John Ingbert Snede (1925-2012) from Saint Paul Minnesota, enlisted in the US Army Air Forces in June 1943. He was assigned to the 303rd Bomb Group at Molesworth in early June 1944, and took part in five combat missions. Snede’s B-17 Flying Fortress 42-31200 ‘Old Crow’ was shot down on a mission to Juvincourt on 28 June 1944, he was initially sheltered in Bucy-les-Pierrepont by a farmer, Rene Baillie who reunited him with he crewmate Albert Willard. They were then sheltered by Leroy Labrousse near Machecourt, then moved to Tavaux -et-Pontséricourt in July 1944 where they stayed with Pierre and Odette Maujean for about a month; before the resistance eventually helped them to reach Allied lines on 28 August 1944. 

On the afternoon of 30 August 1944, Odette Maujean was murdered by German forces. Snede learnt of what had happened in Tavaux in a letter from a member of the US 3rd Armoured Division in February 1945,and wrongly inferred his presence a month before had been the cause of the violence and held the misplaced belief for the best part of 50 years that he was responsible for Odette’s death. 

Following the war, Snede worked for Northwest Orient Airlines, becoming a pilot in 1963. In 1995, Snede reconnected with Rene Baillie, and along with Albert Willard visited him in France. He also connected with Aliette Meaujean, Odette’s daughter in 1997

Shot down on his fifth mission on 28 June 1944 in B-17 Flying Fortress 42-31200 nicknamed "Old Crow" during a mission over Juvincourt. Snede's aircraft was hit by flak, and caught fire. He successfully baled out, landing a ploughed field, where a French civilian advised him to hide in a thornbush until dark. Snede convened with Albert Willard the following day and the pair were sheltered by the French resistance until 28 August 1944, when they were liberated by the First Army.