It was obviously old, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary with it until it was opened. The cursive handwriting was a bit backhand, tight, and legible with a little flair from an ink fountain pen. Archivist Debbie Seracini investigated the logbook. Tucked in between the pages were five film negatives inside cellophane envelopes, two prints of a P distributor head, and one print of a pretty British girl in a uniform.
McPharlin, Capt. By September, he is training at Rice Field in California. Fowlmere, Camb. Soon, entries from May 8 to 29 are written heavy and bold, most underlined in red and some outlined in red boxes, indicating combat missions. The last page was for June The logbook was half filled; the rest of the pages were blank. It was like a story coming to a grinding halt without an ending. The man who kept this logbook was at Normandy on D-Day. It only seemed natural to find out what had happened to him.
A new journey began! We learned that on June 6, he had reported engine trouble, and was never heard from again. Further search on Newspapers.
From , he attended Duke University and was awarded a fellowship to attend Heidelberg University in Germany, where he studied histology. After returning to the United States, he came back to Hastings and worked on the M state highway relocation project. He then went to sea in a tanker and had the good fortune to avoid being swept away during high seas, a fire aboard ship, and an explosion in dry dock.
He certainly had luck on his side! He enlisted in after being refused admittance to the U. Army Air Corps because he lacked one-half inch in height. In January , McPharlin wrote a letter to the Enquirer dispelling a rumor that he had been seriously injured when shot down over France the past July. Maybe my Irish luck will run out? Dunn who writes:.
