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129. WWII Air Corps PURPLE HEART - 464th Bomb Group - 776th Bomb Squadron
Officially wartime government engraved PURPLE HEART with scarcer split brooch in original cardboard box and coffin case named to Navigator Lt. Charles F. GUSTINA. He was flying his 6th mission in B-24 "42-95337" "Fast Number" when shot down over Austria, 11 December 1944. Comes with MACR and other research.
$565


https://464bg.wordpress.com/aircraft/779th-squadron/fast-number-42-95337-black-e/

They were on a bombing misson to Vienna, Austria - 11 December 1944 (on B-24 serial no. 42-
95337). St Streit, Matthew G. was the only one who jumped out of the plane...he jumped out of the bomb chamber. He gave a good, detailed report:
"On 11 December 1944 we took off from our base, on a mission in a B-24. All personnel on this mission were assigned to the 464th Bomb Group 776th Bomb Squadron. Just as we approached the target we were hit by flak, resulting in damage to the right wing, which a few seconds later snapped off."
"The co-pilot, First Officer Chester K. Kiolbassa was hit in the leg. I helped him adjust his seat so that it would ease the pain. I managed to bail out through the bomb bay section and as I was parachuting to earth I noticed pieces of the plane floating down."
"All the bombs were not released over the target, due to a malfunction. It is my opinion that after I bailed out, the plane exploded and all of the personnel mentioned above met their death."
"However, I did not witness the explosion nor do I have any concrete evidence. Upon hitting the ground, German civilians held me and a few minutes later german soldiers arrived. I was held as a prisoner of war. This happened in the vicinity of Vienna, Austria."

"Two days later I was interrogated by German Intelligence officers, and it is my opinion that they did not know what happened to my plane - because of the method used questioning me. They were trying to obtain information from me as to what happened to the members of the crew as well as to the fate of the plane."
Jasper Van Haren at Rangel's gravesite in Margraten.
The final report said that the airplane went into a dive after Sgt. Streit jumped out and while he was parachuting down to earth the airplane blew up with the bombs in it - which is why he saw parts of the plane falling past him
The report also stated that the last time Streit saw any of his crew members was when he saw the navigator getting his chute on just before he (Streit) bailed out. Streit also saw the pilot and the copilot trying to get the plane under control.
There is also a report that tells us that there was a malfunction with the bomb release and that one of the soldiers was to have gone down to release the bombs by hand....after that...everything went very fast as was also reported by Sgt. Streit.
Then, there were a couple of eyewitnesses from other planes in the formation - as Rangel's:
Sgt Norman W. McCoulskey said:
"Our ship was in No. 21 position of Dog Box. As we went over the target, I saw Black E, in the No. 31 position of our box, drop her bombs. About a minute later I looked away and when I looked back toward No. 31 position I was unable to see Black E. I observed a cloud of smoke that might have been flak or the remains of Black E. That is the last I saw of Black E."
Sat. Kenneth L. Burton reported:
"Our ship was in No. 23 position in Dog Box as we approached the target. At that time, I saw Black E in 31 position in our box. Our ship left the formation with engine trouble about three minutes from the I.P. and, at that time, Black E was still in No. 31 position with no apparent trouble." After 11 December: First, St. Rangel was missing, together with Albert McNeil and Richard Peterson. Later, they found some of of Fernando B. Rangel's remains - skull fragments, a portion of his law (with some teeth intact), a few bones from the fingers of his right hand and arm and chest bone fragments.
That's the main reason he was reported missing - because the remains weren't sufficient for a proper ID. They were later examined by an anthropologist who made the determination that they were Rangel's.
Fernando was first buried in Vienna, Austria, (in a civilian cemetery) after that he was moved to the cemetery of St. Avold, in France.
Then the military sent letters to his parents, to aid them in getting Fernando B. Rangel buried in America, but his father and mother both died in 1949. Rangel's sister requested that his body be buried close to his brother in the war cemetery in Margraten, Holland. This was when I found out he had a brother, Joe M. Rangel, who was also buried in Holland. Now I am trying to adopt that grave,
tOo
After they buried him in the War Cemetery Margraten, and they sent the flag of the United States that draped the casket during the final interment to his sister. The only thing he left behind was some books and religious articles and some writing gear, souvenir money, a pair of shoes, 1 cigarette lighter, 9 patches, 1 crucifix, 1 medal and his testament.
Fernando B. Rangel flew 5 missions: Vienna 6 Nov, Northern Italy 8 Nov, near Vienna 26 Nov...
Linz 29 Nov., and the last Vienna again on 11 December.