The Swamp Ghost: Documentary of Philadelphia Builder Fred Hagen and his Epic Quest to Honor and Preserve the Memory of Those Who Fought the Pacific Air War in WWII Airing on the History Channel July 4th and 5th
PHILADELPHIA, June 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An epic documentary "The Swamp Ghost" chronicling a series of privately financed military-scale expeditions to Papua New Guinea to recover the mortal remains of more than a dozen WWII American military airmen and their historic B-17 and B-25 aircraft, will be broadcast on the History Channel July 4th and 5th.
The singular triumph of the quest was the recovery of the legendary Swamp Ghost B-17E Bomber, now on permanent display at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.
One viewer who is sure to be tuning in to watch is Army Air Corps Retired Colonel James C. Dieffenderfer -- or "Jimmie Dee" to his friends -- a 100-year-old veteran who lives in Orlando, Florida. He is literally the last living WWII bomber pilots who flew missions in the great Pacific air war.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Jimmie Dee was a student at Virginia Tech. But he was first in line when recruiters from the Army Air Corps -- now the Air Force -- came looking for pilot trainees to strike back at the enemy, which by then included Germany and Italy who along with Japan formed the Axis Powers.
SEE Movie Trailer:
https://app.frame.io/presentations/59fbbe3a-c742-4888-9e98-37429e38bfdd
SEE Background on 100 year old retired Army Air Corps Col. Jimmie Dieffenderfer
https://baltimorepostexaminer.com/eaa-honors-43rd-bombardment-group-vets-families-with-flights-on-b-17-aluminum-overcast/2019/10/25
Soon Jimmie Dee was taking the air war to the Japanese aggressors in the Pacific, flying B-17 bombers. His exploits are legendary including taking heavy fire over Papua New Guinea with shrapnel killing his bombardier and severing the leg of his navigator.
Jimmie Dee's Personal Connection to the Expeditions in this Documentary
Back at the Seven Mile Strip Airfield outside Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Jimmie Dee. shared quarters with his Commanding Officer, the legendary Major Bill Benn, who was the Great Uncle of Alfred D. Hagen the Philadelphia area businessman who led the multi-million dollar expeditions to Papua New Guinea that the documentary being aired on the History Channel on July 4th & 5th recounts.
Major Bill Benn (left) Colonel Jimmie Dee in his cockpit ready for action
Over the past 25 years Alfred (Fred) Hagen, 61, founder and CEO of a nationally prominent Philadelphia-based construction and development company, conducted a monumental search and recovery operation in the remotest reaches of the world's second largest Island -- Papua New Guinea -- to find the crash site of his Great Uncle Major Bill Benn whose US Army Air Corps B-25 bomber went missing on a January 18, 1943 mission against Imperial Japanese forces.
"To many people, all the time, money and energy that I have poured into this series of expeditions to find and recover mortal remains and artifacts, doesn't make much sense," says Fred Hagen.
"But I believe that all that I have accomplished and may still achieve in my life, is because I have stood on the shoulders of the greatness that preceded me. My fascination with the struggles of these brave patriots of course goes back to stories I heard about my Great Uncle Bill Benn."
Over 30 years ago when Hagen tracked down and connected with Jimmy Dee, much of the detail about the exploits of his Great Uncle Bill Benn came from his conversations with this American hero.
Though he did not find his Great Uncle's downed plane or his dog tags, Hagen did locate and mount recovery operations for 8 US military aircraft officially listed as missing in action, and returned the mortal remains of more than a dozen American heroes for funerals with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
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SOURCE Alfred "Fred" Hagen
