Parallel Journeys

"Because I lived, I feel that I hvae a responsibility as a witness to see that these crimes of prejudice and racial hatred are never forgotten. My goal is to be sure that the years 1933-1945 are never erased from man's memory. My own memories are with me twenty-four hours a day - the horror, the fear, the pain, and the tears, together with all the love I have received and have given with a grateful heart. I will never forget what has happened, nor should anyone else, this is what inspires me to share my story with others." --Helen Waterford

"Mr. Heck, would you have killed Mrs. Waterford if you had been ordered to do so in the Hitler Youth?".....the question struck the two speakers on stage like a round from a submachine gun. Unable to even look at Helen, seated next to him on the stage, Alfons spoke slowly into the microphone......

"I'm afraid the answer is 'yes.' Obeying without question ws the iron-clad rule by which we were raised. TO refuse a direct order in the line of duty, no matter how replusive that order might be, was simply unthinkable"

Parallel Journeys

She was a young German Jew. He was an ardent member of the Hitler Youth. This is the story of their pareallel journey through World War II. Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck were born just a few miles from each other in the German Rhineland. But their lives took radically different courses: Helen's to the Auschwitz extermination camp; Alfons to a high rank in the Hitler Youth.

While Helen was hiding in Amserdam, Alfons was a fanatic believer in Hitler's "master race." While she was crammed in a cattle car bound for the death camp Aushchwitz, he was a tennage commander of frontline troopes, ready to fight and die for the glory of Hitler and the Fatherland. This book tells both of their stories, side-by-side, in an overwhelming account of the nightmare that was WWII. The riveting stories of these two remarkable people must stand as a powerful lesson to us all.

Essay Link

Loggers Find World War II-era Wreckage Near Rockaway Beach

OREGON LOCAL NEWS
Real-Time updates and breaking news from Oregon
March 25, 2010

Loggers made a rare find last week when they came upon a World War II-era U.S. Navy Aircraft in a heavily wooded area near Rockaway Beach.

Now, Navy investigators are focusing their efforts on determining if human remains might also be at the scene.

"If this is one of our shipmates we would treat that like we would treat one who died today with respect to our fallen comrade and respect to the family," said Sean Hughes, Navy Region Northwest Public Affairs Officer.

"We would try to connect the past with the people who may still be alive. I don't want to speculate that there are remains, but if there are, we will treat them with the utmost respect."

Investigators were initially concerned that there might be unexploded bombs or bullets on the site, but a search by Oregon State Police bomb technicians turned up no obvious signs of any unexploded ordnance, Hughes said.

Workers for a lumber company spotted the plane while harvesting timber on March 18, according to Tillamook Sheriff Todd Anderson. They initially spotted a wing, tail, landing gear and other debris.

The debris was found in a heavily wooded area on private property off a logging road, and covers about a 200-yard area. The aircraft has been identified as a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. It was found about 20 miles northwest of Naval Air Station Tillamook, which was decommissioned in 1948. However, the station of origin has not been determined and Hughes said it is too soon to say if or when the plane was listed as missing.

Anderson said he was told by the Pentagon that it was a two-person plane.

"I've talked with a retired sheriff who was here since the 1950s and he is not aware of that type of crash," Anderson said. "The Air Station Tillamook flew the Curtiss from 1942 to 1948 on sub missions. They carried a torpedo weighing up to 500 pounds that was meant to disable Japanese subs.There is one reported missing from 1945 with two crew members."

Anderson said his primary concern is determining if there are "fallen comrades," and secondly, if the plane might have been decommissioned and sold and flown by someone other than the Navy.

Sig Unander Jr., a Cornelius resident who has spent years tracking down the wreckage of military airplanes, said there have been many crashes of Helldivers based out of Astoria.

"I am unaware of one crashing there but there are probably 30 military aircraft not accounted for in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana from the mid 1930s through mid 1940s."

A team of Navy personnel are working on-scene to investigate and share information with Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command. Personnel include archeologists, DNA experts, ordnance specialists and their own public affairs unit.

"The JPAC team does this all the time," said Hughes. "They are on scene collecting as much data from the scene as possible to share with the command, which has fairly extensive data on missing personnel. Safety and integrity of the aircraft site is paramount. It is important that the Navy team on-scene be allowed to make a thorough, undisturbed investigation at this time."

Once it's determined if there are human remains at the site, that will determine the next phase of the investigation, Hughes said.

"It may be a project that goes on for a while," said Hughes. "This is just the initial phase."

The Last SB2C Helldiver CLICK HERE