The original crew of the "Gallopin' Ghost" included, front row, from the left: SSgt. James Zocco - Assistant Crew Chief;
SSgt. Paul R. Drury - Radio Operator; SSgt. Vito A. Berardi - Nose Turret Gunner; SSgt Andrew A. Anzo - Right Waist Gunner; SSgt. George E. Shatzer - Ball Turret Gunner;
SSgt. August L. Musich - Top Turret Gunner; SSgt. Louis D. Springer - Tail Gunner; SSgt. Glen Hovey - Crew Chief. Back row: 2nd Lt. Charles Coyle - Navigator;
2nd Lt. William J. Brohm, III - Bombardier; F/O Walter P. van der Kamp - Pilot; 2nd Lt. Phillip Kraus - Co-Pilot.
Andrew Anzo was normally the right waist gunner on the "Gallopin' Ghost" plane, but he was injured on a
flight prior to Feb. 22, 1944. Anzo had been hospitalized for frostbite of his face due to the 60 degrees below zero temperature. Because of this injury, the crew was one man short on February 22nd.
S/Sgt. Adam E. Wood filled Anzo's position that day. Adam received a letter from Anzo in the summer of 2003. He said he always wondered what happened to the man who took his place the day
the plane was shot down. Anzo lives in Mexico City, Mexico.
Paul Drury was trained as a radio operator but was in the left waist gunner position on Feb. 22nd. Drury thinks the plane might have been hit by a rocket or a
20 mm cannon, igniting the oxygen supply tanks. Drury also said that co-pilot Phillip Kraus told him that the plane exploded and he was blown out of the plane. Paul Drury and his wife, Louise,
reside in Barefoot Bay, Florida.
James Zocco, assistant crew chief for the "Gallopin' Ghost," was the person who prepared the plane for its flight on Feb. 22, 1944. Zocco
said the "Gallopin' Ghost" was named after the famous football player Harold (Red) Grange. Grange's nickname was the "Galloping Ghost" and his jersey number
was the same as the first two numbers of the plane's tail number - 77. In Zocco's diary on Feb. 22nd, he wrote"...the plane never came back. Lost in action. I'll never forget it.
Hovey cried." James Zocco resides in Windsor Locks, CT.
Pilot Walter van der Kamp had a son, Martin, who was born while the crew was training in New Mexico. Flight Officer van der Kamp
wasn't allowed to see his wife or son before being sent overseas to Italy. The son, Martin van der Kamp, lives in Santa Rose, California and has been corresponding with crew
members Paul Drury and James Zocco, trying to find out more about his father and the missions he flew.
Co-pilot Phillip Kraus, the third person to survive the Feb. 22nd event, was badly burned in the plane explosion and was sent back to the United States
by the Germans. He was last living in Dallas, Texas. Attempts made to reach Kraus have been unsuccessful.
Second Lt. William Brohm III, SSgt. August Musich and 2nd Lt. Charles Coyle are buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium.
