I am Melanie "Nini" Eckels, daughter of Capt. Richard Wagner Eckels (Born Aug 22, 1927 Ardmore Okla- Died Jan 02,1990 Denver Colorado). "Eck" was his nickname during the War. He was the pilot of a B-25 Bomber, and a member of the 5th AF, 405 Squad, 38th BG, and a Green Dragon. He flew 155 combat hours, 26 missions in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Helped in the organization and activation of the Philippine Army Air Force. RWE organized basic components of the Air Force as Troop Carrier Groups, Service Groups etc. During that period he was a Lieutenant, he continued serving in the Air Force Reserves until 1960. RWE went on to excel in the Oil and Gas business as an Independent Land Man in Colorado.

I have inherited several boxes of his WWII medals, wings & ring, letters, documents, photo's, personal notes, class tests and all of his recon images too. There is so much material, it is a little overwhelming. I'm self employed and don't have hours daily to shift through it, but I will gladly share what I can with anyone who cares to inquire. In this big stack was a few copies of the Sunsetters newsletter, kept by my late mother Bev Eckels, I think she may have continued being a member after his passing. I was so glad to find you online, I only wish my dad had, he'd love this!

One last note, today is the 65th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, watching the American and Japanese fliers actually hug today on the news was very moving. I send my heartfelt thanks for this great site and more thanks to all of you wonderful WWII heroes.

Warm Regards,
Melanie Eckels

Dear Melanie,

It was great to see your item about your Dad. I try to get to the FORUM page about every week or ten days. I am the editor of the 38th BG Association newsletter. I was also a pilot in the 38th BG, 405th Bomb Squadron from July of 1994 to April of 1945. But I do not recall knowing your Dad.

I would be interested in whatever you have to share about your Dad.

I became the editor at our 2004 reunion in St. Louis. The newsletters from January 2005 have majored on the history of the 38th BG Starting with December 1941 to April 1942 in that issue. The May 2005 issue covered the four months May through August of 1942. Each issue since then has covered four months of the subsequent history. I am preparing the January 2007 issue at this time which will cover January through April 1944.

Our intention was to give our members a chronological but somewhat abbreviated history of our organization because it was thought that the man who had been writing our history for nearly 20 years was never going to get it finished. His book is still not published.

You could become a "Friend of the 38th" and receive our newsletters and news of our reunions by sending a $10 contibution each year to our Sect./Treasurer:
Orland Gage
337 W.Reservoir Dr.
Lewiston, ID 83501

Please get in touch with me directly because there is more that I would like to tell you. If you send me your mailing address, I will send you a recent copy.

David Gunn
pappygnk@juno.com

Hello,
My name is chris and I collect photos from WWII. I came across a photo of what I believe to be a photo of a flight crew in front of their bomber. The crew members are all identafied, but I cant track any of them down. Can you tell me if the attached photo is one of the crewes? If not any ideas?
The info I do have is :

The Ball gunners name is Guy Fryar #18110137

Assigned to the 405th Bombe Sq.



Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks Chris

Hello,
My name is chris and I collect photos from WWII. I came across a photo of what I believe to be a photo of a flight crew in front of their bomber. The crew members are all identafied, but I cant track any of them down. Can you tell me if the attached photo is one of the crewes? If not any ideas?
The info I do have is :

The Ball gunners name is Guy Fryar #18110137

Assigned to the 405th Bombe Sq.



Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks Chris