Delayed Legacy: A Son's Amazing Search for the Full Story of His Father's Death After D-day - Hardcover

Netting, Conrad John, IV

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1893271374 ISBN 13: 9781893271371

Publisher: Maverick Pub Co, 2005

Synopsis

When the infant Conrad Netting received his late father's Air Medal in a military ceremony in February 1945, it seemed to close the book on yet another tragedy of World War II. But what appeared to be closure was only a pause. Katherine Netting became part of the silent generation, speaking little of the deep anguish left by her husband's death when his fighter plane crashed in Normandy four days after D-Day. Married the year before, Lt. Conrad John Netting III had so hoped the baby due in a month would be a boy that he had Conjon IV painted near the nose of his P-51. After Katherine Netting died in 1993, a footlocker turned up, carefully packed with wartime records and mementos that provided her son with almost as many questions as answers.

He had pieced much of the story together by the time a large envelope arrived from France. The sender hoped that Conrad might be related to a Lieutenant Netting who was credited with saving the writer's village. A memorial was planned, but villagers knew little of the pilot. An exchange of phone calls and e-mails quickly followed. The letter writer's father was the son of the village carpenter, who had pulled the pilot's body from the plane and built his coffin against the strict orders of the German Army. The parish priest conducted a secret funeral. There was more. Assured a French newspaper covering the subsequent dedication of a monument: "This is not a fable, but a true story." This book is a compelling real-life reminder that the human story is not over when a war ends.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

There was a quick rap at the door. The dreaded Germans entered. Sharp words were exchanged, and his father stopped his work. The Germans had never seemed so agitated as in the last four days. And now this. Something was happening. The strafing, the crash, the fireball, the coffin. This day he would remember. – June 10, 1944 in Saint-Michel-des-Andaines, as the German Army’s occupation of Normandy began to crumble Debden Airfield was the Royal Air Force’s first prewar fighter base in eastern England. From there British and then American planes were within reach of even Berlin. Among the Debden-based pilots providing critical support of the D-Day invasion was Lt. Conrad John Netting III, U.S. Army Air Corps. Married the year before, he so hoped the baby due in a month would be a boy that he had Conjon IV painted near the nose of his P-51 fighter. Four days after D-Day, Lieutenant Netting was reported missing in action. Seven months later his status changed to killed in action. He never learned that his child indeed was a son.Conrad John Netting IV grew up with limited knowledge of his father’s military service. Other than witnessing his mother’s grief when they visited his father’s grave in France, he had little awareness of his mother’s emotion over his father’s death. But after his mother died in 1993, contents of a footlocker he had never seen began to unlock a dramatic story.Conrad IV had pieced much of the story together when a large envelope arrived, postmarked in France. The sender, writing in quite passable English, hoped that Conrad might be related to a Lt. Conrad Netting who had saved the writer’s village. A memorial was planned, but villagers knew little of Lieutenant Netting. Details of what they did know were enclosed.An exchange of phone calls and e-mails quickly followed. Lieutenant Netting’s plane had crashed near the village after strafing a convoy of enemy trucks. The letter writer’s father was the son of the village carpenter, who had pulled the pilot’s body from the plane and built his coffin against the strict orders of the German Army. Abbé Eugène Hochet, the parish priest, conducted a secret funeral. There was more.The resulting tale is part love story, part wartime thriller, part coming-of-age struggle. But above all, Delayed Legacy is a compelling real-life reminder that the human story is not over when a war ends.

About the Author

Conrad John Netting IV heads his own certified public accounting firm in San Antonio, Texas.

Edition details

• Publisher: Maverick Pub Co
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1893271374
• ISBN 13: 9781893271371
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 211