Donald Wallace (Don) Nesbit Jr and Shirley Ann Willige

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Husband Donald Wallace (Don) Nesbit Jr

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           Born: 1 Aug 1918 - Guilford County, NC
       Baptized: 
           Died: 21 Dec 1998 - Guilford County, NC
         Buried: 1998 - Saint Andrews Urn Garden, Greensboro, Guilford County, NC
FamilySearch ID: LY9C-1QV
Find A Grave ID: 169112619

       Marriage: 10 Mar 1945 - VA

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Wife Shirley Ann Willige

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           Born: 18 May 1921 - Washington, DC
       Baptized: 
           Died: 28 Aug 1985 - Greensboro, Guilford County, NC
         Buried: 29 Aug 1985 - Saint Andrews Urn Garden, Greensboro, Guilford County, NC
FamilySearch ID: L6L7-G1K
Find A Grave ID: 169112492

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         Father: Augustus Willige {FSID: GQWD-GFS, FGID: 78760227}
         Mother: Annabel R. Rowell {FSID: LRDN-F5T, FGID: 78760344}

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Donald Wallace (Don) Nesbit Jr

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169112619/donald-wallace-nesbit

BIRTH
1 Aug 1918
Guilford County, North Carolina, USA
DEATH
21 Dec 1998 (aged 80)
BURIAL
Saint Andrews Urn Garden
Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, USA
MEMORIAL ID
169112619

"Lt. Donald Nesbit Tells of Life as Prisoner of War
Liberator Navigator Freed After Romania Capitulates to Allies

Clear Lake - "Our Liberator was shot down July 3 by M. E. 109;s after a 20 minute running battle," said Lt. Donald Nesbit, recounting the incidents which resulted in his spending 2 months in a prison camp.

"Our target was Giurgiu, Romania, We all baled out and, as we were coming down, could see the soldiers coming. We landed in a small town but were taken to Bucharest, the capital, for interrogation, after which the officers were lodged in a schoolhouse which was used as a prison. The enlisted men were at another place near the north end of the city.

"Lodging prisoners of war in an area which is a military target is contrary to international law but there we were for 2 months with both American and British bombers flying over and dropping their loads.

"The food we got was poor, consisting mainly of soup and black bread. They had better food but would not give it to us. Hygienic accommodations were negligible and midecal care poor but we suffered no physical violence. The Romanians are excitable people and the guards seemed to fear we would try to escape. About every 2nd day they would count us to see if we were all there. The other prisoners were from England, Australia and other allied countries.

"The language spoken was a mixture of French, German and Spanish with some English words thrown in. In 2 months I go so I could understand and speak enough to get along quite well. We used to gang up on the guards to make them believe we were up to something and get them excited.

"When Romania capitulated and was fighting Germany they told us they were now on 'the right side.' We were free but we had to stay in bomb shelters for 4 days as the Germans were so peeved at the Romanians that they came over and bombed the city all that time. it was unsafe to be above ground.

"To make it worse the Romanians stopped feeding us as we were not prisoners any more. Luckily, we had received our Red Cross packages the day before the break came and we managed to live on them 9 days. i don't know what we would have done if we had not had them. The Red Cross packages were wonderful help while we were prisoners, too. We certainly appreciated what the organization did for us and cannot praise it too highly.

"The Germans had posts on all sides of the city so it was practically surrounded. Those who were on the south side had to fight their way through to the north to join their own forces and there was some pretty tough fighting in the town. We had to keep out of sight as the snipers were busy on both sides and we didn't want to be in the way of their bullets.

"After 4 days we were taken out to an army airport and some of our planes came over from Italy and rescued us. It was dangerous and exciting. The pilots set their planes down but kept the engines running. We were ready and climbed on board as fast as we could and they took off. The German lines were only a few miles away and we did not linger around there.

" we were in italy a while and then came to the United States where I received a 30 day furlough. I came from Los Angeles here, arriving early Sunday and have to report back to Santa Monica, Cal., for reclassification and reassignment. We will not be sent back to our old unit as, from the German point of view, we are escaped prisoners and, if recaptured, could be considered spies."

Lt. Nesbit is visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd "Nibbs" Nesbit, and family. He entered the service about 2 years ago, left the United States last spring and had been on 15 missons before being shot down. He was a navigator with a bombing squadron over the oil fields of Romania when taken prisoner. All the members of his crew landed safely but some men in other crews were injured. Lt. Nesbit's planes had been damaged when he was on other missons but he managed to get them back to base.

Lt. Nesbit visited his mother, Mrs. Ella Nesbit, Los Angeles, Cal., before coming to Clear Lake.

- Mason City Globe-Gazette, 25 Oct 1944, pg. 5 (Mason City, IA)"

Family Members

Parents
Donald Wallace Nesbit 1877–1954
Nancy May Pike Nesbit 1895–1992

Spouse
Shirley Ann Willage Nesbit 1921–1985 (m. 1945)

Siblings
Nancy C Nesbit Hatch 1917–2001
Mary Harriet Nesbit Hearn 1921–2015
John Pike Nesbit 1923–1979

Created by: Bracky
Added: 30 Aug 2016
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 169112619
memorial page for Donald Wallace Nesbit (1 Aug 1918–21 Dec 1998), Find a Grave Memorial ID 169112619, citing Saint Andrews Urn Garden, Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Bracky (contributor 48344014).

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LY9C-1QV
"Birth • 1 August 1918
Guilford, North Carolina, United States

Death • 21 Dec 1998
Guilford, North Carolina

Burial • 1998
Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina, United States of America"

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General Notes: Wife - Shirley Ann Willige

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169112492/shirley-ann-nesbit

BIRTH
18 May 1921
District of Columbia, USA
DEATH
28 Aug 1985 (aged 64)
Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, USA
BURIAL
Saint Andrews Urn Garden
Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, USA
MEMORIAL ID
169112492

Family Members

Parents
Augustus Willige 1879–1941
Annabel Rowell Willige 1882–1964

Spouse
Donald Wallace Nesbit 1918–1998 (m. 1945)

Half Siblings
Jean Rowell McCardell Williams 1905–1977

Created by: Bracky
Added: 30 Aug 2016
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 169112492
memorial page for Shirley Ann Willage Nesbit (18 May 1921–28 Aug 1985), Find a Grave Memorial ID 169112492, citing Saint Andrews Urn Garden, Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Bracky (contributor 48344014).

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L6L7-G1K
"Birth • 1922
District of Columbia, United States

Death • 28 Aug 1985
Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina

Burial • 29 Aug 1985
Greensboro, North Carolina"

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Notes: Marriage

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169112619/donald-wallace-nesbit
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169112492/shirley-ann-nesbit

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LY9C-1QV
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L6L7-G1K

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