This is the VIC 4 VETS, Weekly Honored Veteran. William “Bill” Sabastian Salfen
SUBMITTED BY: A regular listener
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Hi Vic and Ken!
I hope this veteran will fit nicely into you and Vic's wonderful daily/soon-to-be-weekly tribute to veterans. I hope you can offer some acknowledgement of a local hometown hero from the past. As I stated before, I neither need nor desire recognition for offering his story - if you use it, can you just say a regular listener brought him to your attention?
I worked in Bridgeton, Mo for 16 years, which was where I met Bill Salfen. He was a close, longtime friend of the business owner, and was around quite frequently in all of my years working there, dying the same year I left the business in 2014. Bill showed me multiple official documents regarding his service time, his capture and imprisonment, and eventual release. I have no reason to question his words.
I spoke with Bill often about his WWII escapades as a B-24 Bomber Pilot who was shot down and captured by Nazis, then imprisoned at Stalag 1 as a POW.
There are a couple different articles I've found stating his age (either 20 or 21) at capture, but Bill personally told me he was 20 when he was shot down - according to him (as well as other sources I've seen over the years) he was the youngest bomber pilot (NOT Co-Pilot) in the US Army Air Forces at the time.
Regardless...he was just out of his teens, and Captaining (piloting) a US B-24 Bomber against an enemy force!
After his war experiences, Bill became very active in Food Search type programs, and had a specially insulated van he would collect groceries in to distribute to the homeless, and to the food banks in the St. Louis area.
In his own words, he told me that he did so because during his time in captivity, he found out all about real hunger, and knew firsthand the pain experienced from it.
Bill told me that he had wires holding his jaw together from a German soldier "knocking his face loose" with the buttstock of a rifle during his capture, and true to his nature (as I knew him, anyway) he also said that he didn't blame the German soldier; "after all I (we, the US) was killing Germans and their families."
Bill had visible scars all over both arms from German Shepard attacks he sustained during both his initial capture and his multiple escape attempts from Stalag 1. He told me he tried 3 times to escape, and was recaptured each time.
The tip of one of his fingers was missing up to past the nail where, he told me, they put it in a bench vise and tortured him by squeezing it, then releasing it, then squeezing the damaged fingertip again the next day and the next, until, as he told me, he finally talked and they pinched the damaged fingertip completely off. He was unashamed about talking, and he had nothing to be ashamed of, in my opinion.
I feel very honored to have met and known for years this man that I personally consider to be a true American Hero from WWII.
He is a 69 year Founding member and first Captain of VFW POST 5077, O'Fallon MO, a 33 year volunteer at Operation Food Search St. Louis MO and St. Mary's Parish Bridgeton, MO, retired Teamster, union negotiator and 17 year subject of Wash U Memory and Aging Study. He donated his remains to that Study and to Washington University School of Medicine.
-"William “Bill” Sabastian Salfen was born 16-Sept 1922 in Dardenne, St. Charles County Missouri.
-His parents were Sebastian J "Boss" Salfen (1886–1961) and Josephine "Phinnie" Sattler (1893–1974).
-He had one brother, Harold. William attended St. Charles High School.
According to the Federal Census, the family lived on Main Street in O’Fallon in 1940.
-William Salfen joined the Army Air Corps in June 1942. In September 1942, Bill completed a 12-week Flight Training course at Missouri
University. "
-"On 27-Jun 1943, William arrived at Corsicana Field from the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center.
-William Received his Army Air Corps Silver Wings and 2nd Lieutenant commission at Frederick Field in Oklahoma on 11-Jan 1944.
-William Salfen was assigned to the 44th Bomb Group, 506th Bomber Squadron (Heavy) of the 8th Air Force in England.
-They were the first 8th Air Force Bomb Group to be equipped with B-24 Liberators.
-On 7-Oct 1944, William Salfen’s plane was damaged, and the crew was forced to bailout.
The U.S. Army's 44th Bomber Group Crash Report of the bombing states that his aircraft, #789, was last seen in vicinity of Kassel at 1224 hours. #1 and #2 engines had been knocked out by flak and it fell out of formation, under control. It was last heard from at approximately 1239 hours calling on VHF for fighter support."
The following is a first-hand report from Lt. Donald B. Iden, the Co-Pilot:
“Our plane was nicknamed "LAKANOOKIE", model B-24 (serial #42-50789), and it took flak which disrupted two of its engines.
The bombing raid was on a German tank factory. We had just closed the bomb bay doors after releasing bombs over Kassel when our plane took two bursts of flak. One hit the left wing and the other went into the tail section.
The hit in the wing took out the #1 and #2 engines, so that made it impossible to keep a heading without complete cross control of ailerons and rudders. Needless to say, loss of altitude was very rapid.
We rode it down to 1,500 feet, at which time we bailed out and soon were captured. After Salfen and I bailed out, the aircraft entered a flat spin, crashed and burned.
We were told that Robert Doherty's parachute failed to open and the seven-surviving crew of nine were captured by the Nazis.”
William Salfen had been missing in action since 7-October 1944 and was a prisoner of war for 188 days.
The St. Charles Weekly Banner reported on 24-May 1945, William Salfen in Stalag Luft 1 was liberated by the Russians.
Thanks again to you and Vic for doing this for veterans!
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