Capt C. W. Kolber w/ his son Kenneth just before shipping out to the Pacific Photo Courtesy of Ray Pruiett, C.W.Kobler's nephew

Capt. Cornelius Winfred Kobler USAF of Penokee KS was the second son of Herbert and Carrie Kobler.

He joined the Air Force early in 1942, became a ferry command pilot delivering bombers to Britain. He then became a multi-engine instructor and one of the early B-29 instructors before going to the Pacific as a B-29 command pilot.

On 14 May 1945, Capt Kobler and his Flight Engineer were taking their orientation flight on a combat mission to Nagoya with Crew 21. This crew and their 2 passengers had to ditch after P-21 took flak to the number 1 engine. For more details of their ditching click here