Sadly we received news of the death of Cowden Ward, Jr., owner and pilot of P-51 Mustang called "Pecos BIll". Many of us veterans first met Cowden through Scott Glover. It is a great story: Scott was on his way in his C-47 to come to our reunion. He was taking off when Scott saw Cowden in his P-51 and asked Cowden where he was going. Cowden told him he was headed to an air race. Cowden asked where Scott where he was going, Scott said, “I’m on my way to the National WWII Glider Pilots Reunion to give rides to WWII Veterans.” Without hesitation Cowden said, “I’m on your tail.”

That began a relationship with Cowden and our veterans that has lasted from 2013 through 2018. Cowden has attended all our reunions, with "Pecos Bill", including our reunion in October at the Silent Wings Museum. He has given hundreds of rides to our veterans. It was always about taking care of each of us. Many of those veterans have passed but they were so happy to have flown in that P-51. Many, if not all, at the age of 18 to 20 who first signed up for the USAAF dreamed to fly fighters, me included. As a Troop Carrier organization it is obvious we did not get that choice. Cowden, however, gave us that gift. I remember at that first reunion, there were twelve of us and we all waited for that ride and it was no short ride. As the day got later some of us worried that we would not get that ride and people were leaving to go to dinner. Cowden would not let that happen and flew until each one of us had the flight of our dreams. Thank you Cowden.

Cowden died when his P-51 crashed in Fredericksburg, Texas on November 17, 2018, during an air show. With him was a WWII B-17 Pilot Vincent Losada, of San Antonio, Texas. who also died in the crash.

Cowden will be missed by the members of the Association and the Silent Wings Museum Staff who got to know him so well this last October. Those of us who loved seeing those P-51s near our formations to give support had a special relationship with Cowden, even those who never met him. We knew you so well, Cowden, through a vintage plane called Pecos Bill, High Flight!

--Otto Lyons
National Chairman
National WWII Glider Pilot Association
Glider Pilot [15th TCS/61st TCG Market]

On June 1st of this year the Missing in America Project and the Vietnam Veterans of America, Shore Area Chapter 12 in New Jersey, held an Interment Service for the unclaimed cremains of 5 forgotten Veterans and 1 of their spouses. Working together, both organizations search funeral homes and mortuaries for veterans that had been cremated and forgotten. In their search they discovered the cremains of Glider Pilot Clarence W Korthof, Flight Officer, US Army Air Force, WWII, Air Medal 2/2 OLCs and his wife, Dorothy. FO Korthof’s cremains were unclaimed since 1971.

Mr. Richard Gough of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Shore Area Chapter 12, did his research and could not find any living relatives of the couple but did come across the WWII Glider Pilots Association. He contacted Patricia Overman, the National Wing Commander, and the outcome was an open invitation to the Association for the Interment Ceremony.

On that day my husband Bob and I took the 3 hour trip to New Jersey to attend the Interment on behalf of the Association. When I say it was an honor to attend this ceremony, that is an understatement. The work these gentlemen do would tug at anyone’s heart. The ceremony is something I will always remember. They included us in the procession, Bob escorting FO Korthof’s cremains while I was honored with escorting the burial flag. At the end of the ceremony we were presented with the burial flag by the US Air Force honor guard, which we will bring to the members of the Association at the reunion in October.

The group invited us to an informal lunch after the ceremony which we gladly accepted. This gave us the opportunity to talk to these dedicated veterans who follow the belief "never leave a fellow veteran behind” whether it be on the battlefield or on a shelf of a funeral home. A lot of hard work and research goes into every case that they find. They must to try to find any family members of the deceased to get their permission to proceed with the service. We learned of their selflessness as they told us how they give talks to kids at local schools about their service to our country and how they volunteer at Home Depot for the kid’s DIY classes, just to name a few.

The ceremony was to honor the deceased veterans and their family members. These family members were the only participants that were allowed to speak during the ceremony besides the Chaplain, of course. Many politicians had expressed an interest and were told they are welcome to attend but no speeches were to be made out of respect to the deceased. One would have thought that the more publicity the better, but these gentlemen do a great job on their own. The thing that impressed me the most was the fact that they think only of the best way to honor these deceased veterans without making it a public forum for those seeking recognition.

We were very happy to have been fortunate enough to attend on Flight Officer Korthof’s behalf, and again, it was a great honor. Thank you to the Missing in America Project and everyone that works so hard to make sure these ceremonies are possible.

--Joan Abrahamsen, Deputy Wing Commander
National WWII Glider Pilots Association



Vist Missing in America Project website.

TODAY IN HISTORY 24 March 1945 “Target Across the Rhine! EMMERICH 9761 - WESEL 2240!

“From the first days of November 1944 until H-hour finally struck at 1000 hours 24 March 1945, these two Teutonci towns on the Northeast bank of the Rhine held a magnetic attraction for the IX Troop Carrier command planning staff under Major General Paul L. WILLIAMS.

“Seizure of the Emmerich-Wesel sector would fling open the gate to the industrially-precious Ruhr and the heart of the Reich. So it was that the greatest of German rivers was being spanned on Troop Carrier planning tables hardly before the echo of September’s skyborne thrust into Holland had faded into the silence of past events.” --IX TROOP CARRIER COMMAND

Varsity was the airborne component of the invasion of Germany and the largest single airlift in WWII. On March 24, 1945, two Divisions were lifted into the area of Wesel Germany near the Ruhr industrial area. The American 17th Airborne and the British 6th Airborne were delivered from a skytrain that was two and a half hours long. Over 500 miles of aircraft filled the air.

There were several other ‘firsts’ in Varsity.

Duel tow was used in combat in the ETO.

Two hundred of the C-47s had self-sealing tanks. However, this caused a fuel issue where many of these planes would not be able to return to their air fields. An Emergency airfield was set up.

It was the first time the C-46 was used to drop paratroopers. All Squadrons of the 313th Troop Carrier Group, located at Achiet , France, transferred out all of their C-47’s and were replaced with the new larger capacity C-46’s. Besides being able to transport more troops it had two doors to allow a quicker exit for the Airborne. Of the 72 planes flown, in a tight V formation into Drop Zone (N), only 13 returned and only three of those returned without damage. Thirty three went down and others made Emergency landings. A hydraulic system was used to operate the controls. Unfortunately, due to the engineering of the ship’s oil lines and gas tanks, which were exposed on the under belly of the ship, they were vulnerable to catching fire by flak.

This was the first time gliders landed in unsecured Landing Zones. They landed in the face of 88mm and 20mm anti-aircraft guns from every field. The 88mm were lowered to destroy the gliders as they landed. Machine gun fire and small arms fire rained from every farm house and barn. All units were forced into an infantry role until the landing zone was secured.

Glider Pilots were assigned infantry roles with the Airborne Units they were delivering, providing support to the combat units.

One glider pilot group, the 435th, had actually been assigned a defensive position on the front line of the 194th Combat Team’s perimeter, between Battalions 2 an 3. That night, they repelled an attack by a company of German infantry that was supported by a tank and two flak guns in what was to become known as the ‘Battle of Burp Gun Corner’.

Operation Varsity is usually ignored in most main stream accounts of WWII, yet it had the highest number of pilots killed in action of any one day of the war. (It also had the highest number of airborne troopers KIA in any one day of the war.) And though the operation lacked the strategic significance of the Normandy invasion, or the drama of the heroic struggle to retain Bastogne, it was, nonetheless, the final blow to the Nazi regime. A few weeks after the 17th Airborne completed their sweep of the Ruhr valley, taking almost half a million POWs, the German Army surrendered.

Glider Pilot casualty rates for combat missions in the ETO:
Normandy: 48
Southern France: 19
Holland: 30
Bastogne: 4
Rhine: 86

Obituary: Atkinson, NH: Martin M. Feuer, 96, a resident of Atkinson for the last sixty-six years, died peacefully in his home on March 23, 2018, surrounded by his loving family.

Born May 3, 1921 in Marlow, NH, son of late Lewis and Rosa (Walker) Feuer, he attended Marlow schools, later graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Forestry. In his time at UNH, he was captain of the lacrosse team and a proud member of the UNH Fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho.

Trained as a qualified pilot and a member of the Civil Air Patrol, Mr. Feuer was called to serve his country as a Captain in the US Army Air Corps during W.W.II. Serving as a glider pilot he saw action in the invasion of Normandy, along with many other significant battles during WWII and was a recipient of the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the American Campaign Medal, the Europe/Africa/MedEast Campaign Medal with 1 Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars and 1 Bronze Arrowhead, the World War II Victory Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Combat Service Commemorative and the D-Day Commemorative, the Glider Pilot Badge, and the Air Force Presidential Unit Citation.

After graduating from college, he was employed by the Manchester New Hampshire Water Works for twenty years, as manager of the Manchester Water Shed Area near Lake Masabesic. Mr. Feuer established Feuer Lumber in Atkinson, NH, in 1954, operating it for thirty-three before retiring n 1987.

Mr. Feuer was a devoted and active member of the Atkinson community, serving on Atkinson’s School Board, Planning Board and the Conservation Committee. In his term on the school board he worked to reestablish, personally repair and refurbish and finally reactivate Atkinson Academy. He also devoted his time as a volunteer firefighter for the town of Atkinson and was a longtime member of Holy Angels Parish and St. Luke the Evangelist Parish. He was member of the National WWII Glider Pilot Association, serving as both the New Hampshire State and New England Commander and Deputy Commander of the Northeast Region.

He is survived by his loving wife of seventy years, Eleanor C. (Consentino) Feuer, three sons, Martin L. Feuer of York, ME, Peter A. Feuer and his wife Ann of Chester, NH and John L. Feuer of Atkinson NH, two daughters-in-law, Roxanne Feuer of Atkinson and Dale Lang of Toronto, Canada, a sister Gloria Olsen of St. Petersburg FL, four grandchildren, Myles Feuer of Atkinson and Jonathan Sicsik, of Minnesota and Erin Lang of Germany and Robin Lang, of The Netherlands as well as many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by two brothers’ in-law, Albert Consentino and his wife Gloria and Philip Consentino.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend Mr. Feuer’s Life Celebration to be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Brookside Chapel & Funeral Home, 116 Main St., Route 121A, Plaistow, NH. His funeral will be held on Wednesday at 9 a.m. from the funeral home with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in Saint Luke the Evangelist Parish, 8 Atkinson Depot Rd. Plaistow. Burial will take place in Atkinson Cemetery later in the spring. To send a message of condolence to the family, please visit www.brooksidechapelfh.com