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(The above pictures are from the Seal family - the following clippings are from the Coleman newspapers and other sources.)
TECH. SGT. WILBURN
W. SEAL
(about May 20, 1944)
Mr. and Mrs. B. Seal received a telegram from the War
Department Saturday, stating that their son, Tech Sergeant Wilburn W. “Peewee”
Seal, was missing in action over Romania as of May 18. The War Department stated that further information would be
forwarded as soon as it is received.
Sergeant Seal is possibly a prisoner of war or may be with friends of
the underground.
TECH. SGT. WILBURN
W. SEAL
(about July 5, 1944)
Technical Sergeant Wilburn W. “Peewee” Seal, who was reported
missing over Romania on May 18, is a prisoner of war, according to a message
from the War Department received Tuesday, July 4, by his parents, Mr. and Mrs.
B. Seal. Mr. and Mrs. Seal stated that receiving the message made this
fourth of July the happiest day of their lives after waiting a month and a half
to hear whether he was living or not, after receiving the previous message. Seal, crew chief on a B-17, was stationed in Italy and had
made 11 missions when his ship was shot down over Romania. Before going overseas in February, he was
stationed in Oakland, Florida. He
entered the Air Force in November 1942 and was promoted to Technical Sergeant
last April.
“PeeWee” Seal is
POW of Romanians
(after July 6,
1944)
Happiest couple in Coleman on July 4 was Mr. and Mrs. B.
Seal, 217 West 13th Street! For, on that date Mr. and Mrs. Seal were informed by the War
Department that their son, Tech Sergeant Wilburn “Peewee” Seal, 20, engineer
and turret gunner on a B-17, was a prisoner of War of the Romanian
government. Earlier this month the
parents had been informed by the War Department that their son was missing in
action over Romania since May 18. Since the original news story was printed Mr. and Mrs. Seal
have received letters from several persons who had relatives in Sergeant Seal’s
squadron. All of the missives said that
the Coleman man had bailed out of his ship safely. The
young airman was widely known in this area for his calf roping ability. He had appeared in both the Coleman and Santa
Anna rodeos and others in this section of the state. He was stationed in Italy up until the time of his capture by
the Romanians.
Tech Sergeant
Wilburn Seal Writes from Romania Prison Camp
(late July, 44)
Mr. and Mrs. B. Seal received a card Sunday from their son,
Tech Sergeant Wilburn (Peewee) Seal, who had been a prisoner of war in Romania
since May 18. This is the first direct
word they have had from him.
He
stated that he nor none of his crew were injured in bailing out of the plane, a
B-17. He went on to say that they were
treated well, but did not have as good food as they had in the military camps
in Italy and in the states. He asked
his parents not to worry and stated that he hoped to be home soon.
Bucharest Breaks
Out in Great Demonstrations
for Four 1100 American Flyers Freed From Nazi
Prisons
(about August 23, 1944)
Bucharest, which had watched with restrained emotions as the
first Russian troops entered the city, broke out in the greatest demonstrations
since the king cut ties with Germany as the Red Army arrived with Romanian
prisoners from Stalingrad. The arrival was proclaimed by headlines in each of
Bucharest's six daily newspapers, and then the former prisoners paraded in
uniform once more before great crowds at the heart of the city.
The Americans have been liberated the day of the Kings
proclamation and given the run of the city and more are thronging in from
surrounding prison camps. A dispatch from Italy is said 1126 of more than 3000 U. S.
airmen shot down in raids on the lowest the oil fields had been evacuated to
Italy by a fleet flying fortresses. “With the arrival of the Americans and the Romanian prisoners
people began bringing up from their cellars some of the things kept hidden from
the Germans while we were held in a hospital just three blocks from an
important target in Bucharest.”
Seal, who holds the Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross
and the Air medal with five clusters, is one of the few flyers who also has received
the Bronze Star Medal. It was awarded
for his work as a member of an escape committee while he was a prisoner of
war. He aided 40 American airmen to
make their escape during the last week of internment, which ended with the
capitulation of Romania, August the 23rd. He was wounded last May the 18th, when his flying Fortress
was shot to pieces at 20,000 feet and the crew bailed out, landing at
Alexandria near Ploesti. He had shot
down three German fighters and got two probables, while his crewmates downed
four more and eight other probables.
Germans bombed the hospital area because they knew Americans
were held there, Seal said. Twice he
was blown out a window by bomb concussion.
He said the Romanians were kind, but could furnish no better food than
soup and sour bread. Seal, a top turret gunner and engineer, took part in 22
combat missions from a base in Italy, to which he was returned by air last
August 31. He is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. B. Seal of Coleman.
Wilburn Seal is
Rescued in Romania Flown to Italy
(about mid-September 1944)
Tech Sergeant Wilburn Seal, son of Mr. and Mrs. B. Seal is
one of the 1126 airmen liberated from internment camps in Romania and safely
evacuated to Italian soil. They were brought from Bucharest to an air base in southern
Italy in a fleet of 38 flying fortresses which were hounded by enemy fighters
going and coming.
The
spectacular mass evacuation was arranged by Lt. Colonel James A. Gunn, 3rd,
Kelseyville, California, who hid in the fuselage of an enemy in ME-109 and was
flown out to safety by Captain Carl Contacuzino of the Romanian Air Force. An Abilene man, Staff Sergeant Rufus W.
Marshall, was also in the group.
Sergeant Seal was shot down over Romania May 18th and all of
his crew bailed out safely. He was on
his 21st mission when shot down. His
parents are overjoyed at his liberation; they had received one card from him
since he had been made a prisoner of war.
He is engineer on a B-17 and was formerly stationed in Italy. In April he was awarded the Air Medal and
Oak Leaf Cluster.
This is probably an experience that will be long
remembered by Sergeant Seal. According
to news coming from Romania, great demonstrations of joy broke out in the
capital when the returning Romanian prisoners, who were captured with the
Germans in Stalingrad, returned joining the American prisoners who had been
liberated, given the run of the city on the day the king's proclamation cutting
ties with Germany.
TECH. SGT. (Peewee) SEAL
(September 28,
1944)
Mr. and Mrs. B. Seal received a message from the War
Department Friday, stating that their son, Tech Sergeant Wilburn at Peewee
Seal, would arrive in the states today (September 28) from Italy. Sergeant seal was a prisoner of war in Romania from May 18
until September 1, when he was liberated after that country broke relations
with Germany. Seal, crew chief on a
B-17, was shot down over Romania on the date mentioned above. He left for overseas in February and was awarded the Air
Medal and Oak Leaf Cluster for flight missions over enemy targets.
Wilburn Seal Wouldn't Have Given Nickel
For His Life While He Was Prisoner
He Is Visiting In City
(October 1944)
“I didn't think I would ever be home again and I wouldn't
have given a nickel for my life.” That's the way takes Sergeant Wilburn W. “Peewee” Seal, 20,
son of Mr. and Mrs. B. Seal, 217 13th St, felt while being held a prisoner of
war from May 18 until August 31 of this year. “We were bombed by the English, Russians, Americans and
Germans at the time we were being held in a hospital just three blocks from the
target in Bucharest,” Sergeant Seal declared.
The handsome young engineer was shot down over Ploesti on his
22nd mission over Europe and the seventh over the important Romanian oil
center. Two of the engines on his B-17
Flying Fortress had been knocked out by German flak and a third had been set
afire by German fighters. At 20,000 feet, Sergeant Seal and his companions bailed out
and landed at Alexandra, which is near Ploesti. The 36 bombers in his formation
had been jumped by 200 German fighters.
Incidentally, the Coleman soldier shot down three German fighters and
got two probables while the ship is credited with knocking down seven German
ships and getting eight more probables.
Wilburn’s crew was lucky, for no serious injuries were received, but it
was one of the few crews that was so fortunate.
On reaching the ground the airmen were taken into custody by
the Romanians who soon carried them to a military garrison at Bucharest. A short time later they were carried to a
hospital where he learned the receiving end of the bombing game. The Americans, English and Russian airmen
were trying to hit a certain target only three blocks away while the German
dive-bombers bombed the hospital area because it knew Americans were being held
there. Wilburn states he was blown out
of a window on two occasions by the bomb concussions.
Food Is Poor
The Romanians treated the prisoners kindly but were unable to
furnish better food than soup and sour bread.
The beds were so infested with lice that Sergeant Seal and many other
boys slept on the floor.
Fortunately,
he was there when the weather was not too hot or too cold and he had his full
uniform on when he jumped. Other
prisoners of war weren't so lucky, however, as at least half of them did not
have shoes.
When
the Romanian government capitulated to Russia, the Allied prisoners of war were
released and Sergeant Seal flew from Bucharest to Bari, Italy on August
31. Since that time he has been
anxiously awaiting the time when he could get back home. Now that he is back, he can't make up his
mind as to whether he wants to go to Officers Candidate School, become a flying
cadet, except a permanent station in the US, or except the promotion to Master
Sergeant that was promised to him and Italy.
He likes flying and fighting and likely he will choose the course that
will get him back in action the quickest.
He
holds the Air Medal and five clusters, the Purple Heart, the Distinguished
Flying Cross, given for the raid over Ploesti when his plane was shot down, the
Purple Heart, given for the injury he received during the same Ploesti raid,
and the Bronze Star given for his work on the “escape committee” while he was a
POW. He aided 40 American boys to
escape from the prison camp during the last week he was there.
Sergeant
Seal is a native of Coleman, born on December 21, 1923, and a graduate of the
local high school (1942). For a while
he operated the Cities Service Agency here, but joined the AAF on November 1st,
1942. He received training at Amarillo,
the Boeing factory, and at Las Vegas Gunnery School.
He went to Italy, via
South America and North Africa, on February 23, 1944.
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