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

