32 | SEPTEMBER 12 • 2019
Jews in the D
been in the possession of for-
mer serviceman Ed Ginther,
who, during World War II,
was responsible for cleaning
out the lockers of the soldiers
who were casualties of war.
According to Ginther’
s son,
Martin, of Beverly, Ohio, Ed
found the diary in a waste-
basket, retrieved it and kept
it all this time.
“He never threw away any-
thing,” said Martin, who also
attended the diary exchange
in Birmingham. “He had files
on just about anything. He
had files on me.”
It was Ed Ginther’
s wish
before he passed away
last year that the diary be
returned to the Kempner
family. When Martin
gave the diary to Huntley,
Huntley did his due diligence
in locating the Kempner
descendants. He consulted
the 1940 census records,
contacted synagogues in
Michigan and relied on the
help of local Michigan archi-
vists.
“It’
s a crowning achieve-
ment,” Huntley said about
returning the diary to the
Kempners.
He added that the
Tomahawk Warrior crew will
be honored on Remembrance
Day on Nov. 10 this year in
Buckinghamshire, England,
with the presentation of a
memorial scroll to the crew’
s
relatives. He also is working
to have a memorial plaque
placed in the field where the
plane went down. The geo-
graphical depression of that
crash remains to this day, as
evidenced by a photograph
Huntley has of the site.
“When the relatives of
the deceased crew receive
an award or recognition on
behalf of their loves ones, it
will close a chapter of my
life for which I will be for-
ever grateful to have been a
significant part of in bring-
ing these families together,”
Huntley wrote as part of his
book synopsis.
Blake and Morgan said
that after they have had ade-
quate time with their uncle’
s
diary, they may look at an
appropriate archive or muse-
um to which they’
ll donate
it. Morgan, 59, said that hav-
ing the diary brings her uncle
back to life.
“It is wonderful and trans-
forming to have the diary
in our possession because
we didn’
t get a lot of stories
about my uncle,” Morgan
said. “We didn’
t have a good
idea of who he was. He didn’
t
stay in my thoughts as much
as if I had known him.
“His diary gives him a
voice and personifies him.
His writing is kind of clever
and informal, and I hear
pieces of my father in what
he says. It brings back the
fact that my father had a
twin brother. My uncle is
more real.”
continued from page 30
“His diary gives him a voice
and personifi
es him. His
writing is kind of clever and
informal, and I hear pieces of
my father in what he says.”
— JANICE MORGAN