Another of the eleven bombers of the 15th Air Force USAAF lost over southern Poland on “Black Wednesday,” September 13, 1944, was a B-24J Liberator named “Dinah Might” from the 761st Bomb Squadron, 460th Bomb Group, 55th Bomb Wing.
The crew first dropped the seriously wounded co-pilot by parachute from the burning bomber (he died after landing), and then began evacuating. Due to the loss of altitude, some of the airmen remained on board until the forced landing in Jeleśnia.
Pilot John J. Wegener (wounded, he was treated by a Polish doctor — he survived and was taken prisoner); co-pilot Lester Porter (died from his wounds after a parachute landing); navigator Leo Dietz (killed during the forced landing in Jeleśnia). Bombardier Charles H. Keutmann and the rest were taken prisoner: flight engineer/top turret gunner Leuther E. Davis, radio operator/waist gunner Dick Sillvan, ball turret gunner Floyd O. Gasset. Nose turret gunner James D. Creamer, tail turret gunner James McCormick, and waist gunner Howard L. Luzier were captured in the winter of 1944 after spending time with partisan units in Slovakia.
Since 2008, a monument honoring the heroic airmen has stood in Jeleśnia, and in 2014, 89-year-old Charles H. Keutmann, the bombardier of “Dinah Might,” visited Jeleśnia.
