Aviator's Ring Returned To Family After Six Decades | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-12.02.24

Airborne-NextGen-12.03.24

Airborne-Unlimited-12.04.24

Airborne Flt Training-12.05.24

Airborne-Unlimited-12.06.24

Mon, Jul 07, 2003

Aviator's Ring Returned To Family After Six Decades

Ring Belonged To Flyer Downed In WWII Italy

It was during the final days of the allied air campaign in Europe. Sgt. Harold Holmquist of Placerville (CA) was a crewmember aboard an American B-24 on a raid over Munich. The aircraft was shot up, severely damaged. The pilot and copilot tried valiantly to get it back to its base in Italy, but they couldn't make it. The bail-out alarm sounded and, as the Liberator began to plummet toward the ground, seven parachutes dotted the sky. But Sgt. Holmquist wasn't underneath one of those life-saving canopies. He died in the aircraft before it struck the ground in Plaus, Italy.

A Thoughtful People

The people of Plaus rushed to the burning wreckage. Eventually, when the flames died down and the smoke cleared, they sifted through the remains. Four bodies were found. The mayor of Plaus paid for their coffins and their funerals out of his own pocket, rather than see them buried in a mass grave by the German army.

The villagers created a "memory box" to hold the few valuables they could salvage from the wreckage. Among them, a small man's ring, silver and blue. Inside the band, it bore the inscription, "1936 D.L.D."

Almost 60 years later, the people of Plaus solved the mystery of the ring's owner. It was Sgt. Holmquist. They surmised that the initials "D.L.D." were those of his wife, whose maiden name was Dorothy L. Dysle. So, they opened the memory box and returned the ring to Holmquist's daughter, who was only a baby when her father's B-24 went down.

"Isn't it amazing?'' Linda Holmquist Darrach told the Sacramento Bee. "I'm grateful to the people of Plaus, especially for what they did at the time of the crash." Linda's daughter examined the ring and suggested it was her grandmother's girl scout ring, resized to fit her grandfather.

The people of Plaus, a German-speaking town of about 500 people, gave the ring to Holmquist's cousin, an AAF navigator who had trained at the same base as Holmquist back in 1944. The field where Holmquist's body was found is now an apple orchard, about 20 miles from the Swiss border. There's a plaque there, built about two years ago. It reads in German, "In sorrow, in death and in mourning, all men are the same."

FMI: http://usaaf.com

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (12.05.24)

Aero Linx: Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre Visit the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre. The only museum of its kind in Canada. A world class museum connecting people of all age>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (12.05.24): Chaff

Chaff Thin, narrow metallic reflectors of various lengths and frequency responses, used to reflect radar energy. These reflectors, when dropped from aircraft and allowed to drift d>[...]

Airborne 12.02.24: Electra FG EIS, Prez Osprey Problems, Starship Wants 25

Also: EAA Ray Foundation, MagniX Records, Ruko U11MINI Drone, RCAF PC-21s Elektra Solar recently put the first aircraft from its Elektra Trainer Fixed-Gear (FG) family into service>[...]

Airborne 11.27.24: CAP Tragedy, Gulfstream Milestone, Van Celebrates His 85th

Also: ANN/Airborne Holiday Schedule, UT NG Gets New Apaches, UK Airport Reopening, Laser v Helo A Civil Air Patrol search and rescue training flight over steep and rugged terrain e>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (12.06.24)

Aero Linx: National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) NATCA members embrace new technology and are eager to use the most efficient and modern procedures available. First >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC