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Short Snorter from WWII A short snorter is a dollar bill
decorated with signatures of famous people. How the name came into being is
something of a mystery. The two notes pictured below are owned by Mr. John
Evans, age 75, a long time active member of the Bellaire Coin Club. Mr.
Evans was a WWII bomber pilot who flew a total of 17 missions in 1945 over
Germany, Austria and France.
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Site Created by David A. Burke
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The group photo is of John (squatting down) with some of the crewmembers of
his B-17. After attending Wichita University, John entered the air corps in
April of 1943. He got his wings at Marfa, TX and later took training at
Roswell, N.M. John was only 20 when he shipped out in Jan 1945 as a Second
Lieut. with the 8th Air Force. Stationed in England, the 8th Air Force
spearheaded the American airborne assault on Hitler's fortress Europe.
John's first mission was flown on Friday the 13th to bomb the German oil
refinery at Misburg. As the plane started on the bomb run, the bomb bay
doors had frozen shut and the flight engineer had to physically crank the
doors open. The B-17 was carrying 6 one thousand pound bombs but because of
the delay couldn't make it to the primary target. He changed direction and
flew to Weimar, Germany to hit a railroad yard, a secondary target, but
completed his mission. Of all the German targets John's air wing was sent to
bomb, one of his strongest memories is of the day he was sent to strike
Berlin. Here he first encountered a new German ME-262, the first operational
jet fighter. 
