June 14, 1944
Dear Folks:
Just a line to say all dogs O.K. grass is growing and pansies still in bloom. The laundry is plenty slow here. As far as that goes everything is a little slow here. Even the grass is slow in growing. Saw a show the other nite. The wagon has been under the weather for some time now but think we will get her back soon. Hope you got all the hay up. Would like some of your warm weather. All for now.
Yours truly,
John
Dear Folks 
I‘m glad the doggos are ok. And the pansies. 😄
Get that Wagon safely up and running, crew. ❤️
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It seems from the records that the crew never flew in the “Wagon” after 27 May…
It appears that she was badly damaged by flak on a mission on 28 May (John’s crew not flying her).
DEBRIEF NOTES: Deviated near Beauvais to avoid flak, dog leg. 40 flak holes, hydraulic system out, interphone out.
Her next mission was not until 2 September.
John and his crew flew 31 missions from June onwards in 24 different planes (one time each in 18 planes, twice in five and three times in another).
The “Wagon” was lost in the infamous Ahrweiler mission on 23 December 1944.
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Thanks for adding the detail, Mark. According to Dad, the wagon had been hit by flak a few times and limped home quite bit. (He received a flak wound to his leg at one point; I have that chunk of German metal.) He also described it to Mom and us kids it was “Draggin’ Wagon” and the nose art would be (could be?) a child’s pull-wagon with wheels askew. Of course, his design was never applied I found out later. Interesting how attached all of them were to the planes they flew from the States, though I understand often the crew chief had more sway on the plane’s name than the ‘fly boys.’
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