You are logged on to the website of the 801st/492nd BG (Carpetbaggers) Association. The purpose and mission of the web site are described in the following paragraphs:
This site: Provides historical information regarding the air support crews (and their ground support personnel) of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II in the European and Mediterranean Theaters of Operation. Specifically these personnel belonged to a number of differing organizational units of the 8th and 15th Air Forces of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during the period of October 1943 through July of 1945. The data here has been provided by participants, their descendants, spouses and relatives, from fellow researchers and from the historical archives of the affected countries of the United States and Western Europe.
Provisions: This site has no registration, no fees and no restrictions on downloads. However, in the use of the FTP data, I ask that you voluntarily restrict your downloads to less than 1 gigabyte. Over that amount, consider requesting a disk (nominal fee of $10). Maximum disk data size is currently 8 gigabytes (double-sided double-density DVD). If you wish to contribute data, please contact me to discuss the nature of the data and the method and parameters of the donation after reading the information below on archival donations.
Monetary Donations: Just as with public tv, this site is supported by viewers like you. Four computers, a large office, five scanners, hundreds of books, electricity, more than twelve years of dedicated labor and supportive friends are what helps to keep this site humming, so if you are inclined to donate send cash, money orders or a payment via PayPal to:
Thomas L. Ensminger
2115 Polk Avenue
Ogden, UT 84401
Archival Donations:
1. Scans - Must be 300 dots per inch or higher. JPG format preferred but not absolutely necessary. Any and all records with mass names (usually orders and citations) are highly valued as they provide information for the men who served in the war and to the thousands of descendants and researchers of the present and future. Large amounts of data (up to 2 gigabytes) should be compiled to a zip file and sent via the service provided by MailBigFile. Alternatively, sending an optical disk (CDs or DVDs) with donated data is also acceptable.
2. Photocopies - Pictures are simply unacceptable as photocopies. Data photocopies are acceptable but not preferred.
3. Original Documents - Unwanted original documents may be sent to my address above. They will be forwarded to the US Air Force Academy Special Operations Archives after being scanned and enhanced. Original documents can also be sent to me for scan. They will be returned in a short period of time along with a CD or DVD of the scans. This is a free service, postage to the webmaster is your only cost. Additionally, your scans will be forwarded to the USAF Academy at a future date.