Premier.....

After 9 intense months of post-production we are excited to anounce the premier of our documentary "Preserving A Legacy: In The Footsteps of Bud Owens" at 2PM on Sunday 23rd of October 2016 at the OLSH Auditorium, 1504 Woodcrest Avenue, Coraopolis, PA. Stay tuned for our trailer and hope to see you there!

73 years on....

This 4th of July marks the 73rd anniversary of the crash of B-17F 42-29928, 533rd BS, 381st BG at La Coulonche in Normandy, France. It is a day we remember the sacrifice of the three crew members who perished in the crash.
2nd Lt. George C. Williams (B)

 S/Sgt Albert G. Wackermann (BTG)

 S/Sgt. Harry A. Bauscher (RWG)

Athough he successfully bailed out and hid in occupied France for nearly 4 months, S/Sgt. Frances "Bud" Owens made that same ultimate sacrifice after dying of exposure and exhaustion in the Pyrenees Mountains on 25 October 1943. We are close to finalizing the powerful documentary that tells his story. Please consider making a donation using the "Donate" button on the right of the page to help us finish this great project. Thank you

Narrator...

We are happy to anounce that journalist Tim Lambert has accepted to be the narrator for our upcoming documentary in the Footsteps of Bud Owens. Thank you Tim!

A Pittsburgh area native like Bud Owens, Tim worked in radio for more than 23 years and currently serves as the multimedia news director at WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Over the course of his career, he has been honored with dozens of state, regional and national awards. He has also been recognized with four National Edward R. Murrow Awards.

Tim has an avid interest in the history of World War II and has been of great support to our project from the start. Please keep up your support as well and consider making a donation to help us finish this great documentary.

Yet more progress....

After collecting a large number of archive pictures and footage the documentary team is currently reviewing the close to 15 hours of footage from the filming we did last year in the footsteps of waist gunner SSgt. Francis "Bud" Owens. Important work in preparation for the final edit of the documentary.

Please keep up the support and donate! Thank you!

Progress....

The team is currently working hard, collecting a large number of archive pictures and footage to be used for the documentary. A chance to meet again with the Duval sisters Claudine (Bourban) and Yvette (Audigé) of La Coulonche, eye witnesses of Bud Owens' B-17 crash at Val de Vée on 4 July 1943.

We rigged up a basic set-up to take photos of photos in lieu of a scanner:

Amongst the photos we copied was this one of the Duval family from 1942:

Ridgewell

A big thank you to our friends at the Ridgewell 381st BG museum for honouring Sgt. Francis "Bud" Owens by creating a commemorative bomb plaque in his name. You do fantastic work!

 

8th AF News write up...

 2016 will be a very exciting year for our documentary project as we have officially started post production. We are thankful for all the support we have recieved in 2015 and hope the same in 2016! We start the year with a great article in the 8th AF Historical Society Newsletter. 

A big thank you to Jerry McLaughlin and Debra Hobson Kujawa for making this happen!