Sacramento World War II Hero Returning To France For Honors
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — His bomber went down near Germany in World War II. He not only lived to tell the story but now he's being honored in France 75 years later.
"To me, it's like I'm returning to a second home," said retired Col. Demetrios Karnezis, better known as Jim.
The long-time Sacramento resident held his head in his hands remembering the war that ended decades ago
"I joined right after Pearl Harbor," he said. "I didn't hesitate, I put in an application."
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Now, 96 years old Karnezis recalls that dreadful day in 1943.
"Going into occupied Europe or over occupied Europe and Germany in the daylight is murder," he said. "But we didn't have a choice."
American military allies were closing in on Germany, but an hour after his bomber squadron left England they were under attack.
Half of the B17s were destroyed.
Jim was flying the "Slightly Dangerous" B17 when he was also hit.
"And when you have visible flame, you have to get out of the airplane," he said.
Out of the 10 men on board only five survived.
"I free fell for what felt like an eternity," he said. "I hit the ground with whop as you can imagine with the damaged parachute."
Still, he knew the Germans would be closing in. Bruised, burned, and alone, he trekked into the woods and, by the grace of God he says, found a French farmhouse.
"I went to what looked like a back door and I just opened it and walked in," he said. "It turned out to be the lady of the house and my primary Savior."
The people of La Chapelle-Champigny took Jim in, giving him a new identity and smuggled him into England.
"It makes me feel happy because what I happened to me after I fell in their hands is an unbelievable endearment story," he said.
The rest is history, the war ended and now it's a story of a forever friendship.
"These are some of the people," his daughter-in-law Terry Karnezis pointed to a picture in their family book.
The Karnezis are packing up once again to return to Champigny for the 75th anniversary where Jim has been honored year after year.
"They said no, 'Thank you, we'd be speaking German if it weren't for your father,'" she said.
"We were overblown by the excitement that people had for us," said her husband and Jim's son Ivan.
He recalled a story from a French woman he was told when he last visited Champigny.
"A lady explained she was a little girl and saw the parachutes floating down and thought they were flowers from heaven," he asked the girl why? "She said, 'Because they were the first allied forces we had seen since the Nazis invaded."
A treacherous war with more than 400,000 American casualties to save millions of others.
"What they did was extraordinary," Jim said.
A war we won because of the heroes willing to sacrifice
"I felt blessed and I still feel blessed," he said.
Jim served 30 years in the United States Air Force retiring as a colonel.
He will turn 97 next month. He has four sons and several grandchildren.
Jim was one of only two airmen that escaped from that bomber. One hitchhiked he said and the other three were captured and taken to POW camps.
According to Traduction, photoset archives M.Jean Claude Brunel, here was a list of the crew members aboard Jim's bomber.
Pilot 0-735798 1st Lt Demetrios KARNEZIS.
Co-pilot 0-680204 2d Lt John W. GEORGE.
Navigator 0-735187 2d Lt William J. FRAZIER.
Bombardier 0-736778 2d Lt Richard V. LOVELESS.
Radio operator 33350023 T / Sgt Jean A. LAWRENCE.
Top turret gunner 31093913 T / Sgt Arthur C. GAY.
Ball turret gunner 33249375 S / Sgt Alvin E. MORRISON.
Waist gunner 35446416 S / Sgt Ashpy P. SMITH.
Waist gunner 13088996 S / Sgt Ray A. SCHWABENBAUER.
Tail gunner 31165676 S / Sgt George L. LINCOLN.