380th Bomb Group Association   2001 REUNION - DAYTON, OHIO Dayton Marriott October 3-7, 2001

THE B-24D, STRAWBERRY BITCH

Most of you have not seen the inside of a glass-nosed, B-24D, for at least 57 years. The Wright-Patterson AF Base has graciously acceded to our request to open the hatches and bomb-bay doors, to allow us to go through their B-24D during our visit. Because of its rareness and subsequent value, please note the following:

BALIKPAPAN

Cliff Neve, a foreign operations employee of UNOCAL oil company, spent several years in Balikpapan working in the refinery there. While there, he became very much interested in the war history of Balikpapan. He wrote us several years ago and we sent him copies of everything we had on our missions, both from Darwin and Mindoro. He also contacted representatives of the 22nd, 43rd, 90th, and 307th Groups who also flew Balikpapan strikes.

He has offered to come to our Reunion in Dayton and give about an hour's talk on the history he has developed. We have scheduled him for the Welcoming Dinner on Thursday evening, October 4. This should be a welcome discussion for all of us and bring back many memories.

OUR MEMORIAL PLAQUE AT THE WPAFB MUSEUM

As a sort of completion of the Ceremony of the Air Force Academy this summer, we have scheduled a short service to be held at our Plaque in the Memorial Garden at the Museum. This will be held just after our regular buses arrive at the Museum at 09:15 AM, just before the main Museum visit. Chaplain Parrish from Wright-Patterson AFB has graciously agreed to do this service for us.