The Hometown Treasure November 2012 | Page 20

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