Letter to the
Red Cross of Flanders
January 17, 2002
To the Red Cross of Flanders,
Greetings from the United States. I write to
you today of a mission that I have undertaken to reunite some
old friends who have not seen or heard from each other in over
57 years. I am hoping that perhaps you can be of some help in
this work of love. Here's is My Story.
My name is Dennis
E. Hayman. I am a relative of William M. Miller, a WWII P-47 pilot
with the 412th Fighter Squadron of the 373rd Fighter Group. 1Lt.
Miller was killed in action on Christmas Day, 1944, during the
Battle of the Bulge. I was very young at the time, yet so close
to him that I still feel a bond with him, and his memory has colored
my entire life even unto this day. Recently, after a long search
for information about my uncle, I have been successful in locating
members of his squadron. They have quite a bond also with each
other -- that has also lasted these many years. They still hold
annual reunions and were gracious enough to invite my wife and
I to join them to become members of their group. To me this
was a great honor for I have learned a lot about them and not
only what they did during the war (which was very outstanding),
but also about their values today. To spend time with them and
their families each year is a blessing for my wife and I for
they personify the positive spirit that overcame so much trauma
and turned it into a lasting peace. This spirit I also feel within
the many people of Belgium who have helped me in my search for
information about my uncle and his comrades. It is still there
and powerful.
There was a time near
Christmas in 1944 when some young American pilots and some even
younger Belgian children came together in ways that seem to have
touched their lives forever. I can relate to that very well, since
I was about the same age as the children of Dongelberg, when my
uncle was hugging them close.
For six months during
the fall and winter of 1944-1945, this unit was stationed at Le
Culot Airfield near Dongelberg, Belgium. The pilots were living
in the Villa associated with the Castle de Dongelberg, while there
was an orphanage located in the castle. Each day there was much
interaction between the men and the children. I have read a newspaper
story of this relationship complete with pictures of the happy
faces of the adults and children alike as they helped each other
survive the very stressful feelings brought about by life in a
war zone. There were pictures also of a wonderful Christmas party
at the castle sponsored by the men of the 373rd Fighter Group.
The men talk about
the beauty of those moments away from the war and these feelings
have carried forward to this time. Speaking as one of the relatives
of the men who were there, I have been affected by this myself.
Thinking about my uncle spending some of his last moments in happiness
with the children has brought a sense of peace to me. But what
of the children themselves?
While I was searching
for information about my uncle, I briefly communicated with a
woman from England who was separated from her family during the
bombing of London. She, along with thousands of other children,
was sent to the countryside for safety. But she was very lonely
and frightened. She told of a Christmas party that was given by
an American bomber group and that each child was assigned an American
airman. She said that to this day, she still thinks of her American
and wishes that she could find him to see if he survived the war
and to tell him how much his day with her meant to her life. That
really made me think. I had seen the effects of the children on
the American airmen of the 412th Fighter Squadron and knew how
much they meant to them. So, I told her that I was sure that she
had made just as big an impression on her American as he had on
her. I wished her well in her search (which was being helped along
by some surviving bomber group members).
So, I began to wonder
how it would be if the children of the orphanage at Dongelberg
could be reunited with the men of the 412th Fighter Group. It
could be that some of the children do not even remember those
days but perhaps some, like the woman from England, have memories
that would like to be fulfilled. I know that the men of the 412th
would like to connect with these children again even if only
one could be found. There would be a physical link with a time
of heightened emotions. There is no commercial reason for doing
this. It is just a labor of love. If I could achieve this goal,
it would be as if I had honored all that my uncle and the other
men of the 412th stood for. It would be something good to have
come out of the war. I know that some of the other relatives that
I have talked with also feel the same. There is something very
special about this story. Yet, it needs a happy ending.
I am hoping that you
can provide some information on the names and current locations
of any of the children of the orphanage so that we can ask them
if they are interested in meeting with the men of the 412th Fighter
Squadron. I have provided some pictures of some of the children
and a few of their first names to my friend Ludo Van Moorleghem.
Ludo has taken much of his own time to help seek information for
me. He has introduced me to others in Belgium who have graciously
helped also. He could make these pictures and names available
to you should you need them.
I am asking that the
men of the 412th indicate by signing their names below, that they
agree with this search. They could also include any handwritten
comments that they would like. We do not wish to intrude on anyone¹s
life who does not want to be contacted but we would like to
contact anyone who would desire to share in the memories and love
of those days. Thank you for your consideration.
Dennis
E. Hayman
The following
is a letter Letter about the 412th and the children
Dear Barbara,
I just read your tale of "The GI and the Evacuee" and was very
touched by it. I want to share something with you along the same
lines. Perhaps this will help you to understand how important
you were to your GI at your 1942/43 Christmas party. You see,
it works both ways.
I will begin by including a letter that I sent to Georges Picavet
of the Belgium-Roots Web, after which he suggested that I join
the mail list to see if that would help.
--------- Forwarded
email message ----------
Dear Mr. Picavet,
I am writing to you in regards to a difficult search that I have
been conducting for the men of the 412th Fighter Squadron. It
deals with a love affair they have with Belgium and in particular,
some orphans that they cared for during WWII. Let me explain further.
I began looking for
information about a family member (1lt. William M. Miller) who
was a P-47 pilot during the war. Along the way, I connected with
his old Squadron and have met many people who knew Bill. These
wonderful people still hold reunions and have adopted my wife
and I into their company. We attended their 2000 reunion in September
and learned many more things about them. We are also helping to
arrange the 2001 reunion - and therein lies the story.
I have discovered
that some of their greatest exploits took place during the Battle
of the Bulge. Bill Miller was killed on Christmas Day, 1944, when
they were flying out of Le Culot Belgium. The pilots, including
Bill, were very close to and supported a group of orphans located
at the site of their quarters - in a castle at Dongelberg. I will
add here a portion of a letter that I sent to some sites in Belgium
looking for help. It will explain the connection between the 412th
FS and the orphanage.
The 412th FS was a
part of the 373rd Fighter Group, stationed at Le Culot Field.
They had become somewhat famous at home because they were involved
in several notable missions, which hit very hard against the German
Army. On one occasion they were responsible (because of their
sustained low-level ground attacks), for causing the surrender
of 20,000 German troops. I have seen the various newspaper articles
regarding these events. At one point in 1944, the New York Times
newspaper sent a reporter to visit this Fighter Group. The reporter
mentioned that people at home were concerned because the Group's
pilots had become known as "McGehee's Killers" due to their successes
in battle. People were concerned because they wondered about what
would happen when such people were returned home after the war.
What kind of men would they have become? How would they fit back
into a society of peace-loving people?
The story goes that
the reporter was taken not to the airfield when he arrived - but
instead to the Orphanage at Dongelberg. There he met Colonel McGehee.
The reporter asked why he was visiting the orphanage instead of
seeing these tough, war hardened pilots. The Colonel told him
to be patient and that he would see the pilots soon - as a mission
would be returning shortly.
Soon the reporter
witnessed the pilots coming right from the airfield. The first
thing they did was to come in to the orphanage and spend time
with the children. There was lots of hugging and playing of music
and laughing and dancing. These men had come back from terror
and horror - exhausted and drained of adrenaline. But when they
were with the children, they were rejuvenated. One of the men
said that he had to hurry back from his mission to put a three
year-old to bed. That was important to him.
The Colonel told the
reporter that his men of the 410th, 411th, and 412th Fighter Squadrons
did this all the time. This time they spent with the children
made it all seem worth it. This contact kept them in the proper
perspective, he told the reporter. He said that no one need worry
about how they were going to be if and when they went home. The
remaining pilots have all mentioned to me that their casualties
were so high, that none of them expected to survive past Christmas
1944. The children were the physical embodiment of love that they
could hold on to.
Many of them did not
make it home. Lt. Bill Miller was one of those men who now lay
in rest in a cemetery in Belgium. I can remember him hugging me
when he left for Europe. I was only 4 years old at the time. Now
it gives me pleasure to think of him in his spare time hugging
some of the children at the orphanage at Dongelberg. I know that
many of the men still think of the children and the orphanage
and they wonder what happened to them and the Castle (They have
shown me pictures of the castle's twin towers). These people are
still tied together by the love they shared during a time of great
stress. I learned during my search for information about Bill
Miller that there are millions of people around the world still
looking for lost friends and relations. We are all connected.
So, I would like to help the remaining men of the 412th learn
what they can.
I thank you for any
information that you may be able to provide about the history
of the castle and the orphanage - as well as the children.
That is the bulk of
the story. I have seen the look in the eyes of these men (now
in their late 70's and mid-80's) as they talk about how they shared
Christmas with the orphans and how they wonder what happened to
them. My greatest desire is to be able to locate at least one
of those children and have that person present at the reunion
in September of 2001. To this end I have been conducting a search.
I found from one Belgian
government source that the orphanage was run by the International
Red Cross. I have gone through channels in the American and International
Red Cross organizations -- and still have come up with nothing.
I have tried a few contacts in Belgium and still nothing - not
even a response yet. The thought came to me one day that perhaps
one or more of the children had ended up coming to the US or Canada.
But, without a name it is difficult to trace any one person. I
had hoped that the Red Cross might be able to provide me with
names. The only name I had reference to was a young girl named
Monique (no last name).
In checking to see
if I could find any immigrants from Belgium, I came across your
fantastic web site. You certainly have done a lot of research
-- and I am sure that this is very rewarding for you - as well
as for those you have helped. I am now asking you for some advice
on how I could proceed to try to reach my goal of reuniting these
people who loved each other during some very stressful times.
That love continues to this day and some of the men have even
gone back to the area of Dongelberg looking for that connection.
I would appreciate
any help that you can provide. Thanks for taking the time to read
this lengthy letter.
Dennis
E. Hayman
Barbara - I have found
a lot of information about Bill Miller from his closest friend
who survives today - and is 84 years old. The two of them spent
a lot of time with the children mentioned above. The Christmas
party at the Orphanage in 1944 was planned by the pilots and crews.
They told me that they saved a lot of their food gifts from home,
including the wrapping paper, stole food from their own kitchens,
bought all the gifts from nearby towns that they could afford,
and generally all chipped in to make it a special Christmas. Bill
Miller was one who played Santa that Christmas Eve and I know
that all of the men (they were just youngsters themselves) had
a wonderful time. I would like to find some of those children
to tell them just how important they were to these men who gave
so much of themselves.
I hope that you are
successful in finding your GI. In any event, it is important that
you know that you gave your love to him at a time when he needed
it most. That was the most precious of gifts. Thank you so much.
Dennis E. Hayman
