Charles L. "Chuck" Gribi - USAAF
Updated 5/31/10

This page was created by me (Gerri Gribi) in honor of my dad, Charles L. Gribi

Memorial Day 2010

Traditional: May 30
Observed: Last Monday in May

Taps

In Memory of our Honored Dead
History of the Observed Day

For several years Dad has made presentations about his experiences during WWII to classes at Sycamore Junior High School. These are some of the pictures he uses and some of the stories he shares with the kids. One of the points he always stresses is that they weren't 85-year-old guys back then...they were just kids.

These are his memories, not mine, so I try not to intrude too much BUT I just want to share my own memory of when he visited Green Bay nearly 20 years ago, and urged us to rent the movie Memphis Belle to watch while he was here because it was so realistic, especially in the way the men were portrayed. He narrated the entire film in terms of his own experiences, pointing out where he would have been sitting in the plane, what it was like going on those missions...it was an experience I'll always cherish.

The information you see in italics are Dad's notes on the back of the pictures, or information he told me over the phone, or sent me in emails. He uses a computer at the Union Township Branch of the Clermont County Library, where he says the librarians are always happy to help him with his various projects. He's usually got a 1 hour time limit if others are waiting (and sometimes a keyboard that sticks!) so in fairness, I do spell check. But other than that, these are his own stories in his own words. I've also gleaned some supplemental information from various websites, and included links to those.

Since he lives in Cincinnati Ohio, and I live in Green Bay Wisconsin, we work on this site long-distance. He scans his photos at Krogers and save them to a disc, then mails that disc along with copies of the photos up to me. I hope the site will continue to grow.

New! On the Homefront

You can Email Dad

"Off We Go" as performed by Alvino Rey and his Orchestra

White Cliffs of Dover performed by Vera Lynn


Photo by Ray Dasenbrock

The Walk of Veterans at the Tri-State Warbird Museum in Batavia, Ohio (just east of Cincinnati)
salutes their courage, valor and service for our country.

We kids (Micky, Tony, Mary Beth and Gerri) were glad
to be able to purchase this brick
to honor our dad on his birthday in 2008.

Dad sharing his stories with some youngsters at
Sherwood Elementary in the Forest Hills School District.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer 12/25/09

The article is now in the pay archive, but here's a link to it (sans photo!) in the Google cache.

Shadowbox we made with his WWII memorabilia
Charles L. Gribi

Aviation Cadet School

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Alabama

Early Fall 1943

Served as a Bombardier-Navigator aboard a B-24 and survived a mid air collision with another B-24 on his fourth mission.

After completing 31 successful forays into heavily defended enemy territory he returned to the U.S.A on Oct.11 1944 to become an instructor at the Bombardier School in Midland Texas and was readying to return to combat in the Pacific Theater when the Atom Bomb ended the war. On that day his firstborn (a girl) was one year old.
The Norden Bombsight, a secret weapon that allowed precision daylight bombing. This allowed us to destroy manufacturing plants that built airplanes, etc. I believe that it was a big factor in a successful D Day invasion - the Luftwaffe was crippled.

THE BOMBARDIER'S OATH

Mindful of the secret trust about to be
placed in me by my Commander in Chief,
the President of the United States, by whose
direction I have been chosen for bombardier
training...and mindful of the fact that I am
to become guardian of one of my country's
most priceless military assets, the American
bombsight...I do here, in the presence of
Almighty God, swear by the Bombardier's
Code of Honor to keep inviolate the secrecy
of any and all confidential information
revealed to me, and further to uphold
the honor and integrity of the Army
Air Forces, if need be, with my life itself.

Read more about the training and role of the Bombardier

Dad showed us a Norden Bombsight when we visited the Tri-State Warbird Museum in eastern Cincinnati, Ohio
First Lt. Charles L. Gribi stationed at Horsham St. Faith a, former R.A.F. airbase just outside of Norwich East Anglia from mid April 1944 to early October 1944

Crew 71
755th Squadron
458th Bombardment Group
2nd Air Division (Memorial Library)

Had a break and decided to see some of the English countryside

June 1944

Crew 71 of the 755th squadron of the 458th bomb group 2nd Air Division Summer 1944

1Lt Lester C. Martin Crew (L-R)
Standing: Francis Thompson – CP, Chuck Gribi – B, Les Martin – P, Bob Craig – N, Unknown - Ground Crewman.
Middle Row (Kneeling): Unknown – Ground Crewman, Jim Burke – WG, George Smarzinski – WG, Dick Grant – TG.
Front Row (Sitting): Don Beverly - BTG, Leslie Karns - RO, Doyle Johnson TT/E.

Just back from a mission, still in flight thermal gear (sometimes) temp dropped to -20F

Note the Mae West, an inflatable device if needed in the event of ditching into the ocean.
June 1944

1000 lb bomb

In mid summer 1944 we were sent to bomb a factory in Saarbrucken. After I dropped our bombs and closed the bombay doors a voice came over the intercom "Lieutenant one of our bombs is still hanging" I hurried to the bomb bay and there hung this bomb armed and ready to go off. I opened the doors again and tried to wiggle it loose without success,even tried with a fire axe to chop the clip loose that was holding it. At 20,000 feet on a catwalk less than a foot wide this was exciting and precarious. While this was going on we had lost an engine and had to drop out of formation and make it home on our own. I closed the doors and got back to my desk and worked on getting back to base. Things were going pretty good when I hard the voice again from the back "lieutenant the bomb just went through the bomb bay door." We were near the base at the time.

Several days later a friend of mine from an adjacent base about 15 miles away came on his bike to see me and said "Chuck some idiot tried to blow us up" I told him the story and also that I had received a commendation for getting us home and a reprimand in the same letter.

This is me at my desk in Briney working on a way to get home - We had lost an engine and had to fall out of formation and find our way back.

Summer '44

One element (3 planes) of a 12 unit squadron. The white vertical stripe identifies planes of the 755th squadron. 1944

B 24s on the way to a target sometime mid 1944

The men on these planes are mostly between the ages of 19 and 22 including the pilots.

Take a video tour of a B-24 at YouTube

Dick Grant (age 19) tail gunner on Briney Marlin. Note the long trail of ammo up to his two guns. He could fire these at the rate of 600 shots per minute. Mid 1944
Photo by Ray Dasenbrock

Here is a photo comparing a 50 caliber machine gun round (right)
with a 22 caliber target round (left.)

The 50 caliber is what Dad's aircraft used to defend itself.

You can see it in the photo of tail gunner Dick Grant to the left.

This is a map that I use at school to show where my air base was in England (Horsham St. Faith at Norwich.) The white spot is the location of Norwich and I had to cut it out for security purposes in order to bring it home.

I point out how close I was to where Anne Frank was hiding and many times flew over her on my way to a target.
On May 27, 1944, the Briney Marlin piloted by 2Lt Lester C. "Cookie" Martin was involved in a mid air collision during formation over Cromer.
Read more about the accident and see the Accident Report at the 458th Bombardment Group Website

May 27, 1944

Since it was likely to be more than an hour before our squadron was formed and tight I decided to take a nap in the waist section using my chest parachute as a pillow. Planes took off consecutively until altitude was reached (this time 17000 feet) then flew in a race track type pattern to the left until each could slide into its allotted slot in the 12 plane squadron.

We had just begun to turn right to get into our spot when another B24 came sliding at us. "Cookie" our pilot did a sharp left turn and our right wing clipped this other plane and it broke just in front of the tail section, spinning down into the ocean and all aboard were lost. Two men jumped from our plane and were also lost. Fortunately before any more jumped Cookie righted the plane. I had a Bell and Howell camera that was used to take pictures of bomb strikes and so I took this picture of Colonel Isbell in his P47 looking us over. He told Cookie to set the auto pilot and everybody jump. Cookie told the Colonel that he thought he could land, and he did.
The Briney Marlin back on the ground

Cookie had to land at a very fast speed, but he did it and stopped right at the end of the runway. I still call him every year on May 27 to say "Thanks." I think of that day as my second birthday.

S/Sgt Chester Carlstrom, tail gunner opened the bomb bay and salvoed the bomb load. He then bailed out through the bomb bay. KIA 5/27/44

S/Sgt Wilbert Abshire, bailed out from the tail section - KIA 5/27/44

Painting of the Briney Marlin by Mike Bailey. Baily is the author of B-24 Liberator Groups of the 8th Air Force, published by Walton on Thames : Red Kite, 2007. "As a boy author Mike Bailey climbed over fences to see his American airmen friends and their aircraft. His friends and the planes have been gone these past 60 years, he has never lost that boy-hood enthusiasm. He is now the acknowledged expert on 'his' planes and often appears on BBC Radio Norfolk and in local journals." (Quoted from the book jacket.)

http://creativefolk.com/ww2/CharlesGribi.html