The Commune of Kehlen, Luxembourg is dedicating a plaque to Lt. Harold Stalnaker on Oct 8, 2006. This is an open invitation to attend the dual ceremony if you have the opportunity.
The ceremony begins at 9:15 with the procession, then the wreath laying, Mass, a flyover by 4 USAF A-10s, unveiling of the dual memorials followed by a reception at 1pm. Further details are found in the Time Schedule in this email or by emailing Marco Haas at: Marco.Haas@kehlen.lu.
Thanks to all of those that worked on, and donated to, the P47N restoration at the Peterson AFB Museum. The Plane is beautiful and a few pictures of the dedication ceremony can be found at: http://www.petemuseum.org/P47DedicationPage.html.
Thanks to friends, family, Senator Jay Rockefeller, WV Public Television, Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii, and the Department of the Army that have assisted the Stalnaker family in saying goodbye to "Uncle Harold". A genuine WWII hero from Spencer WV that gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country in his P47D "Miss Em" that December day in 1944 over the skies of Luxembourg.
A special thanks to Luxembourg natives, Raymond Hoffman, Frank Keiffer, and Adj. John Derneden. John determined Uncle Harold's crash site and chronicled the crash in both of his books. Raymond excavated the site and retained special artifacts that now "live" in my home as an ongoing reminder of Uncle Harold's life and death. Frank is the curator of the Battle of the Bulge Museum in Clervaux where the P47 engine now rests, along with numerous items relating to Lt. Harold G. Stalnaker.
On this Sept 11th, we wish to honor all of those soldiers and civilians, from all countries, that have met with an untimely end attributable to war.
Sincerely,
Charlie Stalnaker and the extended Stalnaker family.
Charlie Stalnaker
P.O. Box 200
Snowshoe, WV 26209
charlie@cstalnaker.com
www.cstalnaker.com
