KENTON COUNTY

Upcoming Memorial Day reunion hits home for reporter/veteran

Cincinnati Enquirer

(About this video: After writing this article, reporter Chris Mayhew shared his thoughts about his military service and his grandfather's World War II experience.)

PARK HILLS, Ky. – A World War II B-17 bomber pilot and gunner are about to see each other for the first time in 73 years since a harrowing Nazi fighter plane attack.

This Memorial Day, John Klette, pilot of the "Flying Fortress," will be co-grand marshal of the annual Park Hills parade with his former B-17 gunner Arthur "Art" Unruh of Seattle.

The 100-year-old Klette is a lifelong Park Hills resident and retired attorney, according to a news release.

John Klette will reunite for Memorial Day in his hometown of Park Hills with one of his B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber crew members who survived Nazi fighters on a mission 73 years ago above Austria.

The two men flew a Silver Star Award mission together. They were crew members aboard a bomber similar to the famous Memphis Belle that went on exhibit May 17 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

On July 26, 1944, more than 50 Nazi fighters attacked a formation of B-17 planes on a bombing mission outside Vienna, Austria.

Some of the bombers were shot down.

Staff Sgt. Unruh and Lt. Klette were among survivors able to bring their "Flying Fortress" back to base in southern Italy.

Memorial Day events:Parades, flags and speeches mark Memorial Day events

Unruh, the tail gunner, said he fell apart when he saw the plane's condition when they landed.

“All the time I was in the air, I was busy shooting at the enemy fighters and I didn’t think about things until I got back on the ground and saw how butchered up the airplane was," Unruh said.

For their actions, Klette, Unruh and their crewmates earned the Silver Star Award. The Silver Star Medal is the third-highest award behind the Medal of Honor and distinguished service citations offered by the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.

This 1943 file photo shows the crew of the Memphis Belle, a Flying Fortress B-17F, poses in front of their plane in Asheville, N.C. Standing from left to right: tail gunner John P. Quinlan of Yonkers, N.Y.; nose gunner Charles B. Leighton of East Lansing, Mich.; co-pilot James Verinis of New Haven, Conn.; pilot Robert K. Morgan of Asheville, N.C.; bombardier Vincent Evans of Buellton, Calif.; radio operator Robert J. Hansen of Billings, Montana. Kneeling from left to right: waist gunner C.A. Nastal of Arlington Heights, Ill.; ball turret gunner Cecil H. Scott of Iselin, N.Y.; waist gunner C.E. Winchell of Barrington, Ill.; and navigator Harold P. Lock of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The most celebrated American aircraft to emerge from the great war has finally been restored Ð from its clear plastic nose cone down to the twin .50-caliber machine guns bristling in the tail.

Philip Ryan II, Klette's Northern Kentucky neighbor for 30 years, decided a year ago to try to find any surviving crewmates from the July 26, 1944, mission.

Ryan said Unruh didn't respond to a letter about Klette since the two men only flew one mission together. Ryan found a friend of Unruh's and arranged a phone call with Klette.

"As Art graciously thanked me for connecting them John spoke up and said, 'Ask Art if he was the one that shot down the last FW190 (Nazi fighter) coming at us on the right side,'" Ryan said.

Unruh said he shot the plane down. Klette thanked Unruh for saving their lives.

"Art replied, 'No! Thank him, because the plane was so shot up we wouldn't have gotten back if the two pilots hadn't worked together and landed it,'" Ryan said of the phone conversation.

Klette flew in 51 bombing missions over Nazi territory.

Unruh and Klette will meet at 10 a.m. Monday, May 28, at Highland Cemetery in Fort Mitchell for a ceremony. Unruh will ride in the Park Hills Memorial Day parade at 11:30 a.m. The parade starts at 11:30 a.m. at Notre Dame Academy, 1699 Hilton Drive, Park Hills.

Klette will not ride in the parade. He will meet Unruh for ceremonies at 12:30 p.m. at the intersection of Amsterdam Road and Park Drive, Park Hills.