James E. Seamans

B-17 pilot crash-landed on his final bombing run.

By Jeff Werner, BucksLocalNews.com


James E. Seamans was on his 30th and final mission over Germany when disaster struck. It was November 1944 and World War II was raging through Western Europe.

Flack from anti-aircraft gunfire had struck his B-17 bomber, taking out an engine. He and his crew were in a forced nose dive and frantically looking for a place to land over hostile territory.
“I had to make a decision. Could we make it back to England? If we did, we’d be going home. If we couldn’t, maybe we could land in the English Channel. But that’s questionable with a B-17,” said Seamans.

“I called my crew together to see if everyone had life jackets.” Unfortunately, one of the men, in his haste to lighten the plane, had tossed his jacket out the door. “That made my decision easy,” said Seamans.

Known as Seamans’ Demons, the 10-member crew had flown 30 combat missions together, mostly over Germany, between July 17 and Nov. 26, 1944. During those short months, they developed a special bond that continues to this day.

Seamans, who was the pilot, was born and raised in Scranton. He attended Keystone Junior College in Factoryville where he enrolled in a Civilian Pilot Training Course and earned his pilot’s license. The course, he said, was introduced by the Governor of Pennsylvania in 1941 to introduce “guys like me” into the U.S. Army Air Force.

In 1942 he graduated from Keystone, enlisted in the Air Force and joined the aviation cadet program to become a pilot. He earned his wings and was commissioned a second lieutenant. At about the same time, he married his high school sweetheart, Marjorie.

Fresh out of flight school, he was assigned to fly B-17s (nicknamed the Flying Fortress) and was sent to training school. He and his crew trained in Florida before being sent over to England in June 1944 where they were assigned to the 100th Bomb Group, nicknamed the Bloody 100th due to the heavy losses it had sustained.

“We were greeted with that information when we arrived at the base, which didn’t please us too much,” said Seamans. “However, it was a great group and we met some fine people there.”

Up until its final mission, Seamans said the crew was pretty fortunate, suffering only one injury and always returning home with nothing more than bullet holes in the plane. That changed with its last run over Germany.

“We thought it was a milk run, but it ended up being the most difficult,” he said. “it was a short mission to Hann where we were to hit a huge marshalling yard. We figured this was our last mission and we were going to make it without any problem.”

Five seconds before the bombs were to be released the plane took a direct hit on its second engine from anti-aircraft fire. “When you take damage to an engine, the first thing you have to do is feather the engine” to reduce the resistance on the prop and prevent it from windmilling, he said.

Twenty minutes after taking the hit, the prop broke lose from the crankshaft, severed the Plexiglas nose of the plane and compromised the plane’s air lock. Seamans sent the plane into a dive in an attempt to put out a wind fire raging in the engine. “They say it doesn’t always work, but for us it worked twice.”

With the fires out, the crew crash-landed on an airfield in Belgium. “Fortunately my navigator found an air field that had been liberated by the Americans two weeks prior to us needing it,” said Seamans. “But one of the problems was the airfield had been pot-marked with bomb craters and it was just a mess.

“We had a difficult time on the landing. We ended up with our nose into the ground,” said Seamans, but no one was injured. “The Lord was good to us that day,” he said.

Seamans, however, couldn’t get out of the cockpit. His legs had been frozen when the plane’s air lock was compromised.

“They lowered me out of an escape hatch underneath the aircraft. Fortunately they had an ambulance at the base and they took me to the hospital in Brussels. They put me in a room at 32 degrees and thawed me out in 24 hours, just gradually increasing the temperature. And I have not had one problem with my legs since.”

He returned to Scranton on Christmas Eve, 1944, to an anxious wife who was eager to welcome him home.

After his discharge in the summer of 1945, he returned to Scranton where he raised a family. He worked briefly for a print shop before taking a job with United Gilsonite Laboratories, which manufactures do-it-yourself-products. He worked in advertising before becoming the company’s marketing manager.

In 1992, the couple retired to Buckingham Springs in Bucks County. The couple has two children, Jim Jr. of Newtown and Diane Laughlin of Pittsburgh, six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

John David Silvers

West Point graduate believes in giving back to the community.

By Petra Chesner Schlatter, BucksLocalNews.com


“A lifetime of service will present challenges in your life,” said U.S. Army Capt. John David Silvers.

At 42, Silvers is a freshman member of the Upper Makefield Township Board of Supervisors. He strongly believes in giving back to his community.

He is past president of the Upper Makefield Business Association, former co-chairman of the annual Revolutionary Run in Washington Crossing and former chairman of the Bucks County March for Babies Walk in 2008 and 2009.

Originally from Harrisburg, Silvers now lives in Upper Makefield with his wife, Catherine, and their two children, John Jr. and Laura. The couple runs Academic Coaching and College Counseling in Newtown.

Like father, like son – John Jr., a graduate of Newtown Middle School, is a proud American. He was awarded the American Legion Citizenship Award, the highest honor that the school awards annually.

“John is very patriotic,” Silvers said. “There is a good chance that he will go into the service, but for anyone who serves, that’s a personal decision. I’m not going to insist that they serve or not serve.”

Silvers, a West Point graduate, said his father, Warren Silvers II, served in the U.S. Air Force from 1966 to 1968 and was stationed in Myrtle Beach, S.C. “He went in as a dentist,” Silvers said, noting his brother, Warren Silvers III, also went into the Air Force as a dentist.

“I joined because I went to West Point,” he said. “I had a five-year obligation upon graduation in 1990. I actually served six years, but I went to West Point for the education and the leadership qualities that they teach.”

Silvers entered West Point in July 1986 at age 18 and entered active duty in May 1990 upon graduation. He was discharged in April 1996 when he was 22.

“I started at West Point for my first assignment as a graduate assistant coach for the football team,” he said. “I played football while I was there. I was a starting offensive tackle.” He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

After West Point, he went to Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. While there, he went through the Army Air Defense Artillery officer training course, which prepared newly promoted captains for their command assignments.

He was stationed in Germany with the 4-3ADA regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division.

“My first real duty assignment with a unit was in Germany – a small town called Kissinger,” he said. “One of the things we did as a battalion was we took a professional development trip to Normandy and really gained an appreciation for what it took to establish that beach head.”

They learned about the Invasion of Normandy, which took place during World War II.

For two months, Silvers served in Saudi Arabia while he was stationed in Germany. He also served for two months in Korea. He completed airborne training.

“I jumped out of small airplanes,” he noted. “I was in ranger school, but dislocated my shoulder halfway through,” Silvers said.

His final year in the Army would be as the logistics officer at Ft. McGregor Range in New Mexico. Silvers has fond memories of his time serving in northern Bavaria on Germany’s Main River. The area reminded him of Pennsylvania. The closest city was Wuerzburg.

“We loved it there,” he said. “Catherine and I got married when we were in Germany. We traveled throughout Europe. We actually met while I was stationed at West Point. I’m glad I stayed for those six months because that’s when I met my future wife.”

The young couple rented an apartment while in Germany. Two brothers had built the house in the 1980s. The landlord lived on the first floor and his brother lived on the second floor. The Silvers lived on the third floor. There were slanted ceilings just like the ones in John’s Newtown office. His office is also on the third floor.

They became very close with the German family, to the point that they have visited them several times.

“We were even able to stay in our old apartment because it wasn’t rented,” Silvers said.

Looking ahead, Silvers said his hope is “that we are able to maintain our freedom and appreciate them more deeply."

“For my children, I hope they are able to be good citizens in their communities and to serve them well,” he said.

Silvers stressed that he faces the challenges head on.

"I find the most effective way to work through any of life’s challenges is a Christ-centered approach,” he said. “My faith is very important to me.”

William L. Goldman

WWII vet piloted airships over the Atlantic Ocean.

By R. Kurt Osenlund, BucksLocalNews.com

William Goldman has a buoyant personality that can lift spirits, so it makes perfect sense that in World War II, this 91-year-old Doylestown resident wound up serving as a pilot of the Navy’s Lighter-than-Air (LTA) airships – blimps that watched over American cargo boats as they carried precious material through dangerous waters. Goldman says that when he volunteered for LTA, he didn’t even know the American military had such aircraft – and many people still don’t.

Before joining the armed forces, Goldman, who was raised in West Philadelphia by parents Grace and Samuel and with brother Albert, studied business law at Temple University. After earning his Bachelor’s Degree in 1942, he volunteered for the Navy.

“If I didn’t volunteer, I would have been drafted,” Goldman says. “They needed men in World War II. So, it was a matter of waiting until they called you or choosing what you wanted. I picked the Navy because I wanted clean white sheets when I went to bed at night – I didn’t want to sleep in the mud.”

He also had a strong interest in being away at sea, but that wasn’t in the cards. He was turned down for the Deck Navy, or service at sea, because of his flat feet and slight overbite. (“I told them, ‘I’m not going to trample the enemy to death, nor am I going to bite them to death,’” Goldman says.) He instead volunteered for the Air Navy, and was sent to the University of North Carolina for pre-flight training. It was there that he learned about LTA.

Goldman and 12 other men signed up for airship duty, and moved on to Lakehurst, N.J. for flight training. Goldman earned his Navy wings in the spring of 1943, and was then sent to a naval air station in Glynco, Ga., where he’d fly out on his first anti-submarine patrol missions over the Atlantic.

In January 1944, Goldman was transferred to Amapa, Brazil. He and his outfit were responsible for protecting American ships that were leaving Paraguay with large amounts of bauxite ore, which was mined in Paraguay, then shipped north to the U.S. to be refined and made into aluminum – a very valuable substance at the time, used for military vehicles and weapons. So valuable was aluminum that Germans were attempting to sabotage plants on American soil and attack the cargo-carrying ships that were traveling through the South Atlantic.

But, as Goldman tells it, the Germans rarely attacked a convoy of U.S. boats while the airships were hovering above, watching over.

“The Americans would look up to us and wave, feeling confident we would protect them,” says Goldman, who was one of two pilots on his airship. “They never got attacked under my watch.”

Though he never had to use them, Goldman says each airship was equipped with two depth charges and two 50-caliber machine guns. In addition, the craft had Sonar gear, which could be dropped into the water to detect metal, i.e. submarines.

During his time in Brazil, Goldman traveled from Amapa on south, hitting points like Sao Luiz, Natal, Macio and Rio de Janeiro while protecting the cargo ships. A more southern squadron would precede Goldman’s group in keeping watch, and then Goldman’s squadron would also eventually pass the duties on to a more northern squadron.

Goldman completed his LTA duty in Brazil in November 1944, then came home to the U.S. for various Navy officer duties that kept him on the ground. For a few years after, he visited stations in Atlantic City, Willow Grove, New York and Oklahoma. Most importantly, in Brooklyn, at Floyd Bennett Field, he met his wife, Jean Marie, a Navy nurse. The two were married in 1947 and moved to Wilkes Barre. They’d eventually have five children: William Jr., Bob, Jan, Lee and Jeanie.

After being formally discharged from the Navy in 1949 as a Lt. Commander, Goldman remained in the Reserves and enrolled at Temple Law School. He became a lawyer and started his own practice, William L. Goldman Law Offices. Specializing in commercial law and criminal defense, Goldman practiced in Doylestown for 57 years. He just retired last year. His son, William Jr., remains active in the business.

Extraordinarily peppy and upbeat, Goldman isn’t your average 91-year-old. He says he feels great, and his voice fails him only when he speaks of Jean Marie, who passed away four years ago. He says he loves visiting his vacation home in Ft. Lauderdale, and he especially loves spending time with his children and grandchildren.

“Family comes first,” Goldman says, his spirits high, his mood lighter than air.

Nick Reid

From the “One Room School House” to lead bombardier.

By Matthew Fleishman, BucksLocalNews.com


Less than a year after walking out of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 21-7 win over the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds to the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked, Nick Reid enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and would eventually become the lead bombardier on missions throughout Europe during World War II.

Other than his time in the military, Reid has lived his entire life in Lower Bucks County, including attending school at the One Room School House on Big Oak Road, Lower Makefield Elementary School, Edgewood Junior High School and Morrisville High School.

In September 1942, Reid knew that he needed to join the fight, so he enlisted in the Army Air Corps because it was the one branch of the military that appealed to him.

“I was just out of high school, and I thought I would enjoy being in the air,” said Reid. “It was an all-out war. Hitler, Mussolini and Japan wanted to take over the world. If we didn’t conquer them, we wouldn’t have our freedom today.”

After enlisting, Reid went to basic training in New Mexico, then after four months of cadet training at Butler University in Indiana, he went through pre-flight training, gunnery school and bombardier school, which took him throughout the Southwest.

Along the way, Reid and his bride, Bettye, were married during a military wedding in Pueblo, Colo., in August 1944. The couple spent 51 years together.

In January 1945, after completing more than two years of training, Reid was sent overseas to Southern Italy, where he was part of 25 bombing missions aboard a B-24 Liberator, knocking out bridges, railroads, air fields, oil refineries and munitions plants in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.

During these missions, Reid’s B-24 would be under constant pressure from heavy flak guns as they approached the target.

“I was scared,” said Reid. “We found out in the morning what type of mission it would be. Vienna had 360 flak guns. The anti-aircraft would explode and rock the plane. We were hit many times, but luckily we always made it back to the base. Thankfully, I never had to parachute out of the plane.”

During these missions, Reid eventually became the lead bombardier, due to an instance where he did not drop his bomb.

“My pilot yelled ‘bombs away’ and I looked at my bomb-site, and realized it wasn’t time to drop them,” said Reid, who has numerous aerial photographs of his bombing missions because of his lead role. “I held my bomb. Everyone else dropped their bombs, but we weren’t at the right spot. When we got back, I was asked why I didn’t drop my bomb and wound up getting promoted to lead bombardier.”

While the pilot was responsible for flying the plane toward the bomb-site, it was Reid and the bombardiers in each plane that actually guided the aircraft to the site.

“Once the navigator got us to the I.P. (initial point), the pilot would put the plane on automatic,” said Reid. “I would control the flight of the plane from my position as bombardier using my crosshairs.

After the war in Europe ended, Reid was supposed to head for Japan because he had not reached the required 35 missions, but the war in Japan ended before his crew would have taken part in the invasion.

After leaving the military, Reid spent 40 years working for a firm that distributed Wise potato chips. During that time, Reid never missed a day of work.

“Back in those days, whether I was sick or not, I had to open the warehouse and get the trucks loaded,” said Reid. “I realized around 23 years in that I hadn’t missed a day of work, so I figured I would try for 25 years. Then 25 years became 30 and 35, and then 40 years.”

Reid’s strong work ethic wouldn’t let him sit idle during his retirement, as he has worked for the last 20 years at the Pennington Quality Market, and also works at McCaffrey’s Supermarket in Lower Makefield Township.

“I thank God for my good health,” said Reid, about his ability to work continuously since the 1940s.

Currently, Reid lives in Lower Makefield Township. He and his wife, Elizabeth “Bettye,” spent 51 years together before her passing. He has two children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

George Edmondson

Korean Vet remembers the “Forgotten War.”

By Tim Chicirda, BucksLocalNews.com


Fire Control Technician Third Class George Edmondson, a graduate of Minersville H.S. ‘50, grew up in the coal-mining town of Minersville, located in the mountains of eastern PA in Schuylkill County.

Towards the end of WWII, after years of prosper in the coal mining world, the area started experiencing increasing economic and social dislocations as the result of the continuing decline of the entire coal mining industry.

Mineral deposits became exhausted and technological and economic changes brought about extensive mine closures.

George spent his childhood leisure time in a deep, clear cold water-filled-in “Strippin’ Hole.”

Strip mining is only practical when the ore body to be excavated is relatively near the surface.
George later played football in school and baseball with his friends, delivered grocery store circulars, and worked at the nearby Globe dance hall selling refreshments.

There were no employment options, so the week after H.S. graduation, George entered the Navy with seven of his closet chums from his graduating class under the “Minority Cruise." The only friend who remained with him during his tour of duty of 3 years and 3 months was Lawrence Gallagher.

George's family, late parents, James & Esther, his late siblings, Kenneth and Margaret and his sister Sally (her husband originally a Borough resident, Tony Ferraro) relocated to Dorrance Street in Bristol Borough to join relatives who lived on New Buckley Street after the mines had closed.

His dad first found work with Shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser on Radcliffe Street and then Barker & Williamson, a recognized leader worldwide in the manufacture of the highest quality antennas and radio parts for military, commercial, emergency management and amateur use.

The Korean War started a week or so after he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, so he was the first company with no leave after boot camp in the great lakes Navel Station, a formidable site situated on the banks of Lake Michigan in Illinois.

His first assignment was on The USS Kenneth D. Bailey DD-713 that had entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for modernization and conversion to a radar picket destroyer. George was part of the deck force painting and cleaning the interior and his responsibility included exterior maintenance of the ship for 6 months.

His next opportunity was to attend fire control school in Washington, D.C., training for a year to learn his specialties of electronics and operating massive computers. Fire Control Operator training taught how to track targets and send information to the computer down below, or one was able to control it manually from above and assign weapons from the subs fire control system.

After the DD-713 ship left the dry-dock used for the construction, maintenance, and repair, George went to Cuba to test the repairs of Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, GTMO or “Gitmo” Bay, the oldest overseas U.S. Navy Base.

His next assignment was the USS Black (DD-666), a 2,050-ton Fletcher class destroyer built at Kearny, NJ of the United States Navy, named for Lieutenant Commander Hugh D. Black (1903–1942), who was killed in action during the sinking of his ship, Jacob Jones (DD-130) in February 1942.

George was involved in no gun battles, Koreans didn’t have a Navy, but he was active in the shore bombardment of the Battle of Inchon Harbor, September 15-28, 1950.

Because the harbor was so shallow and muddy, the timing of the invasion had to be synchronized precisely with the autumn high tides so the landing craft could make it to the shore without running aground on the mud flats.

In spite of intelligence warning of the attack, the overextended North Korean army was unable to maintain a strong defense and the city fell with Allied losses of only 20 dead and 179 wounded. This was a decisive invasion and battle during the Korean War. USS Black continued her Korean operations until June 4,1953.

Once when he was on leave, he accompanied his friend, Jerry Farley to see his girlfriend and that was when he met his future wife, Beverly Ann Rinaldo, Minersville H.S. ’53.

He returned to his ship and they continued building their relationship through the mail with letters. Bev saved every letter he wrote to her. “She didn’t throw anything away.”

From January 1953 until August 1953 he toured the Panana Canal, San Diego, Hawaii, Midway Island, then Singapore and Hong Kong, Japan; Cannes, France; Naples, Italy; Athens, Greece; and up the Suez Canal. Back to the U.S. and his last stop was Norfolk, VA. He was discharged and returned to Bristol.

He and Beverly got engaged and were married in the First United Methodist Church on Mulberry Street in January 1954. They lived in Borough apartments and purchased several homes before they moved to their new construction Monroe Street home in 1973. He and his late wife had three children, James, Sharon and Laurie. He also had six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Though there are still some who insist it should be referred to as the "Korean Conflict" or a police action because the participants never officially declared "war," the most well-respected men who served our country, our veterans, would never disagree that the fighting in Korea between 1950 and 1953 was as bitter as any war. The Korean War has been dubbed "The Forgotten War," being overshadowed by the more current memories of Vietnam, Desert Storm and the anniversary commemorations of World War II.

But, George Edmondson is not forgotten.

*Cate Murway contributed to this article.