Delclisur

Arthur and Al Locke had become good friends during their months of serving together. Al mentions him in several of his letters to his wife, Patsy. Arthur died from injuries he sustained during the ditching of their plane on the mission to Berlin on April 29, 1944.

Al wrote to Patsy in July 8, 1944 and said:
"I feel so bad at times I could just cry, almost. I felt so bad when Delclisur got killed and I went back to base and was the only one there that I did just sit down on the edge of my bed and cry. I'm not ashamed of it, things just happened so hard and fast. Although I believe that God was on my side or I wouldn't be on my way home to your arms again."

After Dale VanBlair recevied credit for shooting down a German Focke Wulf 190 on the Feb 21, 1944 mission to Munster, Germany, Arthur wrote this letter to Dale's parents.

Dear Mr, and Mrs. VanBlair:
You probably don't know who I am but the important thing is that I know who your son is and am proud to say it. I am proud to say I am a member of his crew and without him the crew would be weakened immeasurably. In the United States we know Dale wa s fine man to have on the crew but he hadn't shown himself and his capabilities until we got in combat. His calmness and balancing effect on the whole crew is a great help on all our missions. He has probably written you about getting the air medal, the other crew members with him, and the citation that goes with it could probably express my, and the rest of the crew's feelings about him better than I can. He will probably send it home to you and when you read the citation, you will see what I mean. I've been meaning to write you for a while, but what climaxed it was the day Dale got his first enemy fighter. The fighters were pretty heavy that day and he dealt with them with complete coolness and skill. The skill was obvious as he got one. All his "pals" on and off the crew were happy to hear the news and he was congratulated by all. All who know him like him, and we are proud to fly with men of his high calibur.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur C. Delclisur
P.S. I'm the bombardier on Dale's crew.

The above letter is, in itself, a tribute to the kind of person Arthur Delclisur was: a very considerate, kind young man, one who was concerned about others. Not many would have taken the time to write such a letter. I thought highly of him, and had it not been for military protocol that kept officers and enlisted men from associating with each other socially, I am quite sure that we would have been close friends. He was, moreover, a top-notch bombardier and was one of the reasons we were selected to became a PFF lead crew.

` Dale VanBlair