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Contact Info
Home Town Buffalo, New york
Last Address Brooksville, Florida
Date of Passing Jul 03, 2002
Location of Interment Forest Lawn Cemetery - Buffalo, New York
Clarence "Bill" Abendschein had entered the US Navy at age 16, with a forged birth certificate. I knew him as "Uncle Bill". Not a blood relative, but instead he was a local neighbor who my parents selected as my Godfather.
He entertained me at a young age with stories of his Navy flying. I picked up snippets here and there as I grew older, and I just wish I had more details now. I missed out on getting to know him better while I was an adult, as he moved to Florida after his retirement from the Niagara Mohawk Power Company, where he worked as a "Lineman" and "Line Crew Foreman".
With my growing interest in Navy history, I feel I cheated myself out of a great learning opportunity by not keeping in better contact with him after he moved to Florida. I cherish the interest the man took in me. This sight gives me a small chance to honor him.
AW1 Carl Mottern, USNR, RET
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Other Comments:
Last Duty Station: Naval Air Reserve Unit Niagara Falls NY
Best Moment Im going to say making Chief. I know it took him a while.
Worst Moment Two week Reserve Training Cruise on USS WASP CVS-18. This was his only shipboard time in all of his Navy career. He had been a VPB Patrol squadron sailor in WW2, and his later duties with the NARU were with similarly shorebased aircraft.
Chain of Command
The Naval Air Station at Niagara Falls was established in 1946 and the installation was expanded. Jurisdiction of the airport returned to a civilian agency (The NFTA). Later in 1946 a USAF joint-use agreement was made for Air Force Reserve/NYANG use of the airport.