Bio

2nd Lt. Peter Phillip Igoe was my uncle, my mom's brother. "Uncle Pete" as I have known him my entire life was 21 years old on that fateful July day in 1944 that took his life. I have copies of the same WW II Classic American Airmen photo featured here - digital and classic old Kodak photograph. What is amazing to me is all of the information on the other crew members that you have listed here. I have looked upon their perpetually-young faces since I was a little boy (I'm about to turn 64) without ever knowing their names or where they hailed from. I knew Pete and the pilot - Kapshak? - were both killed in the flack explosion that hit Spare Parts as she was deadheading back to England after a low-level "milk run" attack near Caen France. Thank you so much and I hope to be able to contribute some of 2nd Lt. Peter Igoe's traits, nicknames and other life details. He is buried in France, near to where Spare Parts went down. A visit is on my bucket list. Update - 2/14/2020 - In June of 2017, I was invited to Saint Pair Ser Mer, next to Granville France for a ceremony to honor Uncle Pete's B-24 as well as a British bomber that also went down that same fateful day - 7/18/1944. I met many fine people including the Briarty's who invited me and were kind enough to help me get around and translate and other things. Took many photos, learned many things. Including a heart-stopping talk with a lovely French lady named Georgette (Greg Briarty translated for me). She was just a young girl, walking her dog along the seawall in Saint Pair on 7/18/1944, She saw Spare Parts go down in the Channel! An eyewitness! I learned that my uncle almost certainly died when his bird split in half and the front part nose-dived straight into about 6 feet of Channel surf. All 4 KIA were in this front half of the B-24. I still think that the pilot Kapshak was desperately trying to get over water to crash land more safely. He almost made it but died trying. I also have scans of several emotional letters written by some of the surviving crew about the entire incident. Including one from Pete Guighello. Written to Pete Igoe's girlfriend, it describes the entire grisly aftermath of the crash in sordid detail, including black rubber rafts stacked with bodies, Germans threatening them with rifle butts, chasing away French people and other horrendous scenes. I am going to retire after 55 years of work here in August 2020. I plan on putting together a web site to honor Petey-Dink and his crew. It will include photos of my June 2017 trip, scans of letters (along with a typed version) and other things about the B-24 known as Spare Parts. Oh, and I visited Peter Igoe's grave and cried like a baby.