Back to Bob Cary Research

Stories

Readable family-history stories from the Bob Cary research project, with uncertainty kept visible where the evidence is still incomplete.

Confirmed record

These stories can carry emotion and context, but family-memory details and unresolved record questions remain clearly labeled.

Long form

The Long Way Back to a Small Town

A whole-life story about Bob Cary's path from Decatur through wartime B-26 service, Mary, dental school, Hastings, the farm, and family life.

Key caveat: some postwar details are family-memory and Dan-provided family facts rather than public record citations.

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Long form

The Wrong Town on Christmas

A narrative centered on the 25 December 1944 Singen mission, the accidental bombing of Thayngen, and the later return of Hartwell Davis and Bob Cary for closure.

Key caveat: Bob's exact aircraft and role on Christmas Day remain unproven.

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Campaign

Lt. Robert A. Cary and the Final B-26 Campaign

A campaign-focused story about B-26 training, replacement movement, and Cary's late-war mission pattern in the 444th Bomb Squadron.

Key caveat: the stateside route is historically plausible but still an assumed reconstruction.

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Oral history

The Loose Bomb Pins Story

A family-memory story about pulled bomb pins, a no-drop return, and a hope for a safe, soft landing in a B-26.

Key caveat: plausible, but not yet matched to a specific Cary mission.

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Character

Keep on Pluggin'

A family character sketch from Peggy Hodgson's devotional attachment about Bob's steadiness, faith-in-action, and life after the war.

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Suggested Reading Order

  1. Start with the overview page to understand what is confirmed.
  2. Read the whole-life story for the Decatur-to-Hastings arc.
  3. Read the Christmas story for the emotional center of the wartime project.
  4. Use the mission log to understand Cary's documented combat pattern.
  5. Read the campaign story for a broader view of what his B-26 service meant.
  6. Treat the loose bomb pins story as an oral-history lead until more evidence is found.

Possible Future Stories

Family-conversation material points toward future stories about Bob and Mary's August 1945 move toward California and possible B-29 training, Bob's close-formation memories, the red-haired pilot who flew too close, the France school/chateau memories, and the question of how Bob-linked bridge and rail missions fit the Battle of the Bulge and later ground advances.