Memorial B-17 Susan Ruth

Researching his father’s WWII history became a passion for Steve Snyder

On February 8,1944 a B-17 ‘Susan Ruth’ was knocked out of the sky by German fighters over the French/Belgian border. Some men died. Some were captured and became prisoners of war. Some men evaded capture and were missing in action for months before making it back to England. Pilot Howard Snyder survived and was hidden by Belgian citizens before joining the French resistance. His son, Steve, has written a book about his father and the other crew members, titled Shot Down. We asked him some questions by e-mail about his book and further activities in relation to the legacy of his father and his crew.


The crew of the 'Susan Ruth'. Source: Steve Snyder, Shot down

What kind of man was your father? In your youth, did he tell you about his war experiences?

My father was a big guy (for the time at 6' 2½) and a rugged, no-nonsense guy. He was a strong Christian with strict morals and viewed things as black and white. My sisters and I compared him to John Wayne. He was a loving husband and father, and we had a wonderful relationship and were very close.

Like most WWII veterans, he didn’t talk a lot about the war until 1989. The Belgian-American Foundation erected a memorial to my dad and his crew in Maquenoise, Belgium near the French border near where his B-17 came down. He and the other three members of his crew who were still alive and their wives attended the dedication ceremonies. There, he was reunited with Belgian people who hid him from the Germans and revisited places where he was hidden. The memories all came back, and he started talking about it. Five years later in 1994, I made my first trip to Belgium when my wife and I accompanied my parents to attend ceremonies for the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Belgium and my dad’s plane being shot down. That’s when it became personal for me.

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