Louis A. Rebol (Spuny)
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Air Force
Louis A. "Spuny" Rebol entered the Army Air Corps on March 5, 1943.
He served as a Staff Sergeant and aerial gunner with the 534th Bomb Squadron of the 381st Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force based in Rigewell, England.
He shares the following:
"Went overseas on the Lle de France. Made 35 bombing missions over Germany including Cologne, Berlin, and Remagen among others. Mission #7, on December 28, 1944, was the Remagen bridge which crossed the Rhine River. All bombs missed their target.
"This was very fortunate as the American ground forces later raced and crossed the bridge before the Germans were able to blow it up...Mission # 20, on February 3 ,1945, was to Berlin. It was a maximum effort and around 2,000 bombers took part. We all had to take our turns on the run over the city. The sky was black with airplanes. It was reported that 25,000 Germans died this day as a result of this raid.
"When I had completed half my missions, I had time off and I signed up for a two-day visit to Belfast, Ireland. I was very eager for this trip. Sign-ups were heavy and 33 men were scheduled to go. Some men flipped coins to see who 'won' the right to go. At the last minute, I declined to go as I believe there were too many men on the plane. The plane was a B-17 named 'Dottie Jean', wife of our pilot, James E. Lynch, Jr...It was a sad day when we learned that the plane hit a hill in Ireland. All the men were killed and the flight was referred to as the 'Isle of Mann' tragedy."
Source: Hometown Heroes: The St. Louis County World War II Project. 263.
