Øster Højst, Denmark
Monument to the Crew of Elmer’s Tune
Dedicated in 1995
On February 24, 1944, aircraft #42-31561, dubbed Elmer’s Tune after a popular big band song, and piloted by Lt. Elmer J. Costales, came under heavy attack over Denmark following a mission to Rostock, Germany. The pilot was hit in his right lung and collapsed over the controls, causing the co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Stephen A. Kish, to take over. Bombardier Lars E. Skoug was also hit and navigator Clifford D. Sahner was killed. Kish ordered a bail-out and seven did, although one of them, top turret/engineer George F. Pechacek, perished when his parachute failed to open. The co-pilot successfully belly-landed the B-17 and then carried the wounded pilot out of the aircraft. All of the eight who made it out of the plane became POWs, although several were wounded and spent time in German hospitals before being taken to the camps. Denmark was occupied territory at the time of the crash. Fifty-one years later, in 1995, there were many ceremonies in Denmark to mark the fiftieth anniversary of liberation from Nazi rule. In this year, a memorial stone was unveiled in Øster Højst and dedicated to honor the American flyers who had crashed nearby in 1944. Two of the survivors, Robert Joyce, ball turret gunner, and Edwin Hays, tail gunner, attended the ceremony.
The crew of Elmer’s Tune on that mission were:
Lt. Elmer J. Costales, Pilot, POW
T/Sgt. Norman N. Carnie, Waist Gunner, POW
S/Sgt. Edwin W. Hays, Tail Gunner, POW
S/Sgt. Robert J. Joyce, Ball Turret Gunner, POW
2nd Lt. Stephen A. Kish, Co-Pilot, POW
S/Sgt. Leamon E. McCullough, Waist Gunner, POW
T/Sgt. George F. Pechacek, Top Turret Gunner/Engineer, KIA*
2nd Lt. Clifford D. Sahner, Navigator, KIA*
T/Sgt. Lester W. Seelig, Radio Operator, POW
2nd Lt. Lars E. Skoug, Bombardier, POW
*Pechacek is interred in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium, and Sahner is interred in the U. S.