Have you ever wondered, “Why am I here?”
My high school classmate Patty Barr Sutker did.
And her father’s handwritten notes answered that question.
From the day Charles Barr was born in 1915 in New York City, the odds were against him. Without the loving support of parents, he grew up in St. Agnes’ Home for Crippled Children in White Plains, New York. Nuns nurtured the future certified public accountant.
Chuck Barr was excellent with details. He had a distinguished business career, giving tax advice to a legion of clients in my hometown. But one battlefield mistake is why Patty is “here” and could share the details from her daddy’s World War II diary.
Here’s Chuck’s wartime account, further corroborated in a 2000 letter from a fellow crew member, Robert E. (Bob) Cook.
Chuck was 26 when he enlisted. Despite suffering from persistent air sickness, he was determined to do his patriotic duty in the skies over Western China. As a member of the 14th Air Force—made famous by its leader, Gen. Claire Chennault—Chuck flew as a B-24 bombardier in the 308th Bomb Group.
The 374th Squadron had two primary missions: bombing the Japanese in China and transporting mechanical parts and supplies for American troops. The supply flights were into India over the Himalayas, known as The Hump.
On Aug. 21, 1943, during a big battle over Hankow, Chuck’s original plane, dubbed “Rum Runner,” was shot down. He wasn’t the bombardier that day. Only five of the original 14 planes escaped unscathed.
Patty’s dad beat that set of odds.
Bob Cook’s letter gave more details.
In May of 1943, Chuck’s squadron had a rushed directive. The haste was so quick that they didn’t have time to receive and load American bombs. Russian explosives were substituted, but the 1,000-pound bombs were too big to fit in the plane. Chuck and the crew trimmed a few inches off the tails of the bombs. Another challenge was that Chuck didn’t have the correct data on the Russian bombs.
Bombardier Barr’s projectile missed its intended target, a fuel storage area in an abandoned airfield in southwestern China. Instead, the altered bomb landed in the middle of a Japanese artillery compound and wiped it out. The Chinese were thrilled and hosted a banquet for their American allies.
Here’s what Bob Cook wrote:
“Nevertheless, the major did not like the miss of the original target and replace[d] Charles with another bombardier from the Jinx crew. The fickle finger of fate spared your dad as his substitute went down with the Rum Runner crew on 21 August 43 over Hankow.”
Every loss of American life brings grief and sorrow back home.
Indeed, “War is hell.”
Today that hell continues to rage in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran and Israel. You have to wonder if and when there will be a World War III. But we can be assured neither Russia nor China will be loaning us bombs.
But back to Chuck Barr.
After obtaining his accounting degree from Manhattan College in 1941, he enlisted in the military. Following the war, he joined the Air Force Reserves and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Before going overseas, Chuck married Phyllis Mack in 1942. And rising from his orphanage roots and after the war, Chuck got what he always wanted—a family. The couple had two children, Charlie and Patty. The Barrs moved to Jesup in 1953.
I’ve known Patty since junior high.
As we were preparing for our Class of 1966’s 59th reunion, over PB&J sandwiches with Patty and her husband, Larry, my friend told this story.
Chuck Barr defied incredible odds.
There’s a remarkable story in every life.
So, I ask, “What’s yours?”
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com