Dad grew up during the great depression. He was the youngest of 9 children. He always said his memories were traveling just like the Toad family in the best seller: "The Grapes of Wrath." The Comer family rode in an old car with chairs and water tanks strapped on the back and sides of their old jalopy. We have a picture of this too! In those days, they had to find ways to entertain themselves so the family sang and played several stringed instruments. He and his brother, Jack, went into the California Conservation Corps, CCC's, where they both grew up as young men.
When WW2 came along, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp. His Military Occupational Code was 750, Airplane Maintenance Technician. He was placed into one of the new glider units as part of the 437th Troop Carrier Group, which brought in the paratroopers from the 83rd squadron to the 86th. The rest of his life, Sgt Comer told these fabulous stories of fun, guts and glory as well as life in the fields. Since all glider landings were considered 'planned accidents', he experienced several injuries to his knees which gave him trouble through his remaining years.
He was in St. Louis, Missouri, at Lambert Field, on August 1, 1943, when one of the worst air disasters in St. Louis history took place. Ten people died while demonstrating before a large crowd of spectators, the war effort in building the Robertson Aircraft Company's, CG-4A gliders. The gliders were built to silently transport troops and cargo into dangerous areas. Ten people died that day including St. Louis Mayor, William Dee Becker; Thomas Dysart of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce; William Robertson, president of Robertson Aircraft and co-founder of Lambert Field; and St. Louis County Judge Henry Mueller.
Walter Cronkite took part in a documentary called "Silent Wings". He said: "There were 18 things that could happen to those who flew in the gliders, and 17 of them weren't very good." Dad said they were horribly noisy and it was like riding in the middle of a drum! The roar was deafening! He was a looker and the ladies really enjoyed him. Somehow, he survived the war, in fact, all of his brothers that served, came home safely. When he came home, he married our mother, Leone Marie Fridlin in 1946. In 1948, he contracted the deadly virus, POLIO. He survived this too but he lived with the aftermath of this the rest of his life with "bulbar polio" which affected his brainstem.
Plenty of times as family got together, we enjoyed listening to them sing and play.
Children: Patrick, James, Molly, and Kevin.
Child by 2nd wife, Echo Van Buren, was Stacy.
He had four living children, but he raised 8:
Connie & Todd Friend; Mike and Carrie Strand.
His third wife is Nannette Markuson.
For WW II information:
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/437th_Troop_Carrier_Group.html
See 437th Troop Carrier Group
When WW2 came along, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp. His Military Occupational Code was 750, Airplane Maintenance Technician. He was placed into one of the new glider units as part of the 437th Troop Carrier Group, which brought in the paratroopers from the 83rd squadron to the 86th. The rest of his life, Sgt Comer told these fabulous stories of fun, guts and glory as well as life in the fields. Since all glider landings were considered 'planned accidents', he experienced several injuries to his knees which gave him trouble through his remaining years.
He was in St. Louis, Missouri, at Lambert Field, on August 1, 1943, when one of the worst air disasters in St. Louis history took place. Ten people died while demonstrating before a large crowd of spectators, the war effort in building the Robertson Aircraft Company's, CG-4A gliders. The gliders were built to silently transport troops and cargo into dangerous areas. Ten people died that day including St. Louis Mayor, William Dee Becker; Thomas Dysart of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce; William Robertson, president of Robertson Aircraft and co-founder of Lambert Field; and St. Louis County Judge Henry Mueller.
Walter Cronkite took part in a documentary called "Silent Wings". He said: "There were 18 things that could happen to those who flew in the gliders, and 17 of them weren't very good." Dad said they were horribly noisy and it was like riding in the middle of a drum! The roar was deafening! He was a looker and the ladies really enjoyed him. Somehow, he survived the war, in fact, all of his brothers that served, came home safely. When he came home, he married our mother, Leone Marie Fridlin in 1946. In 1948, he contracted the deadly virus, POLIO. He survived this too but he lived with the aftermath of this the rest of his life with "bulbar polio" which affected his brainstem.
Plenty of times as family got together, we enjoyed listening to them sing and play.
Children: Patrick, James, Molly, and Kevin.
Child by 2nd wife, Echo Van Buren, was Stacy.
He had four living children, but he raised 8:
Connie & Todd Friend; Mike and Carrie Strand.
His third wife is Nannette Markuson.
For WW II information:
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/437th_Troop_Carrier_Group.html
See 437th Troop Carrier Group
Dad grew up during the great depression. He was the youngest of 9 children. He always said his memories were traveling just like the Toad family in the best seller: "The Grapes of Wrath." The Comer family rode in an old car with chairs and water tanks strapped on the back and sides of their old jalopy. We have a picture of this too! In those days, they had to find ways to entertain themselves so the family sang and played several stringed instruments. He and his brother, Jack, went into the California Conservation Corps, CCC's, where they both grew up as young men.
When WW2 came along, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp. His Military Occupational Code was 750, Airplane Maintenance Technician. He was placed into one of the new glider units as part of the 437th Troop Carrier Group, which brought in the paratroopers from the 83rd squadron to the 86th. The rest of his life, Sgt Comer told these fabulous stories of fun, guts and glory as well as life in the fields. Since all glider landings were considered 'planned accidents', he experienced several injuries to his knees which gave him trouble through his remaining years.
He was in St. Louis, Missouri, at Lambert Field, on August 1, 1943, when one of the worst air disasters in St. Louis history took place. Ten people died while demonstrating before a large crowd of spectators, the war effort in building the Robertson Aircraft Company's, CG-4A gliders. The gliders were built to silently transport troops and cargo into dangerous areas. Ten people died that day including St. Louis Mayor, William Dee Becker; Thomas Dysart of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce; William Robertson, president of Robertson Aircraft and co-founder of Lambert Field; and St. Louis County Judge Henry Mueller.
Walter Cronkite took part in a documentary called "Silent Wings". He said: "There were 18 things that could happen to those who flew in the gliders, and 17 of them weren't very good." Dad said they were horribly noisy and it was like riding in the middle of a drum! The roar was deafening! He was a looker and the ladies really enjoyed him. Somehow, he survived the war, in fact, all of his brothers that served, came home safely. When he came home, he married our mother, Leone Marie Fridlin in 1946. In 1948, he contracted the deadly virus, POLIO. He survived this too but he lived with the aftermath of this the rest of his life with "bulbar polio" which affected his brainstem.
Plenty of times as family got together, we enjoyed listening to them sing and play.
Children: Patrick, James, Molly, and Kevin.
Child by 2nd wife, Echo Van Buren, was Stacy.
He had four living children, but he raised 8:
Connie & Todd Friend; Mike and Carrie Strand.
His third wife is Nannette Markuson.
For WW II information:
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/437th_Troop_Carrier_Group.html
See 437th Troop Carrier Group
When WW2 came along, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp. His Military Occupational Code was 750, Airplane Maintenance Technician. He was placed into one of the new glider units as part of the 437th Troop Carrier Group, which brought in the paratroopers from the 83rd squadron to the 86th. The rest of his life, Sgt Comer told these fabulous stories of fun, guts and glory as well as life in the fields. Since all glider landings were considered 'planned accidents', he experienced several injuries to his knees which gave him trouble through his remaining years.
He was in St. Louis, Missouri, at Lambert Field, on August 1, 1943, when one of the worst air disasters in St. Louis history took place. Ten people died while demonstrating before a large crowd of spectators, the war effort in building the Robertson Aircraft Company's, CG-4A gliders. The gliders were built to silently transport troops and cargo into dangerous areas. Ten people died that day including St. Louis Mayor, William Dee Becker; Thomas Dysart of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce; William Robertson, president of Robertson Aircraft and co-founder of Lambert Field; and St. Louis County Judge Henry Mueller.
Walter Cronkite took part in a documentary called "Silent Wings". He said: "There were 18 things that could happen to those who flew in the gliders, and 17 of them weren't very good." Dad said they were horribly noisy and it was like riding in the middle of a drum! The roar was deafening! He was a looker and the ladies really enjoyed him. Somehow, he survived the war, in fact, all of his brothers that served, came home safely. When he came home, he married our mother, Leone Marie Fridlin in 1946. In 1948, he contracted the deadly virus, POLIO. He survived this too but he lived with the aftermath of this the rest of his life with "bulbar polio" which affected his brainstem.
Plenty of times as family got together, we enjoyed listening to them sing and play.
Children: Patrick, James, Molly, and Kevin.
Child by 2nd wife, Echo Van Buren, was Stacy.
He had four living children, but he raised 8:
Connie & Todd Friend; Mike and Carrie Strand.
His third wife is Nannette Markuson.
For WW II information:
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/437th_Troop_Carrier_Group.html
See 437th Troop Carrier Group
Inscription
"What you are is God's gift to you;
What you make of yourself, is your gift to God."
― Hans Urs von Balthasar, Prayer
