Representatives of the German military on June 6, 2026, salute at newly unveiled memorial honoring American and German airmen who fought each other and died in the German state of Thuringia. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
WIEHE, Germany — Relatives of U.S. airmen whose planes were downed over central Germany in World War II witnessed the recent unveiling of a rare memorial honoring both the Americans and some of those they fought against.
The stone monument in the state of Thuringia was inaugurated Saturday at a ceremony attended by a crowd that included dozens of the fallen airmen’s descendants.
It lists the names of more than 50 Americans who were killed or taken prisoner in the area during the final months of the war alongside several German airmen who also were killed there.
“Above all, it is meant to stand as a memorial against war,” an information panel at the site reads.
An honor guard from Ramstein Air Base participated in the ceremony, which coincided with the 82nd anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy, France.
Dozens of relatives of U.S. airmen whose aircraft were downed in central Germany during World War II attended an unveiling of a memorial outside Wiehe, Germany, on June 6, 2026. The memorial lists the names of more than 50 Americans who were killed or taken prisoner in the area alongside several German airmen also killed there. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Leni Kästner sings at the unveiling of a monument on June 6, 2026, near Wiehe, Germany, dedicated to U.S. and German airmen killed or captured in the region during World War II. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Airman 1st Class Azekiel Williams, a member of the Ramstein Air Base honor guard, on June 6, 2026, participates in the memorial ceremony near Wiehe, Germany, for U.S. and German airmen killed or captured in the region during World War II. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
George Bruce Williams, a retired Air Force colonel, speaks at a memorial ceremony outside Wiehe, Germany, on June 6, 2026, honoring American and German airmen who were killed and taken prisoner in the region during World War II. Williams’ uncle, 2nd lieutenant George Bruce Williams, was among those killed. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Memorials that commemorate military personnel from both sides of a conflict are relatively uncommon, organizers said.
Located near the Hohe Schrecke forested ridge, the monument is part of an ongoing grassroots effort by a local volunteer group that investigates World War II aircraft losses and excavates crash sites. The digs recover artifacts and sometimes human remains.
The group is called Vermisstensuche Thüringen, which roughly translates to “Missing Persons Search Thuringia.” Group members excavated each crash site linked to the men listed on the new memorial.
Vermisstensuche Thüringen reached out to Greatest Generation Restoration to help track down and invite the American family members to Germany.
Founded by American Meredith Larsen and Briton Alan Skiffins, the organization helps relatives of Army Air Forces personnel uncover information about their family members’ wartime experiences.
“We’re really passionate about connecting people to their family history,” Larsen said.
Though the remains of the American airmen had been recovered decades ago, volunteers say pinpointing the exact crash locations and recovering artifacts can help fill gaps in the historical record and provide families with a clearer understanding of what happened.
Among those attending was George Bruce Williams, a retired Air Force colonel whose uncle, also named George Bruce Williams, was killed when the B-17 bomber he piloted was shot down in the area on Oct. 7, 1944.
“This was something I never expected to do,” Williams said, adding that receiving the invitation prompted him to learn as much as he could about his namesake, who left college to join the military and reached the rank of second lieutenant.
Volunteers presented Williams with a British 2-shilling coin recovered from the crash site of the aircraft his uncle flew. They believe it may have belonged to a member of the crew, whose unit was based in England.
George Bruce Williams, a retired Air Force colonel, holds a British coin on June 6, 2026, that was found at the crash site of his uncle’s plane that was downed in central Germany during World War II. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Ann D'Angio on June 6, 2026, holds a letter written by her aunt in 1944 that was sent to the family of Frank Golden. D'Angio’s uncle and Golden’s father were on the same plane that crashed in central Germany during World War II. The unveiling of a memorial for them and other soldiers killed or captured in the area during the war, brought together relatives, that shared stories and mementos. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
A photo of Staff Sgt. Donald R. Hancey is placed beside a new memorial near Wiehe, Germany, on June 6, 2026, dedicated to airmen such as Hancey who were killed while fighting in the region during World War II. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
A photo of 2nd Lt. George B. Williams is placed beside a new memorial near Wiehe, Germany, on June 6, 2026, dedicated to airmen such as Hancey who were killed while fighting in the region during World War II. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
A newly unveiled memorial to U.S. and German airmen stands near Wiehe, Germany, on June 6, 2026. The monument honors service members on both sides of the conflict who were captured or killed in the area during World War II. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Many of the Americans named on the memorial were connected to a mission flown on Oct. 7, 1944, when B-17 bombers from the 94th and 95th bomb groups attacked a synthetic fuel plant at Böhlen near Leipzig.
The formation encountered German fighters, leading to an aerial battle that ended with B-17s crashing in and around the Hohe Schrecke region of northern Thuringia.
Frank Golden’s father, 2nd Lt. Peter J. Golden, piloted the B-17 Belle of the Brawl II, which was lost that day. Golden survived the crash and spent several months as a prisoner of war.
Asked whether his father would have been comfortable being commemorated alongside German airmen, Golden said he believed he would have been.
“In talking to him about being in a prison camp, he never said anything bad about the guards,” Golden said. “He thought he was treated fairly.
“He landed out here in some little town. All of these people had lost people to bombs, but still, they didn’t kill him.”
The commemoration included visits to the spots where the aircraft went down. Prayers were read and wreaths were laid beside dozens of candles and photographs of some of the honored airmen displayed near the memorial.
Ann D’Angio said visiting Germany brought long-sought closure to her family.
Her uncle, Flight Officer Joseph L. Corrigan, was the navigator on the B-17 piloted by Golden’s father but did not survive the crash. Corrigan was buried at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.
But D’Angio’s mother, who died five years ago, always believed something was incomplete because the loss of Corrigan happened half a world away.
“My mother felt because he died in combat on foreign soil that he had never really had a proper burial,” D’Angio said, adding that she believes the memorial would have meant a great deal to her.
Also in attendance Saturday was Dagmar Dittmer, the former mayor of Wiehe, the town nearest the memorial site.
“It was members of your families who gave their lives in the fight against the Nazi regime,” Dittmer said. “For that we owe you and, of course, the fallen our eternal gratitude.”
She also recalled “the victims on the other side,” brave young men who she said had been “misguided and abused by a ruthless” dictatorship.
