Some travel days are great, some are extraordinary, and some are simply beyond description. We had one of those indescribable ones today. I’ve been working on a trip to San Pancrazio for several years now researching and preparing, and today, it happened. Our father, Ry’s and mine, flew all of his missions to bomb the Axis enemy in WWII from a single concrete airstrip in the boot heel of Italy. Not far from Lecce and 110Km south of Bari. His last takeoff from this primitive airstrip was on February 23, 1944 His plane, number 41, no name or pretty girl on its nose had taken them on nine successful missions, but the tenth became a 15-month, life-threatening survival nightmare. By the grace of our Lord, the patriotic resolve and incredible strength of an American soldier, then and now, he and his nine crew brothers turned Hitler’s Black March into a victory march for our cherished freedoms.
Mr. Pancrazio (yes, same name as town) Stridi, the San Pancrazio historian and author, graciously hosted Pam and me on our visit.
He set up a meeting with the mayor
in city hall, and guided us on a tour of the airfield and the facilities that remain. He arranged for an interpreter 
and provided us with a copy of his book, which is history of the airfield and the 376 Bomb Group.
Our interpreter was a beautiful young college student whose Italian accent successfully camouflaged most of the Merican she spoke… Did I mentioned she was beautiful?
With my aids turned to hyper loud and Pam helping, I got most of the conversations. It was a great day, and the folks made us feel they wanted us to be there. Indescribable.
We covered about 250Km today, and while some was on the motorway, getting to the small towns of San Pancrazio and Ostuni took us through miles of countryside. The terrain toward San Pan is low like Florida with olive groves and grape vineyards. It was surprising to see the large areas covered in cactus or is it cacti.
The two towns are similar with Ostuni
being larger and more picturesque. It’s topography is much different with steep hills covered with white washed structures. During the Black Death period, the white paint whitewash contained heavy volumes of calcium which showed promise in preventing the disease. All houses and buildings were whitewashed, and it has to this day been the tradition in Ostuni. Beautiful city.
We completed our day’s journey back home in Monopoli. I’m writing and Pam is preparing for our trip to Bari tomorrow for one night to catch an early flight to Palermo and another adventure. It will be just as exciting as most but not as meaningful as today’s. Later, Jim and Pam
More pics:
