A Slovakian soldier lays a wreath at the grave of a fallen American WWII soldier during the 80th commemoration of the Battle over the White Carpathians in Nova Bosaca, Slovakia, Aug. 30, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
SLAVICIN, Czech Republic — American families and friends joined Czechs and Slovakians on Monday to commemorate 80 years since a tragic air battle that took the lives of 41 Army airmen during World War II.
The memorial in this southeastern Czech town near the Slovakian border honored the service members of the Army’s 15th Air Force, 2nd Bomb Group, who fought in Mission 263, now known as the Battle Over the White Carpathians, on Aug. 29, 1944.
Attendees spent four days visiting museums, crash sites and cemeteries across the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where some of the American service members were buried by the residents who first found them.
About 40 people traveled from the U.S. to pay respects to the fallen in this relatively little-known battle. Soviet domination over Czechoslovakia through 1989 meant that this chapter in WWII history was largely concealed.
It wasn’t until recently that some of the attending family members said they gained closure by hearing what really happened over the mountains of Czechoslovakia.
Air Force Lt. Col. Sasha Heath, a KC-10 pilot and great-niece of one of the fallen airmen, reads the names of all 28 World War II American service members who were buried in a mass grave in Slavicin, Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2024. Family members and residents gathered to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle over the White Carpathians in the Czech Republic and Slovakia from Aug. 29-Sept. 1. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A Czech soldier lays a wreath at the mass grave site of 28 fallen American Word War II service members during the 80th commemoration of the Battle over the White Carpathians at Slavicin, Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Bijan Sabet, the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, lays a wreath upon a mass grave site during the 80th commemoration of the Battle over the White Carpathians at Slavicin, Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
An American family member wears a T-shirt commemorating Mission 263, also known as the Battle over the White Carpathians, on Aug. 30, 2024, in during the 80th anniversary commemoration of the WWII battle in Nova Bosaca, Slovakia, Aug. 30, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A Czech resident holds an American flag at the mass grave site of 28 fallen American airmen during the 80th commemoration of the Battle over the White Carpathians at Slavicin, Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
The names of 28 Americans who died during the Battle over the White Carpathians are listed at a cemetery in Slavicin, Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
American families and friends of service members who fought in the Battle over the White Carpathians 80 years ago visit the crash sites of one of the fallen bombers in Krhov, Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Kellylynn Charles, the great-niece of a pilot killed in action during the Battle over the White Carpathians, gives a speech at her great-uncle's grave in Rudice, Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A Czech man drives to a bomber crash site in an original World War II vehicle during the 80th commemoration of the Battle over the White Carpathians in the Czech Republic on Sept. 1, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A Czech resident drives to a bomber crash site in an original World War II Jeep during the 80th commemoration of the Battle over the White Carpathians in the Czech Republic on Sept. 1, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
The plaque remembering an American World War II service member who was killed after parachuting out of his plane peeks through a tree in Sanov, Czech Republic, on Sept. 1, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
“It was probably three years ago … we found a video in Slavicin of the ceremony, and I saw [my great uncle’s] name on the gravestone,” Air Force Lt. Col. Sasha Heath, the great-niece of pilot 2nd Lt. Theo Heath, said Saturday.
“It’s not D-Day or some huge battle that we all know about, but it matters to [the residents] because it’s their country, and I can’t get over how welcoming and appreciative people are here,” Heath added.
On the morning of the battle, four squadrons composed of B-24 Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses with the 2nd Bomb Group departed from Foggia, Italy, to destroy a mass of Nazi armaments. Only three squadrons returned.
Unknown to the Americans, Nazi forces were warned of their arrival and mimicked American escort flyers to stave off detection. By the time the rear squadron became aware of the deception, it was too late.
All eight planes in the 20th Bombardment Squadron formation were shot down, along with two from the 429th and 49th Squadrons.
However, their sacrifice wasn’t in vain. The bombers were able to warn three forward groups, who successfully bombed the vital Nazi armaments.
About 100 airmen fell from the sky that day. Of the 41 that died, 40 were from the 20th Bombardment Squadron.
Eight decades later, Czechs and Slovaks continue to commemorate the battle. Many residents have constructed memorials at the crash sites, tend to the graves and continue to search for lost artifacts within the mountains.
A Czech resident holds an American flag at the mass grave site of 28 fallen American World War II airmen during the 80th commemoration of the Battle over the White Carpathians at Slavicin, Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
“I don’t know if words can describe how meaningful and heartwarming it is that [the Czech and Slovak residents] recognize the sacrifice of the Americans, and all Allied service members throughout the entire war who fought for their freedom,” said Kellylynn Charles, the great-niece of 2nd Lt. Russell Meyrick, a bombardier on the B-17 bomber ‘Tail End Charlie’ who was killed in action.
“To see the local Czech people continue that commemoration, generation after generation, and bring their children every year to remind them of the sacrifice is something you don’t see often in the States,” Charles said.
Amid Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine and tensions on NATO’s eastern flank, speakers urged others to stand up against evil by remembering the sacrifices that led to the freedoms of today.
Among the attendees was U.S. Ambassador to Czech Republic Bijan Sabet, who spoke at the cemetery, where 28 of the service members were initially buried by enemy forces in a mass grave.
“The lesson we can all learn is that our democracy and our freedoms cannot be taken for granted,” Sabet said in an interview Saturday. “[The commemoration] serves as a stark reminder of the importance of standing up for liberty and freedom and the fight against tyranny and occupation.”
A Czech veteran salutes the grave site of a fallen American during the 80th commemoration of the Battle over the White Carpathians in Sanov, Czech Republic, on Sept. 1, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
