One Pilot’s Odyssey
On a cold winter day in January of 1982, a gentleman by the name of Martin Hettinga received a telephone call at his Anchorage, Alaska home. On answering the phone, Mr. Hettinga was confronted by a voice in heavily accented English at the other end that asked, “Is this Martin Hettinga?” On Hettinga replying, “Yes it is.” The voice on the other end of the receiver then hesitantly asked, “Martin Hettinga of Vicksburg, Michigan?” Hettinga then replied, “Yeeees”, too which the voice then asked, “Do you have any idea who this is?” Puzzled, Hettinga replied, “Nooo, I don’t think so.” The caller then stated, “This is the Bulgarian officer who took you into custody. I have been looking for you for thirty-seven years. You said come see you after the war. I come see you.” At the time, all Hettinga was able to respond with was “My God.” So began a reunion and the end of lifelong search by Stefan Marinopolski, who some thirty-eight years prior, had been a fighter pilot in the Vozdushni na Negovo Velichestvo Voiski (Royal Bulgarian Air Force) at the height of its involvement during the Second World War.
On November 27, 1920, Stefan Marinopolski was born in the City of Russe, located in Northern Bulgaria, along the Danube River.
On graduating from the fighter school, Marinopolski was then assigned to the 652nd Yato (squadron) of the 6th Iztrebitelen Polk (Fighter Regiment) which was based at Karlovo Airfield located just outside of Sofia. Marinopolski would be joining the ranks of the fighter force just as American Airforce bombers were starting to appear over Bulgaria more and more frequently, often using Bulgarian airspace as a path to strike the oil refining and production facilities in neighboring Rumania.
By January of 1944, the 652nd Yato had began transition training on the Messerschmitt 109G-2 and G-6 models.
Marinopolski would fight in a number of aerial battles with his newly acquired Messerschmitt throughout the months of March and April of 1944. While Marinopolski failed to score any more victories over raiding allied aircraft during these months, he would be lucky to escape with his life on one flight. On April 17, 1944, B-24s from the United States Fifteenth Air Force once again appeared in the skies over Sofia. The target for the American B-24s on this date, as with previous strikes would be the marshalling yards and railway traffic leading into and out of Sofia. While Marinopolski and other Bulgarian fighter pilots had been accustomed to dueling with the large four engine bombers and their usual escort of twin-engine P-38 Lightning fighter escorts, they would also have to contend with a new and far deadlier opponent in the air. This new opponent would come in the form of the dreaded P-51 single engine Mustang fighter, which would be in the air over Bulgaria for the first time in the war, flown by the fighter pilots from the 31st Fighter Group. On first encountering the American P-51s, several of the Bulgarian fighter pilots at first mistook the Mustangs as being fellow Messerschmitt 109s. This was primarily due to the fact that up until this time in the war the only American fighters that had been encountered by the Bulgarians was the twin engine P-38s. Catching the Bulgarian fighter pilots by surprise, the pilots from the 31st Fighter Group quickly tore into the Messerschmitts. Within a matter of minutes, nine of the Messerschmitt 109s from Marinopolski’s orlyak (wing) would be shot down, with four of the pilots being killed and five others wounded. Another seven Messerschmitts, including that belonging to Marinopolski, would receive damage of varying degrees from the encounter. For Marinopolski, this would be one of the last times that he would meet the Americans in the air. In fact Marinopolski’s most unforgettable and long lasting experience from the war was still to come, and it would be one that would take place on the ground and not in the air.
On the morning of June 23, 1944, a force of Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s set off for a strike against the oil refineries at Ploesti and Giurgiu, Rumania. One of the planes that was detailed to strike the oil facilities at Ploesti on this day, was the B-17 “Opissonya” (42-5951) of the 341st Bomb Squadron of the 97th Bomb Group. The crew for the “Opissonya” for this mission was lead by the pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Edwin Anderson and co-pilot 2nd Lieutenant William Symons. The rest of the crew of the “Opissonya” was made up of the navigator, Lieutenant Robert Newsom, the bombardier, 2nd Lieutenant David Kingsley, the engineer, Sergeant John Meyer, the radio operator, Sergeant Lloyd Kane, the tail gunner, Sergeant Michael Sullivan, the ball turret gunner, Sergeant Stanley Kmiec, and the waist gunners, Sergeant Martin Hettinga and Sergeant Harold James.
While Lieutenant Anderson’s crew had participated in several missions prior to this, including ones that had taken them over the heavily defended oil complexes at Ploesti, each time he had been able to bring his crew back safely. However Lieutenant Anderson and his crew’s luck on this mission would run out. On nearing Ploesti, the B-17 formation that Lieutenant Anderson and his crew were flying in, was set upon by ten to twenty Messerschmitt 109s and Focke-Wulf 190 single engine fighters, which made determined attacks on the bombers. In quick succession, two B-17s from the formation were shot down by the fighters, which departed as the formation now reached the flak corridor that surrounded Ploesti. On commencing their bombing run, the “Opissonya” was hit in the left wing by a burst of anti-aircraft fire, which left a twelve-inch hole in it just behind the number one engine. A second anti-aircraft shell exploded soon after at the tail of the aircraft, this time damaging the vertical stabilizer and knocking out the oxygen system on the “Opissonya”. With one engine knocked out, Lieutenant Anderson to his credit was able to keep the “Opissonya” on course until they had dropped their bombs on the refinery below.
On coming out of the bombing run and leaving the flak corridor, which guarded Ploesti, the “Opissonya” came under the unwanted attention of several Messerschmitt 109s. In these new attacks, Lieutenant Anderson’s B-17 was now hit in the number 2 engine on the left wing, which now began to emit a cloud of white smoke. The crew of the “Opissonya” was also now to experience their first casualty of the mission when a 20mm cannon round exploded in the tail section wounding Sergeant Sullivan in the right arm and shoulder. More devastating than the wounds that Sergeant Sullivan suffered, was the fact that the rounds that had hit the tail section had shredded his parachute harness, making it unusable. Although badly wounded, Sergeant Sullivan was able to crawl from the tail section of the B-17 to the waist gun positions of Sergeant Hettinga and Sergeant James who immediately began to administer first aid. In finding that they were unable to stop the bleeding from Sergeant Sullivan’s wound to his right shoulder, Lieutenant Kingsley was called to their position to assist. On his arrival, Lieutenant Kingsley was able to apply a tourniquet to the wound to Sergeant Sullivan’s shoulder, which effectively checked the blood loss from the wound. In addition to Sergeant Sullivan being wounded, it was soon discovered that the ball turret gunner, Sergeant Kmiec, had also been wounded. As with Sergeant Sullivan, Sergeant Kmiec had been wounded by one of the attacking fighters as the “Opissonya” had been clearing Ploesti.
With the bombing run complete, Lieutenant Anderson steered the B-17 for home. On traveling southwest, the crew of the “Opissonya” soon found itself in Bulgarian airspace. With the heavily damaged B-17 losing altitude, Lieutenant Anderson gave the order for the crew of the “Opissonya” to begin to throw everything possible out of the aircraft in order to lighten it. A brief ray of hope appeared for the “Opissonya” as two P-51s seemingly out of nowhere appeared and pulled along the side of the Lieutenant Anderson’s battered B-17. However any hopes that may have been lifted up by this welcome sight were soon dashed, as the P-51 pilots radioed to advise Lieutenant Anderson and his crew that they were low on gas and would be unable to escort the B-17 back to Italy. On the P-51s flying off, Lieutenant Anderson and his crew once again found themselves flying all alone with still close to 500 miles left to travel to make their home airfield in Italy. As the battered B-17 continued flying deeper into Bulgaria, its fate would be sealed on nearing the town of Karlovo.
Unbeknown to the crew of the “Opissonya”, Karlovo at the time was a major fighter field for the Bulgarian Air Force. Karlovo Airfield was also the temporary home for a schwarm (flight) of Luftwaffe Messerschmitt 109s and their pilots, which had been stationed there to assist with the training of Bulgarian fighter pilots. On the “Opissonya” flying directly over the airfield at Karlovo, Major Helmut Kühle who was the head of the Luftwaffe training mission, gave the order for fighters to be scrambled to intercept the crippled B-17. Lieutenant Anderson and his crew were soon set upon by four Bulgarian and the four Luftwaffe Messerschmitt 109 fighters that had been scrambled from Karlovo. On locating the “Opissonya”, the Luftwaffe pilots had the Bulgarian fliers under their command attack the B-17. On making their passes from the rear of the “Opissonya”, the four Bulgarian Messerschmitts raked the already crippled B-17 with deadly cannon and machine gun fire, sealing its fate.
With the left inboard engine of the B-17 smoking and pieces of the aircraft literally being shot away, and two members of his crew already wounded, Lieutenant Anderson sounded the alarm to abandon the aircraft. As the crew of the “Opissonya” began bailing out of the stricken aircraft, Lieutenant Kingsley who had been administering first aid to Sergeant Sullivan’s wounds, began helping him to the bomb bay doors so that he could bail out of the aircraft. It was at this point that Lieutenant Kingsley, with disregard for his own safety, removed his parachute and placed it on Sergeant Sullivan and assisted him out of the B-17. A short time later, the “Opissonya” crashed into the ground below, taking the life of Lieutenant Kingsley, who had remained onboard the B-17 and who had sacrificed his own life to save that of a fellow crew member. An action that would later earn Lieutenant Kingsley the United States Military’s highest award posthumously, the Medal of Honor. Click Tragically a Bulgarian family of three that had been picnicking was also killed, when the out of control “Opissonya” crashed into the tree that they had been under.
On the ground below, one of the people who had witnessed the destruction of the “Opissonya” and the subsequent bail out of the crew was Podporuchik Marinopolski. A passing soldier made Marinopolski, who at the time had been sitting in his tent at Karlovo airfield, aware of the aerial battle between the hapless B-17 and the Messerschmitts above. On witnessing the B-17 crash into the ground some distance away, Marinopolski immediately commandeered a German jeep and headed towards the area where he had last seen the B-17. On locating the crash site of the “Opissonya” a short time later, Marinopolski was told that three of the crewmembers that had parachuted out of the aircraft had already been captured and were being held at the local town hall.
(above are original photos of the captured US soldiers from Opissonya B-17 bomber crew)
Marinopolski went at once to the town hall where he found Sergeant Hettinga, Sergeant Meyer, and the wounded Sergeant Sullivan all under guard. Seeing that Sergeant Sullivan was in need of medical treatment, he had all three men loaded into his jeep, at which time he took them back to the Officer’s Mess at Karlovo airfield. Marinopolski then summoned a doctor, to treat and bandage Sullivan’s wounds. With the arrival of the newly captured Lieutenant Anderson and Sergeant Kmiec, Marinopolski then had them all given brandy to drink along with some black bread and beans. Using an interpreter, Marinopolski soon began to talk with the captured fliers. On Marinopolski asking Hettinga what his name was, he took the inside wrapper from a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes that he had been carrying and wrote, ‘Martin Hettinga, Vicksburg, Michigan’. Hettinga then handed the pack of cigarettes to Marinopolski and told him through the interpreter, “Come see me after the war.” Marinopolski would continue to speak with the captured fliers well into the night. The next day, the surviving crewmembers of the “Opissonya” were transported to Sofia, and would eventually be taken and interned at a prisoner of war camp located in the city of Shumen in eastern Bulgaria. While Lieutenant Anderson and the surviving members of his crew would spend the next three months as prisoners of war, for Marinopolski the war would go on.
By the end of 1944, with Germany’s forces reeling from defeat after defeat, the situation for her Allies, such as Bulgaria looked bleak. With the Soviets quickly advancing and nearing her northern border, and with the ever-increasing allied air attacks on her cities, Bulgaria switched her allegiance. On September 9, 1944, a coup was launched in Sofia by a handful of Bulgarian Army officers, who with the assistance and support of local partisans were able to seize the city. With the installation of a new government, peace was made with the Soviets, and war was immediately declared on Germany. With the arrival of the Soviets in Bulgaria, many Bulgarian Army officers, such as Marinopolski, were looked on with great suspicion and disdain by their new allies. None the less, the Soviets would use their newly found allies against the retreating German’s and thousands of Bulgarians would sacrifice their lives in this new round of fighting that would take them across Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and into Germany itself.
With the end of the Second World War in Europe in May of 1945, Marinopolski found himself back in Sofia, where he soon became friends with a United States Air Force colonel, who was working as the American air attaché to Bulgaria. Soviet officials in Sofia soon became suspicious of Marinopolski and his new found friendship with an American military officer. Due to these suspicions, Marinopolski was soon assigned to the Bulgarian air base at the city of Balchik on the Black Sea, from where he took command of a unit that flew Soviet built Yakolev Yak-9M/P single engine fighters. It was not long after his posting to this new base that the Soviets would finally have enough documentation to take action against Marinopolski who they had long suspected of being a threat to their newly restructured military.
On May 25, 1946, two Bulgarians pilots on a routine training flight with their Yak-9Ms flew to Italy and requested asylum from the Italian government. With this public embarrassment, the Soviet authorities were quick to target Marinopolski as one of the people who facilitated the two pilots in their escape. On July 4, 1946, Marinopolski was arrested and without the right of a trial, he was sent off to a labor camp near Pernik, Bulgaria. Marinopolski would remain a prisoner of the state until September 20, 1947, when he was finally released back into society. Having been discharged from the military and having lost all the prestige he once had as an army officer, Marinopolski soon found himself looking for work.
Marinopolski would eventually find work in Sofia as a laborer in a factory, but it would not take long for him once again to come under the scrutiny of the ruling Communist Government. On December 19, 1950, Marinopolski was once again arrested, this time under the broad charge of being “an enemy of the people”. Marinopolski would be imprisoned without a trial, until he was finally released on November 8, 1952. On his release, Marinopolski began working in construction which would eventually lead to his escape from Bulgaria, the country which he had dedicated his life too only years earlier.
In the spirit of cooperation, many of the Eastern European nations that had come under Soviet dominance began worker exchange programs in which laborers were offered the chance to work outside of their native countries. With the assistance of his brother-in-law, who held a position in Bulgarian Parliament, Marinopolski became part of an exchange program with Czechoslovakia. On August 31, 1957, Marinopolski left his native Bulgaria and traveled to Czechoslovakia along with nearly 6,000 other Bulgarian citizens. All along, Marinospolski had looked at this worker exchange program as his chance to escape the totalitarian government that had taken control of Bulgaria and almost every aspect of his day to day life. On December 1, 1957, Marinopolski escaped across the Czechoslovakian border into Austria where he spent the next four months in a refugee camp in Linz. This was to be the same year that a small airfield in Klammath Falls, Oregon was to be renamed Kingsley Field in memory of Lieutenant David Kingsley who had perished on the B-17 “Opissonya”.
By the end of March of 1958, Marinopolski was able to make contact with Count Heinrich von Podewils who had been a Luftwaffe fighter pilot with Jagdgeschwader 5, which had taken part in the defense of Sofia in the early months of 1944. Count von Podewils who Marinopolski had befriended during the war, immediately sent money and made arrangements for him to come to Germany to stay with him at his families castle. On getting on his feet after briefly staying with Count von Podewils, Marinopolski soon after was able to find work in Frankfurt, and in June of 1959, he was offered a job with ‘Radio Free Europe’. ‘Radio Free Europe’ at the time was responsible for broadcasting news and pro-western views into the Soviet Union and other nations that had been sealed off behind the Iron Curtain.
It was through his work with ‘Radio Free Europe’ that Marinopolski was eventually given a work permit and immigration clearance to travel to the United States. Marinopolski would move to the United States on April 20, 1964 and would make his home in the Washington D.C. area where he would eventually start up his own construction business in Arlington, Virginia.
While many years had passed since his service with the Vozdushni Voiski, Marinopolski always had wondered about what had become of the crewmembers of the downed B-17 that he had befriended back on June 23, 1944. In an effort to uncover what had happened to them, Marinopolski began making official inquiries with the United States Air Force along with several historical societies in the United States. One of the strongest leads that Marinopolski had at the time was the message and invitation he had received from Martin Hettinga, who told him that he should look him up after the war. On following this lead up, Marinopolski found that Hettinga was no longer living in Vicksburg, Michigan and that he had moved. On digging further, Marinopolski soon located a relative of Hettinga’s residing in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This relative was able to tell Marinopolski that Martin Hettinga had moved to Anchorage, Alaska and provided him with a telephone number. Armed with this number, Marinopolski then made that fateful telephone call in January of 1982, and was able to speak with Hettinga some 37 years after they had first met! In October of 1983, Marinopolski traveled to Anchorage, Alaska where he was finally able to meet with Hettinga face to face, for a tearful reunion.
This however was not to be the end of the story. On his return home, Marinopolski immediately began to search for the other remaining crew of the "Opissonya”, and soon was able to locate all of the surviving members. With the fortieth anniversary of the ill-fated flight of the “Opissonya” quickly approaching, Marinopolski, who along with the help of several of the crewmembers, began to organize a reunion.
On April 23, 1984, Marinopolski, along with surviving “Opissonya” crewmembers Martin Hettinga, Bob Newsome, Lloyd Kane, Edwin Anderson, Bill Symons, John Meyer, and Stanley Kmiec, gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant David Kingsley. Also present for this ceremony were family members of Lieutenant Kingsley’s and Don McGillivray, who had been the regular radio operator with Lieutenant Anderson’s crew prior to his being replaced by Lloyd Kane. McGillivray had flown some seventeen missions prior to being detached from the rest of the crew and sent off to Naples, Italy to train on radar counter measures equipment. It wouldn’t be until June 30, 1944, a full week after the loss of the “Opissonya”, that McGillivray would learn that his fellow comrades were listed as missing in action.
Throughout the rest of that memorable Easter weekend, Marinopolski and the surviving crewmembers of the “Opissonya” would share in their memories from the war, and relate the experiences of what changes had taken place in their lives over the last forty years since they had all been together. For all involved it would be a weekend full of tears and laughter, and remembrances of a time long past in the history books but not in the mind.
Upon the conclusion of their reunion, all would part and go their separate ways. Marinopolski stayed in the United States for several more years before moving back to Sofia, Bulgaria in 1993, which had since seen the fall of Communism and Soviet rule. Prior to making his move back to Bulgaria, Marinopolski had the distinction of being made an honorary colonel and life-time member of the legendary Confederate Air Force. An honor he is proud of to this day.
Today, Marinopolski recently has remarried at the age of seventy-nine to his wife Remi, and still attends regular veteran reunions in Bulgaria. Marinopolski has made plans to move back to the United States and says that his wish is to put together another reunion with his friends from the “Opissonya” that are still alive, in order to once again pay tribute to times long past but not forgotten. When asked about the irony of how people who were once sworn enemies could now, years later, so easily heal the wounds of war, Marinopolski replies, “We are blessed by god. We were just shooting at flying boxes in the air. Not humans, just a box.”