Memorial Day began early for us in 2014. After a long journey by plane, train, and auto, we arrived on the Adriatic coast, in the small town of Lesina, Italy, on May 13. What happened there changed our lives forever.
Lesina was the location of the airbase of the 325th Fighter Group of World War II. They were known as the “Checkertails” because of the yellow and black checkerboard pattern on the tail surfaces of their P-51D Mustangs. The Nazis who had held the territory wrecked the town as they were driven out by the Allied forces, intending to leave nothing useful behind. When the Americans arrived to build their airbase, the Italians welcomed them with open arms, helping them build, as the Americans also helped the town rebuild.
Seventy years later, we, other family and friends of the veterans of the 325th, and one surviving veteran, Col. John Gaston, were also welcomed with open arms and the most overwhelming display of genuine affection I can remember ever witnessing. Our hosts and translators were especially solicitous. Thomas Ricci, who shepherded us through the week, along with Giuseppe, Primiano, Silvio, and many more are now friends for life.
Five of our group were daughters of the pilots. Some of us were friends of families who could not make the journey. For my own part, I was a skinny fifteen year-old kid in East Tennessee who was lucky enough to find a friend in the person of Gordon McDaniel. We both loved flying model airplanes. I found out soon that he was a “Checkertail” and had become an “Ace” in one day. But not a word about it from him. He never talked about the war, except for one night at my parent’s home, where he started at the beginning, and went all the way to the end. There is a photo of him on a motorbike, at war’s end, holding up the Stars and Stripes newspaper with the headline “It’s Over, Over Here.” My memories of Mac, as he was known, are rich and unforgettable. Years passed and lives diverged. Mac passed away in the 80s. Later, around 2007, I learned that a documentary was being filmed about the 325th, by two men, one in the UK, and one in the States. The plan was to make it available to anyone for free. I volunteered myself for whatever use I could be. In partnership with a talented British photojournalist, Neil Pugh, and a gifted architect, researcher and air combat gamer, Ralph Gimenez, I ended up co-writing and recording the narration. After seven years, what started out intending to be a ten minute work has mushroomed into three parts, each over two hours long!
Lesina is a very small town on the Adriatic Sea, whose main industries are agriculture, fishing, and tourism. It is not a wealthy community. Yet we all were treated as royalty, our lodging and board paid for by them. Anywhere we ventured into town, we were greeted warmly and effusively (although we didn’t always understand what was said). The expressions of gratitude were unending, everyone wanting to tell their grandfather’s or uncle’s story of how the Americans saved them. I remember particularly one elderly man who did not speak English, looked into my wife’s eyes, took her hand, and just held it, patting it while gazing into the distance for several minutes. Granted, my wife is a lovely woman, and the gentleman, after all, was Italian!
The generosity from people who could likely ill afford it, and the unedited affection for us, because of a connection to young pilots and crew seventy years before, who helped a people with their backs to the wall, homes and industry destroyed, is both humbling and astonishing. It has made me reflect on the increasingly dark cynicism we have come to accept and expect as normal among ourselves as Americans. We saw none of that in Lesina, only love.
Why were we there at this particular time? For the dedication of a memorial to the 325th Fighter Group on May 16. Designed by Ralph Gimenez and built of Italian marble, it now rests on the shore of Lake Lesina, with a bronze plaque commemorating the 317th, 318th, and 319th Fighter Squadrons of the 325th Fighter Group -- the “Checkertails.” If we can manage it, we may return another year for another visit with our dear friends. But I hope we will have learned a little more Italian by then.
Anyone who wishes to learn more about the “Checkertails” or to download the documentary for free, visit the website, www.checkertails.org, and the FB page, The 325th Fighter Group.
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