Van & Mary Vee Keese

There's an amazing couple in our church: Van and Mary Vee Keese. Van was a B17 pilot in WWII. I would like to repost a blog entry here, having to do with his service in the war. It was written by B.K. Blackwell, and you can read the original post here. The pictures I post here are from Mr. Blackwell's blog.

I'm writing this on June 14, 2009, for reference. About a year ago, I received an email from Larry Keese who is the son of the Buckeye Babe's Pilot, Van Keese. Larry had been Google searching for information about his (and my) Dad's B-17 bomber, the Buckeye Babe, and discovered this website. In his email Larry informed me his Dad was still alive, 89 years old and living in Wimberley, Texas with his Wife (and Larry's Mom) Mary. I was like, "What an amazing coincidence!" I wanted to hop in the car and go to Wimberley right away but circumstances, a hurricane (Ike) and surgery (mine) stood in the way. Finally, a few weeks ago, Judith and I had the chance to go to Austin for a visit with her Sister & Husband. Wimberley is just down the road from Austin so I went for it :) Judith couldn't accompany me so my Cousin, Chip, came along. We both grew up in Illinois but are now transplanted Texans. Chip and I traveled to Wimberley on a beautiful day and arrived to a very sweet and poignant reception. Van and Mary were so happy to meet us and offered us a very warm welcome. Van is the last living member of the Buckeye Babe's crew. It is a miracle that anyone in the 8th Air force survived the War. That Van's piloting skills brought both he and his crew home alive is nothing short of a miracle. Plus, neither my Brother nor I would be alive today if it weren't for Van (and his crew's) heroic efforts to survive their missions. I got a photo of Van and Mary the day we visited and am very grateful to have the opportunity to share their happy faces with the whole world. God bless them both!