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News Cut: May 23, 2009 Archive

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Memorial Day: Joseph Moffitt

Posted at 12:47 AM on May 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Regional history

News Cut will present stories about those who served in whatever capacity and have died. Please send me a few paragraphs about them and, if possible, a picture and I'll be sure to add it here.

My late uncle, Joseph Moffitt, was the pilot of a B-17 (416th Squadron, 99th Bomb Group)during WW II. He and his crew were shot down during a raid on Steyr, Austria on April 2,1944.

He and his crew survived and were hidden by local partisans under Tito's command. Unfortunately, the locals were betrayed and my uncle's crew were captured by the Germans. They were taken to Stalag 17-B, the prisoner-of-war camp in Austria notable for the being the basis for the 1953 William Holeden film "Stalag 17" and (in name only) the TV series "Hogan's Heroes."

After the war, my uncle became a car salesman and rasied a family in Indianapolis. He died of COPD about 15 years ago.

- Bob Moffitt

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Memorial Day: Bonnie Brodie Hassebroek

Posted at 9:13 AM on May 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Regional history

News Cut will present stories about those who served in whatever capacity and have died. Please send me a few paragraphs about them and, if possible, a picture and I'll be sure to add it here.

My maternal grandmother, Bonnie Brodie Hassebroek, passed away September 12, 2008. She was 87 years old. Both Bonnie and my grandfather, John Hassebroek, served in World War II. Bonnie was a member of the Women's Army Corps (known as the WAC).

A native of rural western Iowa, she was ready to see the world at 18. Much to her disappointment, she was stationed at Fort Des Moines in Iowa! She attended boot camp there and lived at the Savery Hotel, which they called the "Hotel Slavery." The hotel has many photographs and memorabilia from this era.

Bonnie soon got her wish to travel, and was stationed in France, working in an accounting office. Not too long after that, John was stationed in Germany. One of their best stories during this time was winning the Ripley's Believe it or Not War Story of the Year for their coincidental meeting on the date of their first wedding anniversary, during the hour of their wedding ceremony.

- Amalia Vagts
Decorah, Iowa

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