“The flak which caused Lt. Halberstadt’s injury, continued on through the side of the Liberator, short-circuiting the electrical system, and finally hit and exploded in the #2 engine, puncturing the oil line. The only instruments left to navigate the ship were the magnetic compass and the altimeter . . .
Sergeant Dancisak, excusing himself from not jumping when ordered, said, ’Someone threw my 'chute straps overboard while we were trying to decrease the plane’s weight. Anyway, if we leave the ship, it means Lt. Halberstadt will have to crash with it. He could never ride a ‘chute in his condition. I’ll stick with the ship, sir."
 courtesy of Michael J. Dancisak, Ph. D Enlarge Photo |  showing aircraft model and serial (tail) number, courtesy of Michael J. Dancisak, Ph. D
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Sergeant Kiefer also was apologetic about not obeying orders. Explaining
himself he said, ‘The interphone was out when the pilot first told us to jump,
and I thought we might run into some enemy fighters. Someone had to stay and
help out a little.’
Sergeant Dancisak gave first aid to Lt. Halberstadt. ‘The lieutenant kept conscious all the way back. He even gave us a heading that helped us find our way. We still don’ t know how he did it because he lost a lot of blood. I guess he wants to get back and see that kid of his that he’s never seen’ The pilot (Laszewski) said that the trip back seemed long and tedious. ‘We couldn’t seem to get up any air speed and we had a long way to go.’"
Halberstatd recovered in a field hospital, although his injuries necessitated the amputation of three fingers.