Another visitor to this site contacted me with some historical information on one of the 417th members, Thaddeus C. Kulpinski. I got in touch with the reader and he provided me a copy of a Christmas Greeting card that Thaddeus sent to his parents.
Thaddeus, “Ted”, Kulpinski was an RO and an original member of the 417th NFS. Here he is in a group photo of the original members…
…And a shot of him from when he was in prep school prior to the war.
Enjoy, and keep those photos and memories coming!
Jackie
Ted Kulpinski is mentioned in a letter I have. My tie to the 417th is through my great-uncle, Raymond Christensen, who was an R/O. Bill Henderson, also of the 417th, was a close friend of his. The letter I have that mentions Ted was from Henderson to Ella Christensen, Raymond’s mother, written the following year after Raymond’s death.
From June 29, 1945 letter from Bill Henderson to Mrs. Ella Christensen (Raymond Christensen’s mother):
“Ted (Thaddeus) Kulpinski is a Polish boy. He is an observer and flew with Stirnus some. He joined the squadron in England. Used to be in Royal Air Force and came to our squadron when he transferred to U.S. Air Force. He came home ahead of me and is now an instructor here at Boca Raton. His home is in Pennsylvania.”
“Stirnus is a pilot. He and Kulpinski flew together and came home together. Stirnus is now stationed at Fresno, Cal. His home is in California. He was our operations officer for a while.”
Thanks for sharing this with us, Karen!