While attending the (1998) CAP’s National Board in Atlanta GA this story was once again rehashed for the umpteen times and moreover it was sworn to me as being gospel. By a CAP member, who heard it from a CAP member, who heard it from another CAP member, and so on and so on! Not to disparage a belief as I tried to tell him it’s been widely talked about, since 1945 and comes back as a solid rumor every few years. Furthermore I gave him my card and he promised me that he’d follow up with the name of the name of the name etc… Still no info…

Now I’m not trying to pick on any one, but most of us who have been around the program for a while have heard the following statements and comments many times over " I have this from a reliable source" or "they say" or "I saw it in the reg’s", and the classic "I don’t care what they say, you know they can’t be trusted"...

Based upon the above statements, that’s why we who profess to be historical chroniclers try to find substance to all statements or innuendo’s, and solid facts to support historical statements, in the way of documents, letters, photographs, and eye witness to back it all up. … I believe History is one-quarter rumor, but is verified and supported by three-quarters worth of facts.

The following story is NOT TRUE! Many others and I put this into the same category as the Elvis sightings.

It seems during the hectic days of CAP’s Coastal Patrol, in 1943 a CAP light aircraft carrying a pilot, observer and a bomb slung underneath the fuselage, were flying a patrol mission far out in the Atlantic Ocean, when they were surprised and fired upon by a German "U" Boat. The aircraft was hit and because of sustained damaged was forced to crashed into the ocean. Both crewmembers were hurt either by the bullets fried at them by the "U" boat, or by the crash, there may have been two. But I heard that a lone survivor was picked up by the "U"-Boat who was going to shoot him as a spy until he was made aware of the block letters US in his CAP shoulder patch. So instead they provided him with some limited medical services and confined to the brig.

After the German "U" Boat finish its patrol it return to Germany. And the lone CAP Prisoner was turn over to the Gestapo for interrogation, and then interned into a POW Camp for the duration of the war. The story goes that he might have succumbed to his injuries, or may have been mistreated while a prisoner, shot as a spy, or just plain old died because of his age, one must remember that most CAP members during WW 2, were not young or spry chickens.

Let me assure you readers out there the story sound plausible, but even though we the US and the CAP may have not kept the best of records during WW II. The German’s were facetious record keepers. Let me guarantee that long hard hands on research went into every facet of the story both in the United States military archives, and throughout Germany military documents ...and to this day, no records, or any data has ever come forward to support this story.

SEMPER VI…………..