Mystery Pic

Solved See story below This World War Two airman identifies his first name as "Jack" in his loving inscription on the photo. This item comes from the extensive photo collection of the Society but we would love to know whom "Jack" is. We believe that he is a Rutland man, or at least the fiancé of a Rutland girl, but we cannot be sure. If you have any information that might help us to identify "Jack", please click here, type in your information and e-mail it to us.

The mystery of “the airman we knew only as Jack” has been solved after nearly three years. He is Jack Abraham, Jr. of Rutland. Jack was a graduate of Rutland High School, class of 1936, and son of Rutland pharmacist and drug store operator Jack Abraham. Jack married Shirley Higgins, Rutland High School class of 1941, in 1943. Jack was a bombardier and navigator on a B-24. After he had completed his training and was preparing to train in the new B-29, he was involved in a B-24 training crash in Utah. As a result, after has recovery, Jack spent the rest of the war training airmen in the U.S. After the war he settled in the west. After some time as an air traffic controller at the Oakland, California, airport, Jack turned to real estate and became quite successful. He expanded into insurance and other related areas in California. He and his wife Shirley currently live in California with children and grandchildren around them.

On Thanksgiving Day, the extended family were looking at photos of old Rutland from where Jack came. Suddenly, they are looking at an image of Jack himself in his WWII uniform. Both a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter emailed us with the great news. We are as thrilled as the family must be. Only in the web site age could this have happened.