14
QUEENS WEEKLY, OCTOBER 20, 2019
HomeGoods
Center. Beginning at 7
a.m., customers can enjoy
confections from Whitestone
bakery Honey Bee
Cakes while participating
in several games onsite.
This location is the
fourth in Queens and 25th
overall in New York state.
The 23,265-square-foot
store will offer a range of
high-quality decor from
top brands and designers
and unique finds from
around the world.
Patrons can shop gourmet
foods, bedding, bathroom
and storage supplies,
decor for kids and
pets and more at prices
general 20 to 60 percent
below full-price retailers.
“Our amazing values,
brand names and vast
assortment make Home-
Goods an exciting destination
for shoppers,” said
John Ricciuti, president
of HomeGoods. “With a
large variety of special
merchandise from around
the world, customers will
always find something
thrilling in our treasure
hunt environment
at great values. We are
happy to provide College
Point, Queens, with a local
HomeGoods.”
According to the
home decor experts, the
store expects to fill about
65 full- and part-time
positions.
In addition to the new
College Point store, Home-
Goods currently operates
more than 740 stores
in the United States and
is a division of The TJX
Companies Inc.
On opening day, Home-
Goods will be open from
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Regular
hours of operation are
Monday through Saturday
from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30
p.m. and Sunday from 11
a.m. to 8 p.m.
For other HomeGoods
locations and to learn
more, visit HomeGoods.
com. Also find HomeGoods
on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and Pinterest.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone
at (718) 260-2583.
Continued from Page 1
WW II vet
from 1944 to 1945.
“We have a big ceremony.
She says, ‘I am going to involve
you in the ceremony.
You are going to lay the
wreaths on the cemetery
plots.’ That is very, very big
honor,” Reveman said. “You
know who gets to do this in
the United States? Whoever
is president.”
The ceremony is free and
open to the public to attend.
The Bronx native got
an early start in the military,
having been drafted
in 1943 at the ripe age of 18.
His training included Morse
Code and radio and gun
training before joining the
398th Bomb Group. He and
the other members of the
crew flew to Nuthampstead,
Hertfordshire in England
to destroy industrial plants
and factories in Germany.
During his military tenure,
the 398th Bomb Group
flew 24 missions over Germany,
the last of which took
place in April 1945.
He experienced plane
crashes in Greenland and
Germany during his tour.
During the first crash, adverse
weather conditions
caused them to reroute a
scheduled landing in Reykjavik,
Iceland, to Greenland.
“I got a radio message that
said, ‘Iceland is closed in.
It’s storming and you can’t
land,” Reveman recalled.
The crew was informed
they would have to turn
around and land at the last
point of embarkation, which
was Happy Valley-Goose Bay
in Canada. But at that point,
Reveman said they were
“past the point of no return”
and they instead made plans
to land in Greenland, where
they made an emergency
landing.
Three days later, Reveman
and the crew were
getting ready for takeoff to
Iceland.
“We were taking off on
this small runway. Now you
have to picture it — runway’s
small with mountains all
around,” he said.
As they got to the end
of the runway, the engine
stalled and the plane went
off the end of the runway
into a fjord a long and narrow
inlet with steep sides.
All members of the crew survived
the crash.
What didn’t survive were
five cases of Yoo-Hoo, Reveman’s
favorite beverage,
which he had brought on
board.
“When we were getting
ready to leave the states,
all the crew took whatever
they wanted. They took liquor,
clothes, cameras and I
took five cases of chocolate
Yoo-Hoo.”
After the crash, the
Yoo-Hoo sank in the ocean.
The second crash took
place during Reveman’s
final mission.
“The Army Ordnance
had developed very sophisticated
bombs that did the
work of two to three normal
bombs,” said Reveman, who
added that each plane carried
10 500-pound bombs.
Due to the bombs’ sensitivity,
the crews were told,
“Don’t jostle them. Don’t
bounce them around.” While
their plane and others were
flying in formation, one of
them malfunctioned and the
bombs did not release. When
the pilot finally released the
bombs, they dropped en
masse amongst the plane
formation.
“Four B-17 flying forces
went down immediately.
Forty men, dead,” he said.
The the impact threw
the plane Reveman was on
hundreds of feet into the
air, breaking two out of four
engines. Eventually, they decided
they had to prepare for
a belly up landing at a nearby
German airport. While
attempting to land, the plane
careened into walls of dirt
and stone that the Germans
built to prevent Allied planes
from landing.
He woke up amongst
burning rubble, trapped in
his radio seat. He pushed his
way out of an opening at the
top of the plane and fellow
crew members pulled him
“right out of my boots.”
Reveman received a Purple
Heart for the injuries he
sustained.
His nephew Bryan Falk
created the documentary
“Riding the Airwaves: Stories
of a B-17 Radio Operator”
detailing the crashes
and other stories from
Reveman’s time in the Air
Force. The film is part of
the Library of Congress in
Washington, D.C.
Continued from Page 1
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