October 24th, 2024 Newsletter
“Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” – Angela Lee Duckworth – Psychologist-American Academic-Science Author
“Life isn’t perfect, any failures you have are actually learning moments. They teach us how to grow and evolve.” – Phillipa Soo – Actress-Singer
“I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life.” – Louise Hay – 1926-2017 – Motivational Speaker-Author
ANNOUNCEMEMTS
(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)
The Club voted to donate $1,000, earmarked to Shelter Box USA, to the District Disaster Relief Fund.
October Bucket Bucks will be donated to the GSLC Operation Turkey Sandwich. Volunteers are needed on Thanksgiving AM to help make and distribute sandwiches to workers around the city.
Volunteers are needed to sign up to work at Salt and Light on November 9 from 9-11 AM.
CU Sunrise Charter Dinner with Chez Veterans will be at the City View on November 14. We will have cocktails starting at 5:30 PM followed by dinner at 6:30 PM. There will be no AM meeting on November 14.
Our Interact Club will serve hot chocolate at the Parade of Lights on November 30.
PROGRAM
Darell introduced his friend, Bob Cloverdill. Bob received an MA in Engineering from the University of Illinois. He is president of the local Experimental Airplane Association.
Bob’s father, Captain Edward M. Cloverdill, was a U.S. Air Force pilot from 1942-1945. He lost a leg in a crash in 1944, ending his dream of becoming a commercial pilot. Edward died in a car crash when 20-year-old Bob was in the Air Force himself. After his death, Bob found photographs of the crash site and became determined to locate it.
Bob’s father was born in 1919. In the 1930’s, there was great enthusiasm for aviation amongst young boys. Bob’s dad designed competition model planes and learned to fly at the age of 19. His goal was to become a commercial airline pilot. By age 23, he was fully rated. In 1942, Edward was inducted into the Air Force at the rank of 2nd Lt. because he was already a qualified pilot. Given the option of being an instructor or a ferry pilot, he chose the latter. In 1942 alone, he flew B-17, B-25C, A-20C, B-26, C-60 and C-46 planes. By 1944, he had flown 25 different planes.
On January 18, 1944, Captain Cloverdill was scheduled to ferry a B-17 from Georgia to England. That plane was damaged, and the crew was switched to a B-24 Liberator. Pilots said flying the B-24 was like flying a “big semi-truck” with cumbersome controls. As it was winter, they avoided the “polar route.” The southern route took them to Homestead Florida, Trinidad, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Dakar and Morocco before heading to England on February 1. The weather was terrible and Bob believes they got off course. After 13 1/2 hours of a scheduled 12 hour flight, they were running out of fuel and Captain Cloverdill looked for an emergency landing site.
Blasting through centuries old hedge rows and trees, the plane was ripped apart. All four engines and the tail ripped off. Bob believes his father survived because the cockpit was ripped off and turned around. Bob was named after his father’s best friend, the navigator Bob Diamond, who did not survive. Five other crew members died. Three of them are buried at the American Cemetery in Cambridge. Overall, just three crew members, including Bob’s dad, survived.
The plane crashed nine miles east of Barnstable in North Devon, England. After his first retirement, Bob was determined to find the site. Using the photographs, he built a Lego diorama of the crash site. Bob used topographical maps to try to narrow down the location.
Via the internet, he found that Barnstable had a local library. His email to the library was answered the next day. The library’s research librarian was excited to help him with the project of finding the site. She posted Bob’s pictures of the site on their Facebook page. Two days later, two women showed up. One had been a five-year-old sitting on the loo when the plane almost hit her house.
In 2017, Bob visited Grange Farm near the small town of Charles in Devonshire. He was shown artifacts found at the crash site, including a compass and a set of dog tags. Bob was able to secure a plane and flew over the site himself. In January 2024, he returned to give a talk to a local group and toured the place where the D-Day training occurred.
The military accident review board determined that the crash was due to pilot error. Bob feels that his father never recovered from the guilt, despite the fact that the crash was mostly due to poor visibility.
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| Oct 31st | Nov 7th | Nov 14th | Nov 21st | |
| Introductions | No | Garrett Colbert | Paul Conforti | Lisa Crane |
| Reflection | morning | Jarrod Scheunemann | Jen Shelby | Cary Woolard |
| Greeters | meeting | Garrett Colbert | Paul Conforti | Lisa Crane |
| social | Jarrod Scheunemann | Jen Shelby | Cary Woolard | |
| Food | instead. | Mary Kay and Charlie | Mary Kay and Charlie | Mary Kay and Charlie |
| Notetaker | Perry | Crane | Conforti |
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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee members listed in parentheses)
October 31st – Club Social
November 7th – Andrea Fain, District 6490 International service Director, who will tell us about her trips to Guadalajara with Mississippi District 6820 (Mary)
November 14th – Veteran’s Dinner at City View
November 21st – TBD (Cary)
November 28th – No meeting – Thanksgiving
December 5th – Molly Cornyn, Project Coordinator, Roger Ebert’s Film Festival (Joe)
December 12th – TBD (Charlie)
December 19th – CUSR Holiday Party
December 26th – No morning meeting
January 2nd – TBD (Les)
January 9th – TBD (Lisa)
January 16th – TBD (Mary)
January 23rd – Lynne Barnes, Advocates for Aging Care (Michael)
January 30th – TBD
UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS
October 23 – Jarrod Scheunemann
October 29 – Robb Patton