Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing
2017 North Greenfield Road
Mesa, Arizona 85215
Phone 480-924-1940
Fax 480 981-1954
www.arizonawingcaf.com

email with questions, comments or need further information

For Immediate Release

October 11, 2007

Veterans Day Open House and opening new exhibit to the B-17 Flying Fortress “Chow Hound” lost in 1944 at the Commemorative Air Force Aircraft Museum
November 11, 2007

Join the Commemorative Air Force Aircraft Museum on Sunday, November 11 for their Annual Veterans Day Open House at the Commemorative Air Force Aircraft Museum, as we remember and say, “Thank You” to our Veterans.

The opening of a Special Veterans Day exhibit at 1:00 P.M. is dedicated to the B-17 Flying Fortress “Chow Hound” that was lost in action on August 8, 1944 during WWII over France. The exhibit will feature photos and posters honoring the crew of “Chow Hound” and the 91st Bomb Group. Marion Burkhardt of Scottsdale lost her brother Henry F. Kortebein that was a crewmember aboard “Chow Hound”. Henry F. Kortebein was a Flight Engineer/Top Turret Gunner aboard “Chow Hound”. Marion Burkhardt has donated artifacts that were recovered in July 2004 from the crash site in France and will be included in this exhibit. Henry F. Kortebein along with two other of his crewmembers remains were recovered during the excavation in 2004. The three airmen that had been listed as POW/MIA were interned in Arlington National Cemetery in August 2006.

The Open House will be held at the Commemorative Air Force Aircraft Museum (CAF) located at Falcon Field Airport, Mesa, AZ. The CAF Museum is located at 2017 N. Greenfield Rd. Doors open 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Warbirds on display for the event will be the B-17 Flying Fortress “Sentimental Journey”, B-25 Mitchell Bomber, North American T-6 Trainers, Stearmans, and many more... This event will be an educational exhibit displaying our history for all ages to see, and honoring all of our veterans.

Admission Price - Ages 14-Adult $7.00 - Ages 6-13 $3.00 - Ages 5 & under Free and includes tours through the B-17 Sentimental Journey, and Museum. Admission is free to our Veterans on Veterans Day. Rides are available on WWII T6 Trainer and gift certificates may be purchased for flights on Sentimental Journey or other warbirds. The museums gift shop has many aviation gifts available for that unique gift. Food and drinks will be available.

The Arizona Wing, CAF is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to preserving historic aircraft, artifacts and our history. All proceeds benefit Sentimental Journey, and our other aircraft and our Flying Museum. For more information on The Commemorative Air Force Aircraft Museum please call 480-924-1940 or www.arizonawingcaf.com

History Behind B-17 Chow Hound and the propeller and artifacts

On Wednesday March 14 through the work of AZ Wing member Bud Kahn, Michel Bedouin from Paris, France, Vice President of the Normandy Association for Air Remembrance (NAAR), along with Marion Burkhart of Scottsdale, AZ and her family came to the AZ Wing. They presented the AZ Wing with a 6 by 10-inch piece of the wing from the B-17G "Chow Hound" which was shot down over France on August 8, 1944. That piece had a bullet hole in it, which was patched.

Marion's brother, Henry Kortebein, was a tech Sgt and flight engineer on "Chow Hound" and was killed along with the plane's entire crew, a crew of 9, when it took a direct hit from a German anti-aircraft 88-caliber gun.

"Chow Hound" was from the 91st Bomb Group, 322nd Squadron stationed at Station 121 in south England On August 8, 1944, it was flying in close formation at 14,000 feet loaded with 30 anti-personnel bombs of 300 lbs each. Their target was to attack the German lines to the south of Caen, France where the enemy was offering a fierce resistance to the Canadian forces and had stopped their advance. A few minutes after crossing the front lines, a German anti-aircraft 88-caliber shell made a direct hit on the plane cutting out the tail. The B- 17 went into a diving spin. Then one wing and one engine separated from the fuselage. It caught fire and the bombs exploded. It happened so fast that the crew was unable to escape. The crash occurred on the territory of Normandy city of Lonlay L'Abbaye, just south of Caen.

French villagers buried the dead men. A few days later the city was liberated and the crewmembers' remains were recovered and returned to the U.S. However, 3 corpses, one being Kortebein, were missing and believed to still be in the wreckage. Some 60 years later the NAAR investigated the crash site and anthropologists from Hawaii identified Kortebein and the other 2 remaining crewmembers through DNA. Their remains were then buried at Arlington National Cemetery 62 years and 17 days after Chow Hound was shot down.

"Chow Hound" was famous and very popular as it was probably the oldest B-17, which was still flying. It was flying with its third permanent crew. After the crash, Leon Chevallier, who was 16 at the time, a farmer and a member of the French Resistance, picked up one of "Chow Hounds" propellers and hid it from the Germans.

Recently, the Normandy Association for Air Remembrance asked him if he would like to donate it to a museum, which he kindly did. When Michel Baudouin returns home to Paris he will pack up this propeller blade and will ship it to AZ Wing free of charge through the courtesy of Fed Ex. The propeller is in transit to be delivered to the Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Museum.

The Arizona Wing will be one of only two museums in the country, which will have donated to them and will display parts of the B-17G "Chow Hound". The other museum will be the USS Intrepid in New York City, which will receive "Chow Hound's" nose art, which includes the artist's signature.

The Normandy Association for Air Remembrance has erected more than 40 stone memorials in Normandy dedicated to those U.S. aviators lost in Normandy. One of those 40 has been especially dedicated to the 9 crewmembers of "Chow Hound".

Michel Bedouin was 12 years old and living in Normandy on D-Day and will never forget what American Aviators did at that time for the Liberation of France.

For further information e-mail .