Selected Events 2007 Consul for Public Affairs Honors WWII U.S. Flight Crew in Eisenberg

(Photo left to right: Kjarstin Spangerg Wenig, PAO Mark Wenig, Eisenberg Lord Mayor Ingo Lippert and Jörg Petermann of the Cultural Office, Eisenberg)

October 13, 2007. Consul for Public Affairs Mark Wenig and his wife Kjarstin made a visit to a memorial near the Thuringian city of Eisenberg, to honor a member of a B-17 Flying Fortress crew, who was killed with 7 of his fellow crew members, when the aircraft went down in Feburary, 1945. The visit took place at the request of the last surviving relative of Staff Sgt. Raymond Reiss, who asked that Reiss be honored on what would have been his 81st birthday, Oct 13. This message was relayed to Leipzig through Frankfurt Consul General, Jo Ellen Powell. The aircraft hit a hillside after a midair collision, as the pilot struggled to maneuver the plane away from Eisenberg and other populated areas, saving many lives.