PhilSave
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Lt John Steinwedell
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06/05/2008 02:05:02 PM
Today,june 5, is the 64th aniversary of the death of Lt John "Jack" Steinwedell, 78th FG,82nd FS.John was from Logansport, Indiana.
He was flying an escort mission over Cherbourg and Calais
He had to bail out due to engin failure and he parachuted on the roof of a house in the city Mons,Belgium.
He was surrendering when a german reichbahn guard shot him down.John was murdered!
In 1947, the murderer, to the name of Karl Reuster, was trialed in Dachau, sentenced to death and hanged on july 16.
On june 26 2008, a memorial plaque will be set on the wall of the house in Mons, where John lost his life for our freedom.
Phil
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skybear45
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RE: Lt John Steinwedell
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06/06/2008 08:51:21 AM
Phil,
Thanks for posting this.
Do you happen to know any of the details leading up to Karl Reuster's
arrest and who it was that testified against him at his trial? I'm always
interested in the follow-up on these matters, i.e., did local eyewitnesses
come forward leading to an arrest and indictment or did investigator's have
to rely upon a paper-trail alone to prosecute a particular case.
I'm just asking on the outside chance that you might have come across
some of the details of this case in a newspaper article, etc.
Thanks again for the posting.
Bob
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PhilSave
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RE: Lt John Steinwedell
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06/06/2008 09:44:09 AM
Hi Bob,
According to an article in a newspaper in 1947, there were two investigations that led to Reuster.
The first in 1944/1945 by the US Civil Affairs who questioned witnesses in Mons.
A second in late 1946 or early 1947 by the War Crime Commision wich definitly led to Reuster.He was in a POW camp and he was "picked up" over there.A researcher friend of mine told me that the reports of the trial are available.
I did not investigate further on.The most important to me was to be sure of the name of the US pilot and how he was killed.
Hope this helps
Best regards from a rainy Belgium.
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skybear45
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RE: Lt John Steinwedell
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06/06/2008 10:21:11 AM
Hello Phil,
Thanks for the background information.
It has always been amazing to me that we were able to bring
so many of this type of small-time war criminal to justice. It
would have been so easy for this type of individual atrocity
against both civilian and Allied military personnel to be over-
looked. It is always gratifying to hear of cases such as this
where justice was done.
It is equally gratifying to know that because of good people
like the citizens of Mons, such sacrifices are not forgotten,
even with the passage of so many years.
Bob
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