The target of the American bomber was refineries on the territory of today's Poland, but its journey ended prematurely. His flight through Slovakia was fatal, during which he was hit by German fighters. He collapsed into Kamenická dolina, where a monument commemorates this tragedy to this day. It includes authentic pieces of a fallen plane.

"After 1943, US troops occupied the southern territories of Italy. It was from there that American planes took off, bombing some strategic industrial companies mainly in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Slovakia, but also Poland, "explained historian Pavol Makyna.

The Liberator B-24J bomber with the crew of Kenneth B. Smith took off from an American base in the Italian city of Bari. He did not complete his mission, only a few days before Christmas in 1944, the Germans shot him down. One of the Americans died, another managed to jump off the plane. However, several of them suffered injuries and subsequently fell into German captivity. Edwin Burkhardt finally managed to escape, mainly thanks to the help of the people of Omšena, who hid him. The American pilot was then to join the partisans. He returned to the place of tragedy in Kamenická dolina after many years. He visited him in 2000 with four other friends who survived the crash.

Parts of the dropped plane are still hidden in the mountains, but also in the households of some residents of Trenčianske Teplice. They are most visible at the monument, which is dedicated to the American pilot. In 1994, it was built by the inhabitants of the local part of Baračka at the crash site of an American bomber.

photo: Trenčianske Teplice