I received the following email from Jim McCabe. His parents were best friends with Pat Pellicci and his wife. While I'm still not sure yet if Pat is related or not, I thought I'd add Jim's email as it gives greater detail than Teddy does to the fate of Pat.
"I was surfing the internet for information about my father's (and his friend's)training at Selman AAF(Army Air Force) Base and came across "Memoirs of an Immigrant".
Pat and his wife were my parents best man and maid of honor at their wedding in Monroe, LA, when my Dad and Pat were training to be WWII Navigators. In my father's records is a list of all the graduates so I have learned that Pat's ASN (Army Serial Number)was 02069889. I have been in contact with Pat's wife, Angela, and daughter, Pat Mueller, and have many photos and letter's written and the AAR(Air Accident Report) of Pat and his crew's death's. The circumstances were far worse than you wrote.
As they were approaching their landing in England, the pilot and/or co-pilot of the bomber in formation behind them was basically "showing off" how tightly he could fly to Pat's bomber. Tragically, they flew in so close the props sheared off the tail of Pat's bomber just behind the waist gunners area and both bombers plummeted 1000 feet to the ground. The entire crews (21men) from both bombers perished.
Pat wrote to my parents about how proud he was of his fellow crew members. My father, Michael J. McCabe, and mother, Kaye L. McCabe, spoke so highly of Pat and Angela until his their deaths in 2003 and 2005. A smile filled with deep love, respect and profound sadness was everpresent whenever they spoke of these dearest of friends.
You should know that in April of 1945 when the soldirers from the War Department came to notify Angela of Pat's death, it was their wedding anniversary. I believe their daughter was 2 months old. An hour after they left, Angela received a dozen roses that Pat had made previous arrangements for her to receive. What a "class act". I wish I could have known him." Jim McCabe 804-512-1180 John R. Bannon was Pat's pilot of unnamed aircraft #42-51909. Robert J. Free was the pilot of "Little King" #42-50790. John R. Barron Crew: Pasquale M. Pellicci Anthony S. Birbeck Raymond G. Carnahan Homer S. Gentry, Jr. Earl A. Graf Harold G. Hackworth Hulet Mack Robert E. Miller Samuel Salat Robert J. Free Crew T/Sgt Anthony S. Birbeck 2Lt Wiliam C. Carlson Sgt August C. Haak Lt James P. Haran, Jr T/Sgt Donald E. Harris Sgt William F. Husted Martin Rubin Harvey L. Sexton Harold A. Smith Jr Henry T. Wrzesinski |