To the very dear family and friends of my special friend and patriot, George F. Wingard, Jr.

What joy I feel as I look at the wonderful pictures of George! Yes, there is much sadness, too, for I already miss him greatly. Yet when I look at the pictures of the handsome, very young man who left home to fight in WWII, and then the pictures of the much older George that I grew to know and love after the death of my father, my heart bursts with joy and gratitude that I had the opportunity to talk with, and meet this genuine, one of a kind man who was the flight engineer on The Silver Babe as well as many other planes my Dad and the crew flew during their time in Italy during WWII. George was one of the few crew members who flew all 50 missions and most test flights with my Dad (these were additional flights which often proved to be very dangerous as they took up the planes that had been repaired and sometimes the repairs weren't as effective as had been hoped). Their missions took them to some of the 'hottest' targets in Europe, including 7 treacherous missions to Hitler's oil fields in Ploesti, Romania; the ball-bearing factory in Schweinfurt, Germany, and the submarine pens in Toulon, France and many, many more. What many people fail to comprehend is the bravery these young men exhibited and the horrific conditions they miraculously survived. Just imagine being in a very rudimentary flying tube with only a thin sheet-metal covering, flying for hours on a limited amount of fuel with no radar or navigational systems and being shot at by anti-aircraft guns and fighters while standing at post in sub-zero temperatures. Miraculous is certainly what it was, because they were an extremely rare, if not the only, crew that managed to make it back to base after each of their 50 combat missions with NO crew casualties and NO injuries but often times with planes that were shot up so badly they could not be flown again and were broken up for parts!

After the war, George and my Dad (Ken Kinsinger, the pilot) never again saw each other; although they wrote and called each other quite regularly. I knew about George 'Shorty' from talks I had had with my Dad. I always hoped George would come to visit or Dad would visit him or they would get together at a Reunion of the 449th Bomb Group. But it was not to happen----George later told me he had decided to never again get on another airplane after he got home because he was sure his luck for flying had been all used up! George was able to fill me in on quite a few things that I had never realized such as my Dad (who was about 10 years older than George) was considered to be the 'old man' of the squadron. And George was teased about having to fly with that old man. Yet he also shared that he was so happy to have been a part of that crew because the pilot, my Dad, flew by the book!

When my Dad became ill and was no longer able to hold the telephone, I would hold the phone for Dad and talk with George when Dad could no longer communicate......When my Dad passed away, George and I continued talking and it was such a special time for me each time we spoke because it was as though I still had a small piece of my Dad as I was able to experience that WWII time through George's eyes and his excellent memory. George was a special treasure to me. I can still hear him saying “Well, well, well, my little Chickadee . . . and “Adios” when it was time to hang up.

Elise, your Dad loved you so much. You have my highest regard for the love,care and respect you showered on your Dad. Our Dads were independent, strong-willed, very determined men who learned how to tough their way through life much because of the incredibly difficult circumstances they survived in their young lives. Loving them, helping them and working with them, as such, was sometimes challenging to say the least! But oh, what dear people and pieces of history we have lost. Elise, I feel so blessed to know you and to have had the time we spent together; talking on the phone as well as texting. I look forward to keeping in touch across the miles and through the years to come!

Love,

Sandy Kinsinger-Naber-Burkey