# The History behind the New Hiawatha



## Robertriley (Sep 24, 2016)

I recently picked up a prewar Hiawatha from Les in Missouri.  The bicycle belonged to his mother cousin,  Harold Fohey.  Les's grandparents purchased his aunts house and Harold bike was in the attic for the last 70 years.  Les's mother asked him to sell the bike and I was more than happy to take over ownership and preserve the history.






Harold Fohey grew up and went to A.D Stowell Elementary School in Hannibal, MO.  (K-9th grade).



First Row 2nd from the Left (About 14 years old)




First Row on the left (About 15 years old). Undefeated Champs!




Top Row 2nd from the right.  9th grade graduation. 

Harold joined the Army/Air Force during WW2.  He was a crewman on the Bomber Peg O' My Heart under Captain Kenneth Spinner.   Harold and the crew were on Mission  no. 94 (BOLZANO, ITALY) on NOVEMBER 10, 1943.  The target was the Marshalling Yards at Bolzano. Twenty-four aircraft took off but only eight got over the target and dropped 24 tons of 500-lb. GP bombs. The other planes got lost in heavy clouds and returned to base.   2 aircraft didn't make it back from that mission, one was Harold's.  Witnesses said they saw the engines on fire as it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off of Cape Corse, Corsica.   Unfortunately search parties could not find any survivors. 

One crewman that didn't go on that mission had some slight fame.  His name was Skippy and he even had a bomber named after him.   Skippy was the Captains Dog and flew missions with the crew.  Read the little newspaper clipping to see more on Skippy. 










I'm can just see Kenneth, Harold and the crew hanging out with Skippy drinking a beer after a long days work.  True Heros!


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## tripple3 (Sep 25, 2016)

Super Cool. I love the history. What an honor to be next caretaker.
Awesome bike too!


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## dfa242 (Sep 25, 2016)

What tripple3 said - good for you, man.


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## rollfaster (Sep 25, 2016)

Awesome story Chris, and I love hearing that this guy was from Missouri. Very cool.


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## StoneWoods (Sep 25, 2016)

I say you should call the bike skippy


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## ballooney (Sep 25, 2016)

Awesome story and killer bike.  Thank you for being such an active contributor to this hobby and site.  Between you and Shawn, I'm just amazed at the bikes you two pull in and love the stories that go with them--it's a lot of fun.  Again, thanks for sharing the history of yet another great bike.


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## Robertriley (Sep 25, 2016)

StoneWoods said:


> I say you should call the bike skippy



You are the second one to say that......so, Skippy it is.


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## Handle Bar Hoarder (Sep 25, 2016)

ya  that,s cool


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## Tim the Skid (Sep 25, 2016)

incredible find, great story. Can't wait to see it after you clean it off,the paint looks fantastic.


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## 56 Vette (Sep 25, 2016)

Awesome bike, and an even better story behind it! Stories like this make any hobby dealing with history a true blessing to keep the story and item alive for future generations to see what American citizens and heroes went through! Kudos to you!! Joe


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## Joe Buffardi (Sep 28, 2016)

Wow man!! Just wow!!!


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## Robertriley (Sep 28, 2016)

"Skippy" is in and getting put all fixed up.


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## bicycle larry (Sep 29, 2016)

thanks so much for putting this on the cabe chris ,yes skippy for sure!!!!


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## Robertriley (Sep 29, 2016)

A couple updates on Skippy.  The fork is at Joe's house.  I cleaned off some 75 year old dirt and hand rubbed some color back into it.


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## Robertriley (Sep 29, 2016)

It's getting there


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## Handle Bar Hoarder (Sep 29, 2016)

Robertriley said:


> It's getting there
> View attachment 365025 View attachment 365026



man you are so good at cleaning up these bike,s nice job look,s good


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## bobcycles (Oct 9, 2016)

Wow  Great story !  how often do you get that lucky with such a find and wonderful back story?

Good work!


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## Robertriley (Dec 4, 2016)

I just received these two photos from Les.  He was digging through an old box of photos when he stumble onto them.  Harold, the original owner, is on the left in both photos.  He messaged me both of these photos while I was in Hawaii visiting two WW2 military sites.


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## Euphman06 (Dec 4, 2016)

Nice clean up!


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## Robertriley (Dec 4, 2016)

Euphman06 said:


> Nice clean up!



Thanks, I like the story even more than the clean up


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## Barkeep (Dec 4, 2016)

Awesome story! Im also in Hawaii currently on Maui. Bet that dog went on many bike runs!

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk


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## Robertriley (Dec 6, 2016)

I will be in Maui Tuesday 3-7pm.  @Barkeep


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## azbug-i (Dec 6, 2016)

great story and great bike!


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## Barkeep (Dec 6, 2016)

Well just saw this darn it! Was peddling around Lahaina today. 

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## azbug-i (Dec 6, 2016)

Barkeep said:


> Well just saw this darn it! Was peddling around Lahaina today.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk




Sounds like an awful day ! hahaha


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## Barkeep (Dec 7, 2016)

Ha! Well could be worse!


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## Hawthornecrazy (Jan 14, 2017)

That's a great story you don't get that kind of history with a bike very often. Did you get it back together yet Chris?


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## Robertriley (Jan 14, 2017)

Hawthornecrazy said:


> That's a great story you don't get that kind of history with a bike very often. Did you get it back together yet Chris?


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## Hawthornecrazy (Jan 14, 2017)

Very nice! I have a chain I could sell you so you can ride it. Lol


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## 56 Vette (Jan 15, 2017)

Wow! Super cool story, and an awesome bike!! One for books for sure! Joe


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## Greg M. (Jan 15, 2017)

Great bike and story. 
Thank you for sharing.

Greg M.


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## Nashman (Jan 17, 2017)

Heart  warming.....Good for you!


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## Boris (Jan 17, 2017)

Thanks for the history on the owner and this bike. Very touching. Very sad. And a great job bringing the bike back to life. What did you use to bring out the color so nicely?


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## vincev (Jan 18, 2017)

Glad its back on the road and lookin good !


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## Robertriley (May 20, 2017)

I found this photo online today


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