting, right of frame, right arm to "tank"

Robert McGee, sitting, right of frame, by ladder

John Robb, standing, right arm against fuselage

Martin Sisko,? standing, head in front of painted bombs, left of frame

Benjamin Cook,? standing, holding gallon can, wearing shorts, sleeveless shirt

Bernard Temple,? face only, over [Cook's?] shoulder