Pass In Review   "Shedding Light On Idaho’s Military History"
1st Quarter	March 1999

QUARTERLY MEMBERSHIP MEETING AND GUEST SPEAKER ANNOUNCED
27 April 1999, 1900 hours, is this year’s first Membership meeting. We encourage you to come and ask questions, offer suggestions, sign up for a day or two or three to come in and work on an area of interest to you, and get up to date on the various projects we are involved in.

Don also served in the Idaho Air National Guard after the ‘war’, flying both the F-86 and F-102. Please join us in what is sure to be a very interesting and informative evening.

The IMHS has come along way these past 6 years and there is much more that we can do. Organizations like the IMHS give people the opportunity to participate in something they are interested in. For IMHS members, the interest is Idaho’s Military History.

The main limitation to our goals and objectives right now is lack of staffing. We have several projects on the drawing board right now and as much as he would like to, our Executive Director can’t do everything; it physically impossible.  We are still looking for a Director for our Outreach Program. This is a terrific opportunity to educate the youth of our state and the youth are interested in learning.

We recently received a letter from the Organization Just Kids. They have scheduled Field Trips to the Museum up through the end of August with at least one trip per month and with at least 35-45 students per visit.We would like to be able to hold a raffle again this year but we need a Project Officer. The raffle was a very successful event last year and we raised several thousand dollars.

We have been invited to participate in the Aero Fair again this year, which will be the 12-13 of June. Again this was a very successful event and again, we need a Project Officer.

We know this will be a great fundraising event for us. It will also give us the opportunity to let Mountain Home know that the Idaho Military History Museum exists! Again, we need a Project Officer.

Even if you can’t be the Project Officer for any of these events, we need your help, that is to say, WE NEED YOU!!! If we are to have a booth at these events, we need staffers to ‘man’ the booths. The Western Idaho Fair would also be a great event but we had to cancel last year because we didn’t have enough volunteers and this year is not looking much better.

General Colin Powell challenged American’s to make a difference in the world by volunteering, mentoring and helping educate children. The IMHS can help you meet this challenge.  Please, call us at 422-6128 to sign up for a project. Better yet, stop by. You’ll be glad you did!  - Ken Swanson

THE GINGHAM DOG AND THE CALICO CAT
IDAHO FILE INTO HISTORY

When the world was just entering the fifth decade of the twentieth century, Dan Davis, with his twin brother David, decided that it was time to run away from home in Payette and join 'the service.'
In their case it was the National Guard just before it was to be federalized "for a year" in 1940. Dan joined H Company, 161st Regiment of the Northwest's 41st Division and David joined the 148th Field Artillery of the Idaho Guard. After all; it paid 65 cents per drill (four per month). Who could turn that down?

The year stretched to five and one half and before long they were on their way overseas. In fact, the Pearl Harbor attack caught both units on the high seas. Dan's unit was diverted to Hawaii while his brother's 148th Field Artillery continued to the Far East where it fought the entire war.

But Dan had visions of flying one of those hot pursuit ships. So, in Hawaii, he transferred to the Army Air Corps.  As the early tensions and pressures of Pearl Harbor ebbed, Dan and others were returned to "the states" (Hawaii was not yet a state) for training where he finally became a full-fledged cadet late in 1942.

He went through preflight and primary training and on January 7, 1944, was commissioned a second lieutenant  and assigned to pilot training in the P-38, a very fast twin-engine "pursuit" plane.

After advanced and combat training, he was assigned to the 364th Fighter Group and sent to England in May, 1944. That was invasion time and concurrent with that historical event, Dan began flying combat missions over the continent.

He flew 27 missions, fifteen in the P-38 and the last twelve in a P-51. He preferred the P-38 for its 'non-torque' stability (counter rotating props) and greater firepower. It mounted a twenty-millimeter canon and four fifty-caliber machine guns.

He, and his P-38, "Doodle Bug," were members of the 385th Squadron (364th Group) of the Eighth Air Force, and flew out of Honington Air Base at Bury St. Edmunds, England.  On his twenty-seventh mission (September 11th) Dan was shot down by an ME-109 which he had shot down. Say wha-at? Well, it's sort of like "the gingham dog and the calico cat" who ate each other up. (Remember the children’s nursery rhyme?)

High over Germany, about 25,000 feet, Dan says, "... 1115 hours, my high blower cut out ... I figured I might as well complete the mission even though I couldn't pull more than 28" manifold pressure.  I could just keep up with the flight with my throttle wide open. About five minutes later we spotted a gaggle of ME- 109's and FW- 190's in a huge Luftbeny ... dropped our wing tanks and pushed everything to the firewall (but with his engine problem he fell behind). By the time I got there, there was nothing to do but go in alone ... looked around and there were about fifty ME- 109's coming in on us ...

Flight leader had called for help reporting about 100 ME- 109's and FW- 190's ... now there were just seven of us trying to corner 150 Jerries over Germany. I entered the Luftberry from the top at about 20,000 feet…went around with them six or seven times…I could see the expressions on the face of the Jerry pilots as I flew on their wing. I picked an FW- 190 and fired a couple of short bursts at him.

I got some strikes and pieces flew off, fired another burst and he broke into flames and started down. He went into a spin and the last I saw of him was an explosion. I found myself alone except for an ME- 109 and I turned into him firing all the time. Pieces flew off his plane but he flew straight and level even after I hit him. I got on his tail and gave him a final burst, smoke poured out of his right side ... prop windmilling. 

I got too damn curious about this Jerry and forgot where my flap handle was... usually to slow down ... should cut the throttle ... drifted alongside and looked him over. His tail and fuselage shot to pieces with large holes and his canopy was blown off. Smoke was pouring out of his plane. He looked at me ... I started to pull up and turn left.  I looked over my shoulder and knew I'd bought it ... could see his guns firing (20mm) ... his slugs hit me in the oil cooler beneath the plane.  

I stalled out and went into a spin. I could smell smoke, and flames were coming up from the floor of the cockpit. I released the safety belt and was sucked out of the plane. The first thing I saw was the 109 ... later saw him crash at the edge of a forest ... landed on a railroad track...when I hit the ground it was about 1210 hours".

Davis was locked in a temporary 2 x 4 windowless cell and via several transfers ended up in Stalag Luft I (Barth, Germany) on September 22, 1944. On May 1, 1945, the Russians captured Stalag Luft I and shortly, Davis was flown to Reims, France where, among other things, he was "deloused". 

He was taken back to England for a short bit of rest and relaxation and then home to the U.S.A. where he enjoyed sixty days leave. He remained in the Air Force and retired May 30, 1961 with the rank of Major.

Dan kept meticulous journals and other personal records while he was a POW and over the last few years he has donated a great deal of his memorabilia to the Museum. We are pleased to announce that it is now on display. 

Dan was also a guest speaker at a membership meeting in May of 1997 and has also put in many hours as a Docent at the Museum. He recently moved to Idaho Falls to be closer to his family. On Behalf of the Board, Thank you Dan, PLEASE keep in touch.

VOLUNTEER OF THE QUARTER

Please meet Herb Berlier

Radio Technician First Class (Retired)
Herbert M. Berlier -"Ham" # K6PQ

Herb has been one of our most dedicated volunteers since mid 1997. Not only has Herb been volunteering three full days each week, but he has become one of Kurt von Tagen's favorite fall-back volunteers to docent on weekends.  We don’t have an accurate count on exactly how many hours Herb has put in at the Museum but we know for a fact that he exceeded 1000 volunteer hours in 1998. 

Herb, being a jack of all trades has hung light fixtures in both the work shop and storage area, installed electrical outlets and phone jacks as well as repaired and installed WWII radio equipment for a display. This does not include the innumerable hours cleaning and restoring our new Museum Annex.  

Herb was born in 1910 in Aldrich, Missouri. He attended school in Iowa and helped his father farm their land. During the Depression the family sold everything and moved to Santa Maria, California looking for work. There, Herb worked in farming, then worked in the oil fields as a roustabout on the oilrigs. After being laid off unexpectedly, Herb went to Los Angeles and attended a trade school, learning the business of a movie theater projectionist. 

About this time, Herb was introduced to the Amateur Radio hobby by a good friend. He immediately obtained his license and has been a "Ham" ever since.  When WWII started, Herb joined the U.S. Navy where he served for over three years. He was discharged in late 1945 as a Radio Technician First Class. 

Shortly after the war, Herb landed a job as a Sound System Field Engineer with RCA Service Company. In this capacity, he performed maintenance, repairs and installation of sound systems in theaters through out Southern California and Arizona.

He retired in 1975 and, after a couple years of puttering around the house and yard, went to work several days a week in the kitchen of his 5000 member church. After a 20 year "career" at the church, he decided to move to Boise to be closer to his family.  He was immediately "recruited" to become a Museum volunteer. Anyone who has been to the Museum has probably met and talked to Herb. If the conversation dealt with the Navy, electronics, or ‘hamming’, it was probably a long one! 

NATIONAL HISTORY DAY

The IMHS is proud to be a sponsor of Idaho’s National History Day Event. This year, the State Contest will be held at BSU’s Student Union Building, on April 16^th at 9:00 am.  As an attendee and judge at last year’s event, I highly recommend it.  Students from around the state create posters, exhibits, videos, etc., and submit them for judging. 

The History Day theme for 1999 is Science, Technology and Invention in History.

Last Years Winners

In 1998, the IMHS helped sponsor this event, contributing a $75 prize for the best Military History Display. Hillary and Elyse Thonssen created an exhibit on the Bataan Death March and shared the award. Their winning entry, pictured below, is now on display at the Museum.

O James Cozine        O Janice Frazier    O Peter Jacobson        O Marcia Keith

O Robert E. Keith        O Eugene McVey    O Gordon I. Shore        O Claire Steffens

O Kristy Cozine-Zerby        O Jon Zerby

TELL US YOUR STORY 

Do you enjoy the IDAHO FILE INTO HISTORY section of the Newsletter? Don’t assume that you had to have been the youngest breveted colonel or that you must have received five purple hearts or a chest full of medals to be of interest to the Idaho record. 

It's the archives in which we are most interested -- not so much the newsletter stories of today. A history of your military experiences will be of immense value fifty or 100 years from now.

So far, we have received only WWII experiences. What happened to Korean vets? Vietnam? Desert Storm? IMHS has received almost nothing from the enlisted ranks or the veterans of women's services.

We are looking for the everyday GI experiences, a soldiers' point of view. Send us yours, -- AND give us names of those who you feel have a story to tell. We may be able to contact and interview them.  When writing your story, be sure that you identify personnel involved, date (as close as possible), location and information that lends color or credence to your story. Besides going into the Idaho record, it may be printed here in the newsletter.

At the end of your memoir and on the same sheet of paper, please write or type, "This memoir may be edited for publication in the Idaho Military History Museum newsletter, Pass In Review". Then sign and date the statement.  To you who may have already written your military memoirs, please send a copy to: -

The Idaho File
Idaho Military History Museum
4040 West Guard Street
Boise, ID 83705-5004 

 The editors of Pass In Review reserve the right to edit articles for length and structure; however, the greatest care is taken to preserve the writer’s meaning and style.

It is our editorial policy to publish both enlisted and commissioned experiences as well as to recognize the various armed services. This will of course, will depend upon what is submitted, so the mix will be up to you.

ARE YOU AN EXPERT?

As part of our Outreach program, the IMHS is looking for Military History Experts. We would like to serve the community via a "platoon" of experts on various early military equipment and events, from Desert Storm back as far as we have any record or memory.  Thus the Museum would become a center for information about arms, equipment, battles, etc., back to WWII and beyond for those who study the history of arms and the military. 

A booklet listing name, area of expertise, veteran era, etc., would be published and distributed to the news media, schools, colleges, government offices, etc. It would have introductory remarks explaining its purpose, how to make an inquiry, and a brief background on the IMHS and Museum. 

When a question regarding say, the MA51Widget comes in, either to the Museum or directly to the listed expert, the individual would be able to provide the answer and possibly additional information and insight.  We have the people who have the information and the IMHS would become a clearinghouse for military questions. 

If you are interested in being listed, let us know. Call 422-6128. We'll develop an info sheet for each listee and go from there.

MOST WANTED

W W I Uniforms! The WWI uniform we had on display was a loan. If you have a WWI uniform or know someone who does, who would be willing to DONATE it to the Museum, let us know, better yet, contact them or bring it in.

UNSOLVED MYSTERY

A donation has been received that we are not able to identify and we need your help.  We have received two star-shaped patches, approximately one square inch in size. They have a black frame with gold fill. Each has a number embroidered in black in the center, one of the numbers is 25, the other is 30.   If you know anything about these, please let us know; we have been unable to contact the donor.

JUST IN CASE 
If you misplaced the membership application you picked up at the Museum or if you haven’t had a chance to send in your renewal for 1999, here is your chance. Just clip the enclosed application and send it in with your TAX DEDUCTIBLE contribution. The form can also be used to make a donation or an endowment pledge. If you aren’t sure what your renewal date is, check the address label on your newsletter, it lists the month and year your renewal is due.