Question: This week we have two photos that are related. Obviously, the one on the left is a Barnes Dairy milk bottle, and on the right is one of the oldest houses in the village. How are the two related? Who was the original owner of the house? What happened to it when the Barnes family owned it?
Last week’s answer: The World War II hero pictured last week was Forrest L. Vosler. He served in the United States Army Air Corps as a Technical Sergeant in the 358th Bomber Squadron, 303rd bomber Group.
He was awarded the Congressional Medal for his bravery on Dec. 20, 1943. He was presented the medal by President Franklin D Roosevelt on Sept. 6, 1944. His citation reads:
“For conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a radio operator-air gunner on a heavy bombardment aircraft in a mission over Bremen, Germany, on 20 Dec. 1943. After bombing the target, the aircraft in which T/Sgt. Vosler was serving was severely damaged by antiaircraft fire, forced out of formation and immediately subjected to repeated vicious attacks by enemy fighters. Early in the engagement a 2-mm. cannon shell exploded in the radio compartment, painfully wounding T/Sgt. Vosler in the legs and thighs. At about the same time a direct hit on the tail of the ship seriously wounded the tail gunner and rendered the tail guns inoperative. Realizing the great need for firepower in protecting the vulnerable tail of the ship, T/Sgt. Vosler, with grim determination, kept up a steady stream of deadly fire. Shortly thereafter another 2-mm. enemy shell exploded, wounding T/Sgt. Vosler in the chest and about the face. Pieces of metal lodged in both eyes, impairing his vision to such an extent that he could only distinguish blurred shapes. Displaying remarkable tenacity and courage, he kept firing his guns and declined to take first-aid treatment. The radio equipment had been rendered inoperative during the battle, and when the pilot announced that he would have to ditch, although unable to see and working entirely by touch, T/Sgt. Vosler finally got the set operating and sent out distress signals despite several lapses into unconsciousness. When the ship ditched, T/Sgt. Vosler managed to get out on the wing by himself and hold the wounded tail gunner from slipping off until the other crewmembers could help them into the dinghy.”
Following his discharge in October 1944 and a lengthy recovery, he attended college and earned a bachelor’s degree. He then spent a 30-year career with the VA in Syracuse, counseling other veterans and performing community service. During that time he live in the Baldwinsville area. He passed away in 1992 at the age of 68 while living in Florida.
Mr. Vosler was correctly identified by Ron Kramer, who remembered Vosler as a friend of his uncle Mitchell Payne of Warners, as well as by David Green, who knew Vosler as “Woody:”
“I had the honor of taking care of Woody when I worked as a physician’s assistant at the VA in Syracuse in the mid-1970s to late ‘80s.”
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
