BREITBACH, Robert J.

BREITBACH, Robert J. (Dubuque, IA--Dubuque, IA, February 8, 1944). Breitbach was one of five Army Air Force men, who perished in a crash of a B-17 bomber on the J.W. Seifker farm west of CENTER GROVE on February 8, 1944. The plane from Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois, was on a routine training flight with Breitbach as the pilot.

According to a newspaper report at the time, the plane came into the Dubuque area from the northeast and circled in the Hill section before heading directly west. It missed crashing into Heller's Tavern near Center Grove before smashing through a tree, ramming into a hillside, exploding and bursting into flames.

Breitbach was an instructor at Chanute Field. He was assigned there after he had completed fifty missions in North Africa and Italy early in 1943. He participated in raids over Sicily, Sardinia, Italy and southern France without injury and was the first local flier granted a leave at home after completing fifty missions. While in the city, he had been a popular luncheon speaker and told of his experiences in war.

In the early 1970s, John Davis of Dubuque explored the old crash site and discovered pilot's wings. Only two people could have worn those wings; one was Breitbach. Over the years, he told many people of his discovery. One of these was Dubuque artist, Norman ZEPESKI. Zepeski mentioned this to Don Breitbach, the brother of the World War II pilot, who had returned to Dubuque for his 50th high school reunion in 1992. Davis gave the wings to Breitbach who kept them with other souvenirs of his brother.

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Source:

Glindinning, Mary. "World War II Pilot Wings Returned to Brother," Telegraph Herald October 7, 1992, p. 1