And so looking for relief, I’d go to the library during lunch hour. And it’s always been a high pressure job. I worked as a buyer over the years, a purchasing agent. I first started somewhere in the late 1980s. RK: No, I guess I probably should have finished that statement. So I am probably a tad older than what the 509 th children would be, the ones that we see coming to reunions.īC: In 1990, was it just something that you wanted to go to just out of interest? But maybe in a few years from now I’ll accept that. And well…I’m still struggling with that one. So I just call myself a historian now.īC: I was at a conference this past weekend and they listed me as a historian just because I write a blog on history. So, I guess at some point, if you do it long enough, you become a historian and people start gravitating towards you. But you know, I’ve never really seen a class for historians. I guess years ago when people had an interest in this sort of stuff they would refer to themselves as amateur historians. I spoke to one within the last hour that’s 92. And now of course it’s very slim because of their ages. After that the numbers just kind of went downhill. And that was probably the two peak reunions of the 509 th. There was one more in 1995 in Albuquerque that also had that many. At the time it was the largest reunion that they had had. And I say we, because my wife and son, who was 10 years old at the time, all went to Wendover. RK: Well I first got heavily involved in 1990 when we went to one of their reunions. Krauss to A Little Touch of History.īC: How long have you been involved with the 509 th?
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Krauss and I hope you really enjoy our chat.īC: Welcome Mr. And he has written a book, “The 509 th Remembered” which is a wonderful testament, containing over 350 pages of information and photographs on the men, the planes and the circumstances that made up the 509 th. He publishes a bi-monthly newsletter and manages his website “The 509 th Composite Group”at. Krauss has been the acting Chairman of the 509 th Reunion Committee since 2001. Krauss has spent quite a few years in the company of many of these airmen and their families and has one of the largest, if not the largest, collection of photographs relating to the 509 th. Upon completing their missions, many feel their efforts brought a quick end to World War II. The 509th Composite Group was created to plan and execute the deployment of the first atomic bombs against Germany and Japan.