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archieftoegang 528, inventarisnummer 27, pagina 25

He ‘Dropped In’ With
Nazis Close Behind
The Frankens, Jan, 22, and his
sister, Anna, 19, of Tilburg, Hol-
land came to Milwaukee yester-
day for a month's visit with
former Milwaukee officer whom
they had protected from the Ger-
mans back in October, 1944
The Dutch pair is repaying a
visit made to them several weeks
ago by former Capt. John Cole-
man Jr., 4455 N. Frederick Av.
His first visit in the dark days
of World War II was accidental.
He "dropped in" on the Frankens
after he parachuted from his flak-
damaged Mustang fighter plane.
MET BY HOST
They were met at Billy Mitchell
Field by their host and appeared
pleased at the prospects of their
visit with Coleman. So far, they
said, they got a thrill looking over
America. But they want to get
back to Holland without taking
in further parts of the States.
During the war, Jan, lankily
built, was in the Dutch army field
security. Anna was a nurse. To-
day Jan is employed in his fa-
ther's woolen mill and his sister
is a student in a College for social
work at Eindhaven.
Coleman, they said, was a
splendid guest, and they liked him.
In fact he was the only Allied
soldier who ever "billeted" that
long at their home. And he's wel-
come to come again and again,
they said.
GUEST 'SHOT DOWN'
The friendship was built, un-
der the strain of war but unlike
many others is destined to be
permanent.
Coleman, son of Mr. and Mrs.
John B. Coleman, was shot down
by German anti-aircraft fire Oct.
4, 1944, and remained with the
Frankens until Oct, 28 when the
British liberated the town.
With the family he had a
Dutch name, wore Dutch clothes
and had a Dutch identification
card. Nazi officers were quar-
tered in the house next door and
German soldiers searched the
Franken home while he was there.
He made his escape with the
aid of the Franken family.
Capt. Coleman was a sopho-
more at the University of Michi-
gan, Ann Arbor, when he en-
listed. He was known as one of
the 8th Air Force's top fighter
pilots. He flew 87 combat mis-
sions over Europe before return-
ing to the United States.
The former Army officer made
arrangements several weeks ago
for the Frankens to come to Mil
waukee. They came to New York
from Rotterdam by boat in nine
days and then took to air
for the last leg of their journey
here.
3 Augustus
We ontwaken tegen 12 uur en lunchen thuis met
gebakken kaas en dito spek, een heerlijke combinatie
Daarna gaat Annemie en John zwemmen terwijl
ik een massa correspondentie afwerk.
Ik krijg mijn eerste auto les in Amerika van
Dad en voor 't eten spelen we nog een
partij tennis. 'S avonds gaan we niet al te
laat te bed want de volgende morgen is
't vroeg op. 't Huis naast dat waar John en
ik slapen wordt bewoond door twee jong
getrouwde stellen en we moeten die avond
nog binnenkomen. Zij waren aan 't pokeren
en we speelden toen mee. Ik ging met
één dollar en 40 cent winst naar bed.