skip to main | skip to sidebar
TRIBUTE: The Twenty-third Mission

Sunday, February 8, 2009

For references and a list of past presentations

CLICK HERE
Posted by Shaun T. Weaver
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Labels: Shaun Ted Lionel Weaver WWII B-24 Tribute 23rd Mission Dutch Resistance Jews Rescuers Holocaust Nazi
Newer Post Older Post Home

December 1, 2008

"Tribute: The Twenty-third Mission is a renewal of faith and the courage to resist evil."

The Hamlet Chaverot Chapter of Hadassah

Visitors to Circlet of Silver

Locations of visitors to this page

Connected By Courage - by Jody Record, University of New Hampshire Magazine

History is always different in person.

The written account of 1st Lt. Ted Weaver's plane being shot down over Nazi-occupied Holland in 1944 reads like a novel: hiding in a wheat field, with a German soldier searching for him just a few feet away. A dog that didn't bark. Families of the Dutch underground taking him in, moving him from house to house, until the town of Nijveral was liberated nine months later.

Read the full article at: http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/sp04/courage.html

May 20, 2008

"I must admit I went to hear a 'war story' but it was more than I could of hoped for...Time has reduced the ranks and people have forgotten. Your program reminds us of the heroism and sacrifice that was made to secure our liberty. I do hope you continue this great work."

Michael J. Kiernan

About the presenter:

  • Kerry K. Weaver
  • Shaun T. Weaver

March 5, 2008


"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for renewing my faith in the goodness and kindness of people.

I sat through your talk twice and could do so again because I was so intrigued by your story and your storytelling."

Lorraine Courounis

From the State University of New York presentation:

"Your presentation has the excitement and drama that will keep students who study this period in rapt attention. As a former social studies teacher, director of counseling services in several school districts and a college professor who trained graduate mental health and counseling professionals, I know your presentation would be extremely valuable at all educational levels. It is a perfect introduction into discussing the issue of man's responsibility to his fellow man."

Glenn E. Mehrtens

From the Plainview-Old Bethpage Senior Citizen Club:

"Your presentation to our club on February 29, 2008 is one that our entire membership will treasure. The inspirational story of the heroic Dutch people who sheltered Ted from the German occupiers is a story which should not be allowed to fade...

This story needs to be told because it addresses the innate goodness of a few brave souls and is as relevant today as it was then. In our era their story is one that, hopefully, can inspire us to do the same.

It is vital that this presentation be given to as many people as possible."

Jerry Kirschen
Program Coordinator
516-694-4062
 

Lt. Ted L. Weaver & Sylvia Moray

Lt. Ted L. Weaver & Sylvia Moray
October 1943 - Ted & Sylvia became engaged but decided to wait until Ted returned from his tour of duty in Europe to be married.

42-99966 W: B-24J Liberator Bomber of the 8th Army Air Corps, 44th Bomb Group.

42-99966 W: B-24J Liberator Bomber of the 8th Army Air Corps, 44th Bomb Group.
Full House was not one of Ted's favorite ships. She had taken a direct hit from 20mm Flak in the starboard main wing spar and Ted just didn't like the way she handled. Despite that and a few other equipment problems, Ted and his crew took off from Shipdham, England with the 68th Squadron to attack an aircraft factory in Bernberg, Germany.

"We were told to expect heavy flak and determined fighter resistance."

"We were told to expect heavy flak and determined fighter resistance."
"With only one engine left pulling, Full House could not stay in the sky. Right on cue those two starboard engines caught fire."

Berend Shoemaker

Berend Shoemaker
Ted landed in Berend's wheat field and he hid Ted's parachute and flight gear helping Ted evade capture by the German Army.

Jan & Rien Roorda - Dutch resistance members.

Jan & Rien Roorda - Dutch resistance members.
Ted hid in the Roorda family home for the first two weeks of his nine months in Holland. Jan was arrested many times by the Gestapo before finally being sentenced to execution. He was saved from the firing squad by the Canadian Army.

Adrian, Koos, Annie, Henny & Ted.

Adrian, Koos, Annie, Henny & Ted.
The Von Egmonds hid Ted in their attic for three months. The typical Nazi response to finding an allied soldier hiding in a Dutch home was to execute the entire family on the front lawn and burn the house down.

Jan Roorda gave this admonition to Shaun in 1974 when he was 14 years old. It is to fulfill this charge that Mr. Weaver gives TRIBUTE. It is his sincere desire that we not forget the sacrifices that were made to purchase and preserve the freedoms we too often take for granted. Come have your hope and faith in the goodness of people renewed; come hear TRIBUTE.