By Aydan DeCoursey
Hi, I’m Aydan DeCoursey, a Junior majoring in Public History and minoring in GIS (Geographic Information Science) at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I am interning at the Richard I Bong Museum for the 2025 spring semester. The Bong Center is introducing a new veterans spotlight exhibit about Harry Ochocki, who was born in Ivanhoe, Minnesota, in 1918 and served as a navigator on a B-17 bomber during World War II. He flew many missions over France and Italy, and he even bombed Rome. But according to Harry they concentrated on industrial and military areas so as to not disturb the Pope’s residence.
While bombing Marseille, France, his plane was hit by German flak, and he was forced to bail out of the plane and parachute to safety. Doing this would later earn him a spot in the “Caterpillar Club”, a group of people who have successfully parachuted from a damaged airplane. When he landed, he was met by French people who helped him escape from the German search party looking for him. These people were a part of the French Resistance, and they smuggled Harry across France to neutral Spain to avoid German capture. He eventually made it after days of travel both on foot through the countryside and by train using fake ID cards and work papers. After reaching Spain, he was integrated but refused to give up information on his escape. He was then handed over to the Allies and returned to the States. He spent the rest of the war teaching at the very same aviation school he had graduated from in Selman Field, Louisiana.
The exhibit features artifacts from Harry’s life within the United States Army Air Forces and his exploits as a navigator on a B-17 bomber. I have also included a few quotes from Harry, taken from his oral history. This project taught me a lot about Harry’s life and his sacrifice in defending our country. Listening to Harry’s story through his voice painted a very descriptive picture of how he could avoid capture and be smuggled across France and into Spain. Going so far as to ride
“in couch cars sitting next to several German soldiers, in fact, one of them even asked me for a match to light his cigarette,”
He also recounted leaving the train when the German soldiers started checking ID cards. This project has familiarized me with how archives work and how to create an exhibit from scratch. Working on this project has also helped me in my pursuit of working within a historical museum and allowed me to apply some of the skills I have learned in school and learn some new ones along the way.