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Edward Weir; United States Army Air Corps; Ploesti Air Raids, Romania

Discussion in 'WWII Obituaries' started by White Flight, Feb 11, 2009.

  1. White Flight

    White Flight Member

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    Decorated WWII hero Edward Weir dies at age 87

    08:40 AM CST on Wednesday, February 11, 2009

    Decorated WWII hero Edward Weir dies at age 87 | Denton Record-Chronicle | News for Denton County, Texas | Local News

    Unlike many of his battle-scarred brethren, Edward Weir didn’t mind talking about his service in World War II.

    The bomber navigator — whose 25 combat missions included the deadly low-level raid on Hitler’s oil refineries at Ploiesti, Romania — shared tale after tale with his family, a luxury unknown to many veterans’ kin, daughter Shirley Cassidy recalled.

    [​IMG]
    Edward Weir stands in front of a painting by Keith Ferris in July 2007. Weir died Monday at age 87.

    Weir’s stories found a wider audience in recent years. The Denton resident — who died Monday at age 87 — appeared in a 2007 PBS documentary about his barrier-breaking crewmate Ben Kuroki, and Weir’s wartime journal formed the basis of a 2008 biography.

    “He wouldn’t shy away from an interview,” said his biographer, Denton author James A. Wells. “He wanted his family and the generations that came later to know what he and his comrades did for this country, and for the world.”

    Weir, a Stephenville native known as “Red” among crewmates, served as an Army Air Corps navigator on B-24 Liberator bombers. He spent breaks between raids writing his experiences in a journal, which Wells used for his self-published biography, Down to Two Feet Altitude.

    journal, which Wells used for his self-published biography, Down to Two Feet Altitude.

    Weir flew many of his missions with Kuroki, a Nebraskan of Japanese ancestry who endured intense bigotry on his way to becoming a decorated war hero. Their lives crossed again in 2005, when Weir provided key eyewitness testimony for Kuroki to receive the U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal.

    Weir, also a highly decorated veteran, said Kuroki deserved the medal “because of what I had seen him do, including the battles that he had to fight just to be able to fight.”

    The 2007 PBS documentary that recounted Kuroki’s struggles, Most Honorable Son, featured commentary from Weir, and the two men reunited that summer in Lincoln, Neb., for the film’s premiere.

    Kuroki, who lives in California, recalled Weir as a “staunch supporter” in a 2007 interview.

    After the war, Weir made a career in the Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1963 at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso. He then worked for 20 years as business manager for the University of Texas at El Paso library system.

    He moved to Denton in 2005 after the death of his wife, Helen. He soon met Wells, who had just finished a book based on the journal of his father, the late Ned R. Wells, a machine gunner in Gen. George Patton’s army.

    Weir worked closely with Wells on his biography over 2 1/2 years, and it became his passion.

    “This book is the most important thing in my life right now except for my family,” Weir said in a 2008 interview. “The more we got into it, the more I felt that way. My motivation was to record this for my family.”

    Weir leaves behind two daughters, Shirley Cassidy of Krum and Linda Baker of Franktown, Colo.

    Cassidy recalled Weir as a loving father of unmatched generosity. Weir devoted himself to charity work through local Kiwanis clubs, she said, and at Christmas, he and her mother would make sure everyone, from their maid’s kids to the mailman, got gifts.

    Weir liked talking about his military service, Cassidy said, but he was also quick to deflect praise.

    “He also wanted to be sure that other people got attention too,” she said. “I don’t know that he felt like a hero. He was just happy he was able to tell his stories.”

    In November 2007, Weir received a Congressional Veteran Commendation, created to honor veterans of Texas’ 26th Congressional District. In recent months, he endured treatments for esophageal cancer. Doctors declared him cancer-free in January, but by then the treatments had exacted a toll, Cassidy said.

    “He was a warrior in World War II, and those experiences helped to give him the strength to face his final battle,” said Wells, who was with Weir and his family when he died. “And he did it with grace and with bravery.”

    Weir will be buried at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso on Friday.

    A memorial service is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday at the Good Samaritan Village Chapel in Denton.

    DentonRC.com
    Denton Record-Chronicle
    By Lowell Brown / Staff Writer
    LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .
     
  2. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    RIP and thank you Sir, what a curiculum ! :poppy:
     

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