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Seitzinger Crew 616
 Seitzinger Crew 616
Kuntz Crew 616 upon arrival in North Pickenham, England - April 24, 1944
Back row, left to right...
Jerry Kuntz, original pilot
Gene Kollinger, bombardier
Eugene "Pop" Osborn, crew chief
Kent Dickson, co-pilot
Andy Gall, navigator
Front row, left to right...
Marion Thomas Kelley, Sr, nose gunner
Don Wehagen, ball turret gunner
John Kristynik, engineer
Clyde Dorsey, radio operator
Arthur Suter, waist gunner
This is a photo of the Kuntz Crew 616, before it became the Seitzinger Crew 616.
2nd Lt Elvern Seitzinger, pilot, and Sgt John H Simpson, gunner, are not in the photo.
Seitzinger Crew 616 Summary
Lt Elvern Seitzinger took over as aircraft commander of the Kuntz Crew 616 after Lt Kuntz was injured from falling off the wing during a post-mission inspection. Seitzinger had come to the 492nd as a pilot, bringing his own crew with him. His original crew was disassembled in Alamogordo and the personnel was reassigned to other crews. He himself was demoted to co-pilot to serve on the Val Preda Crew 601. See the Seitzinger CCT 1116 link on the right.
Seitzinger led this crew on 9 more missions plus an aborted one, bringing the Crew's combined total to 13. We can't be positive if there were any other personnel changes on some of their missions. It's always possible that the bombardier could have missed some of the pathfinder-led missions. We do know that with the exception of the pilot, the whole crew was together when they were interned in Sweden.
On the 20 Jun 44 mission to Politz, they got badly banged up by German Me-410s as they reached Rugen Island. Seitzinger quickly realized their only chance of survival was to try making it to Sweden. They limped their way across the Baltic Sea up to Sweden where they were interned. MACR 7077.
More Info
plus another photo
Seitzinger CCT 1116
Kuntz Crew 616
the 20 Jun 44
Mission to Politz
44-40142
SKNAPPY
42-110152
LADY WILL
44-40227
FOUR BEERS DOC
42-95160
44-40150
RUPTURED DUCK
Links to missions
flown by the
Seitzinger Crew 616
are below in their
Mission Record
Original Roster for
Seitzinger Crew 616
Position / MOS Name Rank Serial # Notes
Pilot
MOS 1024
Seitzinger, Elvern R 2nd Lt O-710956 Obtained from Val Preda 601
Promoted 1st Lt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Co-Pilot
MOS 1024
Dickson, Willis K 2nd Lt O-693014 Promoted 1st Lt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Navigator
MOS 1034
Gall, Andrew S 2nd Lt O-691982 Promoted 1st Lt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Bombardier
MOS 1035
Kollinger, Eugene V 2nd Lt O-684172 Promoted 1st Lt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Engineer
MOS 757
Kristynik, John J S/Sgt 18190174 Promoted T/Sgt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Radio
Operator
MOS 757
Dorsey, Clyde S/Sgt 18118791 Promoted T/Sgt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Gunner
MOS 612
Suter, Arthur R Sgt 12162656 Promoted S/Sgt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Gunner
MOS 748
Wehagen, Donald R Sgt 15329043 Promoted S/Sgt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Seen named spelled Wehagen
Gunner
MOS 748
Kelley, Marion T Sgt 36415028 Promoted S/Sgt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Armorer
Tail Gunner
MOS 612
Simpson, John H Sgt 18051755 Promoted S/Sgt
Interned in Sweden, 20 Jun 44, MACR 7077
Seitzinger Crew 616
492nd BG Mission Record
856th Bomb Squadron
Crew
Mission
Number
Group
Mission
Number
Group
Mission
Date
Aircraft
Serial
Number
Primary Target Mission Notes
05
 Link to Mission 11 page 11
28 May 44 41-110152 Zeitz, Germany Target: Oil refinery
Bombed Saalfeld
06
 Link to Mission 12 page 12
29 May 44 44-40227 Politz, Germany Target: Oil refinery
07
 Link to Mission 15 page 15
2 Jun 44 42-95160 Berck-sur-Mer, France Target: Airfield
08
 Link to Mission 16 page 16
4 Jun 44 44-40150 Avord, France Target: Airfield
09
 Link to Mission 17 page 17
6 Jun 44 44-40142 Normandy, France Target: D-Day invasion coast
10
 Link to Mission 20 page 20
8 Jun 44 44-40142 Angers, France Target: Railroad junction
11
 Link to Mission 25 page 25
12 Jun 44 44-40142 Dreux, France Target: Airfield
Abort
 Link to Mission 26 page 26
14 Jun 44 44-40142 Emmerich, Germany Target: Oil refinery
Aborted, uncredited
12
 Link to Mission 28 page 28
15 Jun 44 44-40142 La Frilliere, France Target: Railroad bridge
13
 Link to Mission 34 page 34
20 Jun 44 44-40142 Politz, Germany Target: Oil refinery
Lost after bombing target
10 interned in Sweden, MACR 7077
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Page last modified Tuesday, October 4, 2011.