Excerpts from Robert Browngardt's

In honor of Veteran's Day, SHHS decided to share highlights from one of the Fridays on the Porch series that focused on the Browngardt Family's military service in Sag Harbor.

Robert Browngardt spoke with SHHS sharing several of his family's military service stories, along with pictures and documents related to his stories.

The Browngardt family's military service history goes back to before the family came to America when family members served in Kaiser Wilhelm's army in Germany.

SHHS was thrilled to see many of Browngardt's friends and family in the crowd, and several audience members filmed Mr. Browngardt's speech with smartphones.

Here's a few pictures and excerpts from the action-packed talk:

"We were getting blasted by the Germans...I only wish I could have lasted longer... the Army always sent the wounded men home as soon as possible..."

"There was one crew member on Robert's plane, he was the navigator that didn't make the flight up from Australia..."

"The Admiral wants to see you in his cabin..."

The Browngardt family famously lost Robert's brother Arthur after his aircraft crashed. Lieutenant Arthur Browngardt called his B-25 J  bomber, an apache aircraft, the "Sag Harbor Express," a title shared with the village's newspaper. Arthur Browngardt and his aircraft and crew went down fighting in the Philippines, crashing into a cathedral.

The church bears a marker with the following inscription, describing the incident:

"AT 9:30 am. ON 07 JAN. 1945, A NORTH AMERICAN MITCHELL B-25 J BOMBER No.11-43-36 “SAG HARBOR EXPRESS; PLOWED THROUGH THE ROOF OF THIS CHURCH AFTER IT WAS HIT BY JAPANESE FLAK AS IT WAS BOMBING CLARK FIELD DURING AN ALL-OUT 5TH AIR FORCE ATTACK. IT MADE A GAPING LARGE HOLE ON THE ROOF, LEAVING ITS LEFT WING CAUGHT AMONG THE CEILING RAFTERS. IT THEN CRASHED TO PIECES AND INTO A HUGE FIREBALL ON THE PATIO OF THE HOLY ANGEL ACADEMY NEARBY, KILLING THE ENTIRE CREW. THE PILOT AND CO-PILOT WERE THROWN CLEAR OUT OF THE AIRCRAFT UPON IMPACT WHILE THE REST WERE EITHER MANGLES, PARTIALLY BURNED OR CHARRED BEYOND RECOGNITION. JAPANESE TROOPS BILLETED IN THE SAID ACADEMY RUSHED OUT IN PANIC WITH THEIR RIFLES AND FIRED VOLLEYS AT THE FLAMMING WRECKAGE. LATER THE JAPANESE GATHERED THE CADAVERS AND ARRANGED THEM SIDE BY SIDE, WITH THEIR PERSONAL EFFECTS PLACED ATOP THEIR CHESTS. THE THEN PARISH PRIEST OF ANGELES REV.FR.COSME BITUIN WAS ALLOWED TO CONDUCT LAST RITES. THE JAPANESE BURIED THE BODIES IN A SHALLOW GRAVE ABOUT 200 YARDS SOUTH OF THE WRECKAGE. IN FEB. 1945 AFTER THE LIBERATION OF ANGELES, A U.S.ARMY GRAVEYARD UNIT EXHUMED THE REMAINS AND WERE SHIPPED BACK TO THE U.S.A. FOR PERMANENT INTERMENT. THE BOMBER CREW BELONGED TO THE 499TH BOMB SQDN. NAMED “ BATS OUTA HELL” 345TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP NAMED “AIR APACHES” FIFTH AIR FORCE, U.S. ARMY

THE CREW OF THE B-25 “SAG HARBOR EXPRESS WERE:

2ND LT. ARTHUR BROWNGARDT

PILOT – SAG HARBOR, LONG ISLAND, NEW, YORK

2ND LT. JACK B. BARTLOW

CO-PILOT – 8624 WOODBRIDGE, CINCINNATI, OHIO

2ND LT. HOWARD C. LEBECK

NAVIGATOR – 93 E. SCHLEY BLVD., BREMERTON, WASH.

T/SGT. WILLIAM H. NOE

ENGINEER-GUNNER – ADDRESS UNKNOWN

T/SGT. CLARENCE H. GILBERT

RADIOMAN-GUNNER – ADDRESS UNKNOWN

S/SGT. ENGLEHARDT VON HEBEL

GUNNER – ADDRESS UNKNOWN"

Robert Browngardt noted that his brother Arthur's aircraft decorations have remained popular with hobbyists, and images of his brother's plane are visible on many sites online, like this one.

Robert's brother Richard has also spoken about the loss of their brother, and Robert spoke about the differences between his wartime experiences in the Navy and his brother's experiences as a child on the homefront.  An interview with Richard was published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer here. The dinner menu imaged for the article from Ted Browngardt's 1943 Christmas on the USS Wasp was shown as Robert spoke at SHHS, along with several other family pictures and papers.