Betsy Baetjer ‘66 Shares Her Father’s WWII Story in New Book

Betsy’s father, Howard Baetjer II ‘32, was a World War II pilot in the Army Air Corps. The first diary is an account of Howard’s time as a downed airman in Yugoslavia. He was eventually rescued as part of an Allied forces secret mission. His wife Katharine had the diary typed out for Betsy and her siblings Howard Baetjer, Jr. ‘64, Walter Baetjer ‘68, and Annie Baetjer Jenkins ‘70. 

Intending to do the same with her father’s second diary, Betsy found that the more she read, the more intrigued she became with the historical context and who her father was as a young man. After returning to active duty when he returned from Yugoslavia, Howard was shot down a second time. He spent a month in solitary confinement in Hungary before being transferred to POW camp Stalag Luft III, and then two other POW camps for the 10 months prior to liberation. As the long days passed and starvation threatened the men, Howard’s diary entries became an endless stream of consciousness focussing mostly on food.

Betsy began the lengthy process of deciphering and transcribing her father’s words.  She created a timeline of events, talked to her siblings to try to incorporate old family stories and conducted research to fill in the gaps. The new goal became to write a book for her children and nephews. She spent a great deal of time selectively editing nine months of diary entries to make them suitable for the book. Along the way, she made sure to take in every word. “It’s important to submerge oneself in it long enough to get a visceral feeling,” she said.

The hard work and dedication paid off this month as the first printed copies of the book became available. On the front cover, looking stoic with a slight hint of a smile, is a brave American pilot whose story lives on for the next generation.

Congratulations, Betsy!