On Jan. 29, 1944, Capt. Lee Van Syckle's B-17 "Flying Fortress" crew, based in Deenethorpe, England, was one of more than 800 U.S. bombers in a massive daylight raid on Frankfurt. Shortly after Van Syckle's plane dropped its bombs and turned away, a group of Messerschmitt fighters attacked the B-17 and others in the lower box of the American wing.

A young navigator from a prominent Colorado family was among the 10-man crew on the B-17.

He was 2nd Lt. Richard Lee Monfort.

Next Sunday, during Memorial Day weekend, Denver radio host and veterans advocate Rick Crandall of KEZW's "Breakfast Club" will watch his dream become reality, after years of fundraising. At 2 p.m., the Colorado Freedom Memorial will be dedicated in Aurora. The memorial honors nearly 6,000 Coloradans killed or missing in action while serving their country.

Here, that navigator the uncle of Rockies owners Richard Lee "Dick" Monfort, whose name is another tribute, and Charlie Monfort represents them all.

Richard Monfort and his younger brother, Kenneth, were sons of Greeley cattle feeder Warren Monfort. Before the U.S. entered World War II, the brothers showed champion steers at the State Fair and the National Western Stock Show.

Richard was a junior at Colorado A&M in Fort Collins when he enlisted in the Army in December 1942. During training, he married Viola Swanson of Greeley. Ultimately, he was deployed to England with the 8th Air Force's 401st Bomb Group, 615th Squadron.

The mission to Frankfurt was his crew's third.

The official "Missing Air Crew Report," opened after the mission and supplemented over the next 18 months, was declassified in 1973. Of course, it is not pretty. The Messerschmitts, equipped with machine guns and cannons firing 20mm rockets, hit three B-17s. A rocket struck Monfort's

In the nose, bombardier Stanley Groski was firing the chin turret gun when the plane was hit, and the impact knocked him back into Monfort. Amid the chaos, the bailout order came. Groski later said he believed Monfort was wounded before they jumped. Also, as they left the front of the plane, the Messerschmitts still were firing on the B-17.

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Frei: Colorado Freedom Memorial to include elder Monfort