By Jalen Maki
Tomahawk Leader Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article, as published in the Wednesday, Sept. 18 issue of the Tomahawk Leader, stated that David E. Huntley’s presentation would be held at American Legion Post 93 in Tomahawk. The location has since been changed to Road Lake Pub and Grill in Tomahawk. The event is sponsored by the Tomahawk Area Historical Society and American Legion Post 93.
TOMAHAWK – An author who wrote a nonfiction historical World War II book involving a Tomahawk resident will visit the city for a presentation later this month.
The B-17 Tomahawk Warrior: A WWII Final Honor documents the stories of the crew of the Tomahawk Warrior, a plane that went down in 1944.
The Tomahawk Warrior was piloted by Charles J. Searl of Tomahawk.
The book was written by David E. Huntley, who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the crash as a child.
About the book
A release said the Tomahawk Warriors, the crew of Searl and eight others who perished in the B-17 Flying Fortress crash in England, was a “mystery of WWII until explained in this book.”
“It would have lain in partial obscurity if it were not for (Huntley’s) initial involuntary involvement,” the release stated. “As a child, he witnessed what would become a dogged determination in his lifetime later to tell this story. As the faint light of dawn was breaking the morning of Aug. 12, 1944, a crippled American B-17 bomber flew perilously close over the roof of the author’s house in southern England. Around 30 seconds later, it crashed and exploded.”
In 2016, Huntley came across the story of the crew known as the “Tomahawk Warriors” and recognized it as the accident he had witnessed as a child.
The release said Huntley began conducting his own research into the crash and “began asking himself many questions about the disaster,” including how the plane went down and why.
“What strange circumstance led the author to come into possession of the navigator’s diary that no one knew even existed?” the release stated. “Why did one airman not take his place on board that day and become a part of the ‘missing airman’ legend?”
The release noted that Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the eldest brother of John F. and Robert F. Kennedy, was also killed in a plane crash in England on the same day and said Huntley “revealed a further significant link” between the crashes.
“This incident adds a further little-known aspect about the Kennedys in American history,” the release stated.
The release said the book offers “vivid descriptions of those who got shot down, bailed out and died or got captured to spend the rest of the war as POWs.”
“The narrative places its emphasis on the lives of the heroes who served in WWII and their loved ones who have grown up in their shadows,” the release stated.
Huntley obtained a posthumous honor to the deceased crew, the release said, as well as a Permanent Commemorative Marker, and brought relief and closure to the descendants’ relatives.
“This is not a post-mortem of wartime machinery, but a window into the lives of some heroes who sacrificed themselves for a cause, as well as a personal insight into the familial relationships with their loved ones at home,” the release stated. “The souls of the Tomahawk Warrior crew will last forever in a peaceful slumber, but not as dismembered bodies lost in the universe of the forgotten.”
Based on Declassified Secret Operational Records, analysis of other official and unofficial records, Huntley’s personal observations on the day of the accident and his pursuit of other facts, the mysteries around the crash became fully resolved, the release said.
“This story provides a distinct understanding of the immense courage those young 20- to 26-year-old American airmen displayed,” the release stated. “Mission after mission, they climbed aboard their craft and carried out their respective duties at 28,000 feet in sub-zero temperatures, hoping their electric-heated protective clothing would not short out during the nine- to ten-hour flight. They prayed that flak and enemy fighters would give them that 70% chance of getting back home.”
Huntley’s presentation
Huntley will give a presentation about The Tomahawk Warrior at Road Lake Pub and Grill, N8796 County Rd. S, Tomahawk, on Monday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. Copies of The B-17 Tomahawk Warrior: A WWII Final Honor will be available, and Huntley will hold a book signing.
The B-17 Tomahawk Warrior: A WWII Final Honor is currently a finalist in the Readers’ Favorite international book award contest, competing in the Nonfiction-Military category.
While in Tomahawk, Huntley will also speak to the sophomore class at Tomahawk High School.
For more information about Huntley’s visit to Tomahawk, contact Gordy Lovsletten at 715-490-1789.