Iowa Old Press
Carroll Times Herald
Carroll, Carroll co., Iowa
September 25, 1944
LT. WALTER THIELEKE IN CALIFORNIA AFTER FORTY-FOUR
MISSIONS
Lieutenant Walter Thieleke, of Carroll and Hollywood,
Calif., who has completed 43 missions over Germany, France, Italy
and the Balkan countries, is at present spending a 21-day leave
with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Anton Thieleke, in Hollywood. He
then reports to Santa Monica, Calif., for reassignment to duty.
Lieutenant Thieleke, first pilot on a Be-24 heavy bomber, left
the United States last March 9 for Italy.
On his 44th mission to Blechimen, Germany, on July 7, his plane
was shot down on the way back from his target. He was captured by
the Germans when he parachuted out, but escaped from them the
following day, he has written to his friends here.
He also says that for the next 26 days, he was on his own, making
his way through Hungary on foot to Yugoslavia. He traveled day
and night, eating what he could steal out of gardens by night. On
the 26th day, he got in touch with Marshal Tito’s partisans
and, through their help, returned to Italy. He says he was the
only one of his crew to escape, the rest being either missing or
captured.
Lieutenant Thieleke received the Distinguished Flying Cross for
bringing his badly damaged plane back to his base, saving the
lives of three of his crewmen who were seriously wounded on the
mission over Munich, Germany, June 9.
He also has a presidential citation for action over the Polesti
oil fields on May 31, and the air medal with four oak leaf
clusters.
Lt. Duane Buckmaster, Romanian Prisoner, Is Returning to
Lohrville
Lohrville (THNS)—Friends of Lieutenant Duane
Buckmaster have received word that he will be home on furlough in
a short time.
Buckmaster was forced down over Romania in June and was reported
missing in action and later word came that he was a prisoner of
war. When Russia took over Romania, he was freed and returned to
Italy with a number of airmen. Recently he was able to send a
cablegram to his parents saying that he was safe and well.
His wife in Siloam Springs, Ark., recently received a letter from
him dated June 21, written from the prison camp saying that e
escaped injury all except singeing his hair. He also said, “For
those of us who have always lived in freedom, imprisonment is
hard to take. However, we are not badly treated and I feel it
will not be long before we are freed again.”
ARRIVES IN FRANCE
Templeton (THNS)—Mr. and Mrs. Joe Heithoff have
received word that their son, Cpl. Eugene A. Heithoff, has
arrived safely in France. Here is his address: APO 638, c/o
Postmaster, New York, N.Y. Cpl. Heitfhoff has been in the service
two years.
[transcribed by L.Z., November 2014]