Join a public tribute to the lost crew of a B-24 Liberator bomber believed to have crashed into Lake Ontario during World War II training exercises. The “Getaway Gertie” commemoration begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 24 at Breitbeck Park on Lake Street in Oswego.

New York State Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing Honor Guard will conduct the opening ceremony followed by a distinguished roster of speakers, including author Tom Wilber. At 11:30 a.m., weather permitting, the Commemorative Air Force will pay homage to the “Getaway Gertie” crew by performing a fly-over with the last remaining B-24 bomber in the world still flying today.

The event is sponsored by Oswego County, the city of Oswego and the proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council.

“We’re honored to help bring this recognition to the ‘Getaway Gertie’ crew and all those we lost in the fight for freedom during World War II,” said Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup. “We tend to think of the soldiers and airmen who gave their lives on the front lines, but losing servicemen in training is no less significant. They too perished trying to move the war effort forward and deserve our respect and appreciation.”

Oswego City Mayor Billy Barlow added, “I’m excited to partner with Oswego County to host this event which gives appropriate honor to the ‘Getaway Gertie’ crew. It’s always been important to embrace our rich history as we promote our community, and this commemoration gives us the opportunity to shine a light on a story that hasn’t previously been well highlighted.”

Bill Crist, chairman of the local advisory council for the proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary, expressed the council’s gratitude to be able to support the event. “This commemoration is a good example of preserving our maritime heritage. ‘Getaway Gertie’ is one of many historic relics lost to Lake Ontario and we’re proud to help bring awareness and recognition for this chapter of our history.

The commemoration event will also bring family members of one of the lost airmen to the Port City. Robert Keith Hardy and his wife Amy will arrive from Texas, while Eddie Evans and his wife Melanie plan to come in from Oklahoma. Both men are great-nephews of the B-24 bomber’s pilot, Wendell Keith Ponder.

“We knew Great-Uncle Keith died in an accident, but we weren’t sure of the details,” said Hardy, who bears his great uncle’s name. “There’s so much of this story that I never knew, so finding this history means a lot to us. I’m so glad we’re able to make this trip.”

That uncertainty is due, in part, to the fact that the four-engine bomber has never been found. It was last heard flying low over the eastern shore of Great Lake Ontario during a snowstorm in February 1944.

“Getaway Gertie” had been on a training mission and was carrying a crew of eight. In addition to Ponder, there was flight officer Raymond A. Bickel; flight engineer Thomas C. Roberts; radio operator Joseph Michael Zebo; assistant engineer Aubrey H. Alexander; assistant radio operator Philip R. Walton; and James O. Cozier and Kenneth Jones, both gunners.

Their loss represents the much broader story of the homefront training casualties that were largely overshadowed by deaths on the front lines abroad.

Tom Wilber, author of “Vanishing Point,” which documents the case of the “Getaway Gertie” crew, said that few people today are aware of the stunning casualty rate of training exercises. Thousands perished while preparing to fight in the second World War.   

He offered this perspective, “Relatively few of the men executing the wing-to-wing bombing raids that filled the skies over Europe and the Pacific came to the job knowing the first thing about flying – let alone flying in synchronized aerial formations under unimaginably dire circumstances. For much of their young lives the science of flight had been in its infancy; it’s safe to say most had not even been on a plane.

“Yet with victory being dependent on superior air combat, achieved largely through strength in numbers, they had little choice but to learn in a hurry – or die trying,” Wilber continued. “More than 15,000 of them died trying. It was a time when, in the service of freedom, death quite literally rained from domestic skies.”

Wilber calls those who crashed, burned, fell from the sky or simply disappeared with their planes in training accidents, the “forgotten soldiers.”

Crist added that, “eight lives were lost on ‘Gertie,’ but generations were forever changed by this significant chapter in our country’s history.”

Following its disappearance, “Getaway Gertie,” its crew and fuselage were never found despite an extensive search. However, one week later, the US Army Air Forces recovered a wing panel floating offshore near Oswego, leading searchers to conclude that the rest of the plane was somewhere in the lake. For decades, divers have continued to search for its remains.

Oswego County Administrator Philip Church, also a recreational diver, is among the number of regional residents and diving enthusiasts who have searched for the bomber.

“Over the years, we’ve conducted searches with specialized equipment such as a side-scan sonar and minesweepers,” he said. “None of those searches proved fruitful, but we’re still looking. We want to make sure that ‘Gertie’ is treated with the respect it deserves as a piece of our nation’s history and part of our own local heritage.”

The “Getaway Gertie” is one chapter in the history of Great Lake Ontario helping to open the door for federal recognition. Oswego, Cayuga, Jefferson and Wayne counties and the city of Oswego have applied to have a 1,786-square-mile stretch of eastern Lake Ontario listed as a national marine sanctuary. The proposal is currently under review by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“‘Getaway Gertie’ is one of many wrecks in either history or lore that make this area worthy of protection and conservation as a marine sanctuary,” said Crist. “These known and unknown ruins earn our respect and reverence and enchant our curiosities with the possibility of discovery. We’re hopeful as we continue to work toward becoming the 16th national marine sanctuary in the world and the third sanctuary in the Great Lakes region of the United States.”

For more information about the “Getaway Gertie” commemoration, call 315-349-8235. To learn more about the proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary, go to https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/lake-ontario/.

ALL THAT REMAINS – A B-24 Liberator bomber, the “Getaway Gertie” is believed to have crashed into Lake Ontario during a snowstorm on Feb. 18, 1944. One week later, a wing panel was spotted floating offshore near Oswego. Join a public tribute to its crew at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 24 at Breitbeck Park on Lake Street in Oswego. The event will include, weather permitting, a fly-over by the only remaining B-24 bomber in the world still flying today. Photo by Edward Plank, courtesy of the H. Lee White Maritime Museum archives.

FAMILIES ATTEND COMMEMORATION – Two great-nephews of “Getaway Gertie” pilot Wendell Keith Ponder are coming to the Port City from Texas and Oklahoma to remember their uncle and the thousands of servicemen who lost their lives during training exercises for the second World War. The commemoration begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 24 at Breitbeck Park on Lake Street in Oswego. New York State Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing Honor Guard will conduct the opening ceremony followed by a distinguished roster of speakers, including “Vanishing Point” author Tom Wilber.