A son's quest for answers leads to Warren
WARREN — A World War II pilot’s harrowing plane crash drove his son to find out more about the accident — which led him to a Warren veteran.
It was July 4, 1943. It was also the first and last time Warren’s Cornell Corsatea saw the plane’s pilots, 1st Lt. John Seamans and 1st Lt. Oscar D. Shoup. Corsatea “very possibly saved my father’s life,” said Seamans’ son Gary, of Wyalusing, Pa.
Corsatea, Seamans and Shoup were members of the Army Air Forces’ 19th Ferrying Squadron. The squadron’s mission was to ferry B-24 Liberators — four-engine bombers — from near Dearborn, Mich., where they were built during the war, to Kelly Field in San Antonio and other destinations.
Corsatea recalls the flight. He was sitting between Seamans and Shoup as the plane was on final approach to Kelly Field at night. The nose of the large bomber rose, and the plane began to lose lift.
Read about this adventure in Sunday's Vindicator and on Vindy.com