Houston Lee Braly, Jr. was the first of 5 children born to Houston Lee Braly, Sr. and Vonna V. (Quick) Braly. He grew up in a rural setting 6 miles from Brady, Texas. At the onset of US involvement in WW II Houston Lee joined the Army Air Corps, where he met his new friend and companion Lt. Ray Blaha who remained his companion until the day of his death. Following his training he was assigned to the cockpit of P51D sn: 44-13797 of the 383rd. Fighter Squadron, 364th. Fighter Group of the 8th. Air Force stationed in Honington, England. On August 2, 1944: D-Day plus 56 days Lt. Braly was on routine patrol of occupied France when his flight spotted and attacked a train parked beside the small village of Remy. Attacking at an altitude of 300 ft..the tail of Lt. Braly's P51 was ripped off by the resulting explosion from the train, crashing at the edge of the village, his body was recovered by the French people and buried in the cemetery of the church in the village and was constantly covered with flowers until he was exhumed and returned to his native town of Brady, Texas for re-burial. The force of the explosion was felt by the remaining P51's flying cover at 10,000 feet and damaged the entire village of Remy, including blowing out the stained glass windows of the 13th century church. Please surf the net and discover the facinating story of Lt. Houston Lee Braly and the Village of Remy, France.
Houston Lee Braly, Jr. was the first of 5 children born to Houston Lee Braly, Sr. and Vonna V. (Quick) Braly. He grew up in a rural setting 6 miles from Brady, Texas. At the onset of US involvement in WW II Houston Lee joined the Army Air Corps, where he met his new friend and companion Lt. Ray Blaha who remained his companion until the day of his death. Following his training he was assigned to the cockpit of P51D sn: 44-13797 of the 383rd. Fighter Squadron, 364th. Fighter Group of the 8th. Air Force stationed in Honington, England. On August 2, 1944: D-Day plus 56 days Lt. Braly was on routine patrol of occupied France when his flight spotted and attacked a train parked beside the small village of Remy. Attacking at an altitude of 300 ft..the tail of Lt. Braly's P51 was ripped off by the resulting explosion from the train, crashing at the edge of the village, his body was recovered by the French people and buried in the cemetery of the church in the village and was constantly covered with flowers until he was exhumed and returned to his native town of Brady, Texas for re-burial. The force of the explosion was felt by the remaining P51's flying cover at 10,000 feet and damaged the entire village of Remy, including blowing out the stained glass windows of the 13th century church. Please surf the net and discover the facinating story of Lt. Houston Lee Braly and the Village of Remy, France.
