Beattie Harris Fleenor was born September 2nd, 1917 in Asherville, Kansas. His parents were Beattie Hope Fleenor and Jessie Mae Fleenor. He also had a sister named Mary Elizabeth. The Fleenor family moved to Manhattan when Beattie was very young and stayed there for the rest of his childhood. They lived at 1634 Osage St, and the house is still present today. His dad was a teacher at MHS and later a K-State professor, while his mom stayed home with the kids. His grandfather on his mom's side was a preacher.

Beattie attended Manhattan High School and began going by the nickname “Bud”, which followed him for the rest of his life. While at MHS, he was given leadership roles that prepared him for life later in the future, such as serving as Class President his Senior Year in 1935. He also was a member of the science club and excelled in that subject.

Bud was also an athlete, and played on the basketball team for all four years. In his senior basketball season, the team finished 10-9 with a chance to get third place, but lost an exciting double overtime game to finish their season. He also played football until he suffered a knee injury that ended his football career.

In 1935, Bud began attending Kansas State University, where his father worked as a professor. During his time there, he studied Milling and Industry. While he was a student, he was a part of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and Alpha Mu honor society, both of which required members to be good scholars. He was involved in the YMCA as well and graduated from K-State in 1939. After graduating, he worked as a salesman in a flour mill in West Virginia.

After college, Fleenor enlisted in the military at Fort Knox in Kentucky on April 25th, 1941 and was elevated to activate duty after Pearl Harbor on December 12, 1941. Shortly after, he married Barbara Myers on December 20th. Barbara would later move to Los Angeles after the war. After enlisting, he received his training in three different locations, including Tulsa, Oklahoma, San Angelo, Texas, and Brooks Field in Texas. After training, he earned the rank of Captain and piloted a B-24 Bomber during the war.

His first assignment was to the 93rd Bomb Group and 409th Bomb Squadron. The unit trained in Barksdale, Louisiana, and Ft. Myers, Florida before deploying to Europe. Florida was very hot and humid, but it helped prepare them for the missions ahead. While in Florida, Fleenor’s squadron sunk a German U-Boat that was prowling along the American Coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

The 93rd was nicknamed “Ted’s Traveling Circus” because of their general, Edward “Ted” Timberlake. After completing their training, the 93rd Bomb Group traveled to Alconbury, England, where the unit completed 9 missions. They then packed up and left for North Africa on December 7, 1942. After they arrived, they took base at Tafraoui, Algeria. On the first night the air raid siren sounded but nothing happened, and they laughed off the excitement.

After returning to England, they began trying to take back France and push back the Germans by bombing targets in Europe. Fleenor was the pilot of a plane named Night Raider and he and his crew took part in a key mission on February 26, 1943. His B-24 was sent on a mission to bomb ports and industrial facilities near Wilhelmshaven in Northern Germany. While heading towards the target, several crew members had trouble with oxygen due to the high altitude. They then encountered heavy resistance of “flak and fighters” (anti-aircraft defense cannons and ammo from enemy planes). They were struck numerous times, causing damage to his plane and injuring crew members. To try and avoid more German fighters, they headed towards sea. But instead of safety, they were met with 20 enemy fighter planes. In the fight for survival, with wounded men and freezing guns, Night Raider’s crew shot down several enemy aircrafts. As his plane began to falter, Fleenor made a life-or-death decision to fly into a near-by cloud bank, as the Raider was low on fuel. With the enemies low on fuel and ammo as well, the Germans retreated. Night Raider was able to make it back to the British coast, but the plane had been badly damaged, and the tires had been blown out, so a crash-landing was inevitable. As the crew signaled to the British airmen for help, Fleenor prepared for a rough landing. Despite the plane’s damage, Fleenor was able to land safely and get his wounded crew members medical attention. After the landing, Robert Jungbluth, the radio operator of Fleenor’s crew, praised Fleenor’s flying through such a dangerous battle. “Thank God we had Captain Fleenor driving. We all owe our lives to him. It could have been a lot worse.” A newspaper article later told the story of the skillful recovery over Wilhelmshaven, and Fleenor was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his remarkable flying.

After the attack on Wilhelmshaven, Fleenor and his co-pilot were reassigned to a new plane, the Missouri Sue, and given crew replacements. On April 16th, 1943, Fleenor’s crew was sent on a mission to bomb port facilities in Brest, France. The enemy’s defense was fierce. After successfully bombing the port, Fleenor and his crew were leaving the mission when they were hit by anti-air guns. The left rudder was shot off and engine number 2 was left in flames. As they were losing altitude, a British Spitfire escorted them out of the formation. In last survival efforts, they tried to land in the English Channel. Though the crew may have survived the crash, they were over twenty miles offshore. The entire crew was declared missing in action, but in the end no survivors were found. On Easter Sunday, the unit held a memorial for all the airmen who were killed at Brest, and a moment of silence was observed.

Captain Fleenor received multiple awards during and after his tenure in the military. In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, he was also awarded the Air Medal with one oak leaf cluster and the Purple Heart award. Today, there are multiple memorials for him and his crew members. There is one in the Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan, KS, as well as one on the Kansas State University campus. He is also remembered on the Tablets of the Missing at Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in Normandy, France.

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Written and Researched by Mr. Allen’s 1st and 6th Hour Class 2024-25

Phillip “Phil” Shirley Gould was born on April 9th, 1918. Phillip was the son of Harold and Maud, and had two brothers, Keith and Dale. The family never moved, and his father farmed the land until the 1950s. Phil stood out in high school for winning an oratorical contest. From what we know, we assume that Phil graduated from Eureka High School in 1936.

Philip went to college at Emporia State University (formerly called Kansas State Teachers College). Based on his birth year, and college yearbooks, we have determined that he was in college from approximately 1936-1940. Phil was awarded the Iden Scholarship, and was highly active in college, taking part in roles in the newspaper/Bulletin as editor-in-chief and being a member of the YMCA. He was awarded membership into Gilson Players for his outstanding work throughout several drama programs. Additionally, he formed and sponsored the Creative Club, a branch off of the Gilson Players. He was in the Kappa Delta Pi fraternity, which promoted the standard of public speaking and forensic contests, and Xi Phi fraternity. Additionally, he was a sophomore representative on the student council. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Science in English in 1940. After graduation, Phil went to teach in the Mankato public school system as an English teacher.

Phil Gould taught at MHS in the 1st semester of 1941. He taught drama and public speaking as well as debate. He coached the varsity debate team and he directed the Fall 1941 play ‘June Mad’ as well. He left to join the Air Corps at the end of the first semester. Ida Mae Elder replaced him for the second semester. During his time at MHS he was loved by all his students, and deeply missed after his passing. He was placed on the honor roll of people from MHS who gave their lives, and the school greatly mourned his loss, and the loss of the other students who died in the war.

On January 7th, 1942, just a month after the attack at Pearl Harbor, Phil enlisted in the war. At the time of enlistment, Phil was 5’11” and weighed 155 lbs. He joined the Air Corps and became a bombardier in the 489th bombardment squadron and the 340th bomb group, who have been known for their exceptional mechanic and medical work. Phil first reported to train in Bakersfield, California. A majority of the training was conducted at Walterboro, South Carolina at an increased speed. After basic training, Phil rose up the ranks quickly, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant within the one year before his death. Based on pilot’s logs and Brazilian currency found on Phil’s remains, it’s assumed that Phil aided in the transportation of planes to Egypt, while a majority of the 489th were transported to Cairo from San Francisco on the West Point.

For over a year he trained preparing for his first mission, but sadly, on March 21, 1943, in Cairo, Egypt Phil died. He died during a plane accident, when the loaded bomber he was flying ran out of fuel in a severe sandstorm, and crash landed into a hillside near Helwan, Egypt All forms of his identification were destroyed in the crash, and he was found as a skeleton. We assume they identified his body by the plane he was flying, as well as consulting the survivors of the crash. From sources dating the battles that Bomb Squadron 489 took place in, we were able to find out that Phil had participated in no key battles during the time he was enlisted, because he died in the accident right when the group arrived in Egypt. Over the course of two years, the 489th took part in a total of 466 missions, spanning from Italy to Northern Africa, with their last being on April 26th, 1945. Phil would have been part of these if he had survived the accident.

Although he did not get to take part in any mission, his bravery and dedication will be remembered forever. After his death, he was first buried in Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt. He was then moved to El Alia Cemetery in Algiers, Algeria. His remains may have been moved to Tunis, Tunisia later. After his death, Phil was awarded with a WW2 victory medal, a Kansas Gold Star, and an American Campaign Medal. Phil Gould has been remembered by the community because of the sacrifices he made for the country. He has been added to the Peace Memorial in Abilene, Kansas.

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Researched and produced by Mrs. Ashlyn Kuhlmann’s 1st and 3rd World History Hours:

Francis Hopkins Dresser was born on July 4th, 1914 in Manhattan, Kansas. His parents were Leonard Dresser and Annie May Dresser. He had four siblings - Edward, Robert, Florence, and Lenora. The Dresser family lived in Manhattan, Kansas. His dad was a farmer and his mom stayed at home with the kids. Both of Francis’ parents are buried at Sunset Cemetery.

Francis attended Manhattan High School. While at MHS, he played football, was on the Track and Field team, and was elected as a Senior Yell Leader by his classmates. Francis was also president of the Willing Workers group at the Cedar Creek Sunday School, a leadership position that prepared him for his future.

After graduating high school in 1932, Francis attended Kansas State University (then known as Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science). While there, he was one of 13 students to do pilot training. He only attended K-State for a year, and then he went to work as a financial clerk.8 After a while, Francis decided to enlist in the U.S. Military.

Dresser enlisted as a private in the military at Fort Riley on October 8, 1940. He became a pilot because of his background in flying planes. Dresser was part of the 490th Bombardment Group stationed in Suffolk, England. Their job was to bomb places in Germany. The 490th bombardment group had at least 250 missions in the European Theater, and members of the group were involved in D-Day in Normandy, France.

As a group, the 490th was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation and the French Croix de Guerre. Dresser was also part of the 849th Bombardment Squadron. He flew a B-17 plane nicknamed “Miss Ana Bortion.” Dresser eventually earned the rank of major for all of his work.

Dresser’s final mission was as command pilot, and their group was to bomb Gustavsburg, Germany, but it was too cloudy for the group to see their target. They decided to turn back to Suffolk, but over Paris, Dresser’s plane collided with another Allied plane. On September 1, 1944, Dresser and his crew were declared missing in action. In the end, only three survivors parachuted to safety, and 10 casualties occurred. Dresser was officially declared killed in action on October 14, 1944.

Francis Dresser is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery in France. There was a memorial service for Dresser in Manhattan on December 29, 1944. He received an Air Medal during his time fighting in WWII and Purple Heart posthumously. There are multiple memorials dedicated to the 490th Bombardment Group. One is located in Suffolk, England, and one is located in the U.S. Air Force Academy. Dresser is also remembered on the World War II Plaque in Manhattan High School.

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Researched and produced by students in Halle McClure's class.

Photo courtesy of Peace Memorial

Photo courtesy of Peace Memorial

Photo courtesy of 1937 MHS Blue M Yearbook

Photo courtesy of Peace Memorial

Photo courtesy of Peace Memorial

Photo courtesy of 1942 K-State Royal Purple Yearbook

Photo courtesy of Peace Memorial

Photo courtesy of Peace Memorial

Photo courtesy of 1940 K-State Royal Purple Yearbook