Rumboogiecrew beginnings . . .

 

Wednesday, April 1, 2020, around 5:00 p.m., represented an important milestone for me.  That date and time marked the ten year anniversary of my search for information concerning my father's military service during WW2.  I always knew he was a tail gunner; I tried to write a story about it during college, but that was about the extent of it. Today, I have managed to locate a living relative for each of his B17 crew members and constructed a website containing their war experiences and life stories. I write blogs and social media posts about the crew and their missions, the importance of our military today, and the sacrifices that have been made and continue to be made in order to keep all of us safe and free. A huge thank you to the many people who have helped and supported me along the way as well as everyone who has read my stories or liked my posts. I firmly believe we wouldn't be where we are today without the brave sacrifices our military has made. WW2 may have occurred over 75 years ago, but it is still important and contains lessons we can all learn from.

​

Below is my original post --------------------------------------------

​

On April 1, 2010, around 5:00 p.m., for no particular reason, I typed my dad’s name into a computer search engine and hit enter.  The results showed a post from a woman named Kathleen on an Army Air Force forum site. Kathleen was looking for information about the B-17 crew her uncle had flown with during World War II.  She had listed each of the crew members’ names – one of which turned out to be Alvin Neff, my father.  As I considered her post that day, a lot of things crossed my mind, but the most important one was why I hadn't asked my dad more about his service in the war while he was still alive.

​

After doing some quick research on some of the members of Dad's crew and having several conversations with my brother Steve, who had listened to Dad's stories about the war, an idea came to me.  Maybe it wasn't too late to honor the service that the Rum Boogie crew had given. I already knew information about one crew member, George Wyherek; he and his family had visited my family when I was young, and I had been able to locate his son, George Jr. Could I find more? I set a goal to find a living relative for every crew member. I hoped this might make up for what I hadn't done when Dad was alive.

 

If you are interested in following me on this continuing journey, you can access information in the following ways:

 

Like my Facebook Page - rumboogiecrew

Follow me on Instagram - @rumboogiecrew

Visit the website - www.rumboogiecrew.com

​

​