Bob Perrine, President

John W. Metzen, Immediate Past President

After attending Western Michigan University, John entered the service in Kalamazoo, Michigan (hometown) on May 19, 1942 and was discharged December 2, 1945.

"I was assigned to the Air Corp. doing basic training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. I was sent to Buckley Field, Colorado, where I completed Armorer School. From Buckley I was assigned to Hendricks Field, Sebring, Florida. Hendricks Field was a B-17 Pilot Transition Field.

After nearly a year at Hendricks, I was shipped to North Africa as a replacement, landing at Casablanca on Christmas Day, 1943 (c-rations for Christmas dinner). We did "forty and eight's" across the Atlas Mountain (9 days with cold c-rations) to Tunisia. After a few weeks at an air base there, we shipped from Algiers to Cagliari, Sardinia-assigned to the 443rd Squadron, 320th Bomb Group. My job was armorer from Sardinia to Corsica to Dijon, France. Following the German surrender, we did disarmament duty in Furth, Germany.

Following WWII and return to civilian life, I was a Territory Sales Rep with Standard Oil Co. in Michigan. Later I was promoted to a Special Rep selling chemical specialties for the State of Michigan.

I joined Chemagro of Kansas City, Missouri on January 1, 1960. BAYER of Leverkusen, Germany soon took over Chemagro. I was in the Agricultural Chemical Division of BAYER.

I was promoted to Northeast Regional Manager in 1964 and relocated my wife and two daughters from Michigan to Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I retired from BAYER in July, 1987. My wife died in 1996 and I married my wife, Rosemary, in 2001.

One of my few regrets in life is that I was unaware of our 320th BG Association and annual reunions until 2001. Rosemary and I were "first timers' in Albuquerque and had such a wonderful time that we intend to make every future reunion. We have made so many special friends in such a short time and it has been great enjoying the camaraderie, sharing the laughter, and reminiscing the experiences that we shared."

Alexander N. Brast, Treasurer

Four Brast brothers volunteered after Pearl Harbor - 3 qualified as aviation cadets: (Alex pilot, twin brother George navigator , Bill bombardier ) Dick served in the Coast Guard as a radio operator.

After service Alex attended night college under the G.I. Bill while raising a family.  He retired  as a CPA after 55 years in Auditing and Financial Accounting.

Alex is currently 442nd Squadron Representative and serves as the 320th Bomb Group Registration Chairman and Assistant to the Secretary/Treasurer.

Gail Purtz, Secretary

Joseph M. Seiley, Chief Historian

A native of San Diego, California, Joe became interested in the 320^th when he discovered in 2003 that his father served with the group at Dijon and Dole.  Now he can’t get enough of learning more about this wonderful group of people.  Joe is a proud father of five beautiful children, and a happy husband to wife Rebecca of 15 years.  Joe works as a Marketing executive for a San Diego-based software company, and holds a MBA from San Diego State University.  Joe has lived and worked in Asia and Europe, and speaks Mandarin Chinese.  In his spare time besides his family, Joe enjoys photography, swimming, golf, history, genealogy, and volunteering at his church.  Oh yes, and Joe has a new nick name: “Spider”, given him by Al Kaiser at the 2003 San Jose reunion, because Joe is ‘always on the web’

Dr. Franz Reisdorf, Chief Historian

Franz is creator and editor of the 320th B.G. website. His grandfather, Ben Reisdorf,  was a pilot in the 441st. He is a native of St. Paul, MN and went to the same high school as his grandfather, Ben. Franz is a cardiologist and holds a faculty position at the University of Minnesota. He is married and has a three year-old son, Ryan, and a one-year old daughter, Jane. In addition to his interest in the 320th, Franz is an avid woodworker plus enjoys canoeing and bicycling as well as other outdoor activities.