mattm1970
Junior Member

My Grandfather , Fl Lt Tarkowski 605 , 315 and 307 Squadrons sold his WW2 Log Book to Gerald Kochan from The Center For Military Studies in Greenville Texas.

In the spring of 2001 my Grandfather was six months away from death and very ill . It was extremely distressing to see somebody who took such pride in his memory fade before your eyes.What I must say is that his death was relatively quick - we didn't see him deteriorate over years and years.

What shocked us was that we only discovered in 2006 that he had sold his Log Book.My Grandfather would never have done so if he was in complete control of his facilities - my Grandmother pleaded with not to do so and we are at a loss to understand why he did so - to be blunt he was a wealthy man and certainly did not need the money.
Secondly he was a great collector - he never threw anything away and would never have wanted it to leave the family.

As soon as my mother discovered that the Log book was missing ( it took 5 years for her to go through his belongings ....and we've yet to finish doing so !) she contacted Mr Kochan ( via "The Center For Military Studies" ) - she received a definitive "no" to its return.

It has taken another four years for me to discover this ( my mother was very distressed and refused to talk about the episode ) and I must say I am absolutely determined to recover the original Log book .

I note from his internet site http://centerformilitarystudies.org/sitemap.php that my Grandfathers log book does not seem to be in the archive ( which worries me )

Has anybody had any contact with Gerald Kochan or The Center for Military Studies ?

My Grandfather , Fl Lt Tarkowski 605 , 315 and 307 Squadrons sold his WW2 Log Book to Gerald Kochan from The Center For Military Studies in Greenville Texas.

In the spring of 2001 my Grandfather was six months away from death and very ill . It was extremely distressing to see somebody who took such pride in his memory fade before your eyes.What I must say is that his death was relatively quick - we didn't see him deteriorate over years and years.

What shocked us was that we only discovered in 2006 that he had sold his Log Book.My Grandfather would never have done so if he was in complete control of his facilities - my Grandmother pleaded with not to do so and we are at a loss to understand why he did so - to be blunt he was a wealthy man and certainly did not need the money.
Secondly he was a great collector - he never threw anything away and would never have wanted it to leave the family.

As soon as my mother discovered that the Log book was missing ( it took 5 years for her to go through his belongings ....and we've yet to finish doing so !) she contacted Mr Kochan ( via "The Center For Military Studies" ) - she received a definitive "no" to its return.

It has taken another four years for me to discover this ( my mother was very distressed and refused to talk about the episode ) and I must say I am absolutely determined to recover the original Log book .

I note from his internet site http://centerformilitarystudies.org/sitemap.php that my Grandfathers log book does not seem to be in the archive ( which worries me )

Has anybody had any contact with Gerald Kochan or The Center for Military Studies ?