Old Soldiers ... cont. from 17
It was there that he met his future
bride, a nurse from Boston named
Mary. However, the two did face a
bit of a problem. Mary was a lieutenant and Bob was only a sergeant. As a
Bob & Mary Yoder in Afrixa, 1943
commissioned officer, Mary was not
supposed to associate with non-commissioned personnel. But, love found
a way. Their military service took
them to Italy and France as well.
Following the war they got married
and Bob came home with his bride to
join the family business and raise his
own family.
Shipshewana native Phil Spreuer
was a bomber pilot in the U.S. Army
Air Corps. He survived a German
prisoner of war camp and was a
Purple Heart recipient. When his
plane was shot down, Spreuer made
sure that he kept the plane in the
air long enough for the crew members to parachute to safety. Even the
dead crew members were gotten off
before the plane crashed. However,
by the time Phil jumped from the
plane there wasn’t enough time for
pg 18 · The Hometown Treasure · November ‘12
Phil Spreuer’s flight crew