Jim Krumel: A pilot’s wings fly 60 years later

Lima News (OH)

May 27-- May 27--Flight Officer Richard S. Brock never made it to the battlefields of World War II, but he died trying.

The Lima pilot was killed during a training accident in the mountains of South Carolina. But while his life ended on that March 10th day in 1943 without him ever going overseas, the wings he proudly wore on the lapel of his uniform have been flying in combat 60 years later.

It's a story researched and shared by Tim Mosher, a former Shawnee fire chief/paramedic who is a distant relative of Brock. It is a tale ever so fitting for this Memorial Day as we honor those who gave their lives in service to our country.

When Uncle Sam called, Richard Brock was ready to go. He was especially proud to be selected to learn how to fly a B-25, the bomber used by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle when he and 15 other pilots gave American forces a much-needed lift in spirits by attacking mainland Japan just four months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. That moment of history forever will be remembered as "Doolittle's Raid."

What happened to Brock underscores how dangerous it was to fly one of those bombers.

On the night he died, Brock departed Greenville Army Air Base at 8:10 p.m. and was heading to Meridian, Mississippi, as part of a nighttime training mission, according to military records. The weather was cloudy and visibility was believed to be bad. Brock's plane didn't clear the trees at the top of a mountain, shearing off the left wing of the B-25 and causing the plane to crash, killing Brock, co-pilot Earl Monroe. navigator Philip Graziano, radio operator Michael Paren and engineer Harvey Capellan.

The search for the wreckage took days. It eventually was found in a thickly wooded area by a boy named Seab Crane.

Two months before his death, Richard Brock wrote a letter to his sister, Martha Brock, who later would become well known for her work at the Lima/Allen County Library. He told about the excitement of flying about 10 feet above the ground at about 250 mph. "We passed a small town and almost took the roofs off of houses," he noted. He ended the letter by saying "I hope I'll be seeing you soon."

Tim Mosher would visit the scene of the crash years later. He found no remnants of what happened but did get to talk with some townfolk who remembered that deadly day.

Mosher would later come into possession of the lapel "wings" that Brock wore during flights.

"About 10 years ago I asked a brother-in-law of mine, who is an Air Force pilot, to fly with those wings on his lapel during combat missions in the Middle East at that time," said Mosher. The brother-in-law, Jeff Banker, received permission to do so from his superiors. Those wings have since flown in 60 combat missions on a C-17 in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mosher believes Richard Brock would have liked that.

"I think it is cool to have the wings that never made it to Europe fly in combat 60 years later."

ROSES AND THORNS: The rose garden has been extra busy.

Rose: To Ed Kimbrough, who retired after 53 years in the life insurance business, the last 20 with Stolly Insurance. Kimbrough is a 1961 graduate of Lima Senior High School. He was one of four running backs that year for the Spartans who went on to play Division I football. He played for Iowa State from 1961-65. He will tell you his claim to fame was tackling Gale Sayers in the backfield during a game against the Kansas Jayhawks.

Rose: To Bill Mears, of Lima. When the neighborhood in which his mother lives on Biscayne Drive experienced three home invasions, Mears went to what he believes to be the source -- a house across the street where suspected drug dealers lived. "I went over there and told them 'the dope house is closed, you're not allowed to live here no more.'" It worked as he chased the alleged culprits out of the neighborhood in which his mother lived for 35 years.

Rose: To Elida High School's Jency Jenkins and Kalida's Grant Laudick. They were named The Lima News/OSU-Lima Scholar Athletes of the Year for 2019. It was the 25th year The Lima News has handed out the prestigious award.

Rose: To Lima Judge Jeff Reed, who showed off his writing skills with the release of a new book, "The Suicide Support Group," on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.

Rose: To the Welch twins, Carter and Collin, of Ottawa-Glandorf High School. They made it all the way to the Division II State Tennis Tournament as a doubles team.

Rose: To the Jackson Lafayette Historical Society, which took the initiative to raise the funds needed to restore a civil war statue that has been part of the village since 1903.

Thorn: Rhodes State College continues to operate under a net loss, it was revealed at its meeting last week. It is partially because of declining enrollment. It tabled a motion to raise tuition, pending action in the Ohio Legislature, which has a freeze on tuition increases. It also took out a $10 million line of credit to help fund a downtown campus.

Thorn: With the final days of a rent-to-own contract coming up for home ownership, residents who entered the program approved in 2004 by Lima City Council are getting few answers on what needs to be done to buy their homes.

Thorn: Once again a defendant has appeared in an Allen County Court seeking a new court-appointed attorney, claiming the current one has failed to meet in a timely manner if not meeting at all. "This cannot continue," Judge Jeffrey Reed warned.

PARTING SHOT: "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived." -- U.S. Army General George S. Patton

Jim Krumel

Tim Mosher shows memorabilia of Lima pilot Richard Brock, who was killed in a training mission during World War II.

Jeff Banker received permission to wear the wings of Richard Brock.

https://www.limaohio.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2019/05/web1_number1.jpgJeff Banker received permission to wear the wings of Richard Brock. Courtesy of Tim Mosher

Lima pilot Richard Brock is shown at left.

https://www.limaohio.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2019/05/web1_number2.jpgLima pilot Richard Brock is shown at left. Courtesy of Tim Mosher

By Jim Krumel

jkrumel@limanews.com

Jim Krumel is the editor of The Lima News. Contact him at 567-242-0391 or at The Lima News, 3515 Elida Road, Lima, Ohio 45807.

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