Bert Kamps was born on May 2, 1923, as the third child of six to Egbert Kamps and Della Heun Kamps in Strasburg, North Dakota. He survived all his siblings, Ethel, Clarence, Eddie, Helen and Margie, as well as his wife Hattie by 16 months. He was married to Hattie for 63 years. Bert was 95 1/2 years old when he died peacefully on Jan. 10, 2019, at his daughter’s home in Sequim, where he spent the last nine months of his life. He will now spend eternity in Heaven!
Bert grew up on the prairies of North Dakota during the Depression. His family moved west in autumn 1936, looking for work and a better life. They settled in Sumas, Washington. Bert graduated from Lynden High School in 1941.
He worked for a short while as a riveter at Boeing in Seattle, then headed north to Alaska. His quest for adventure and to see the world had begun. He worked on a government survey crew in the Yukon Territory for a railroad that was never built.
That government work excluded him from the draft, but after World War II began Bert wanted to serve his country and joined the Army Air Corps in 1942. Bert was trained as a B-29 radar observer in Bomber Crew 60, 73rd Wing, 499th Bomb Group, 879th Bomber Squadron. He flew 33 “official” missions from Saipan over Japan. On Aug. 28, 1945, Bert flew his final “unofficial” mission after Japan had surrendered. This was his journal entry from that day: “We loaded a number of 50-gallon drums with food and clothing and hung them in our bomb racks. Parachutes were attached to the welded hooks. We flew low over Yawata until we saw the big ‘PW’ on a roof. We buzzed it at tree top level, and suddenly everyone was outside, waving and jumping up and down. We climbed a little, swung back, and dropped the drums right over the barracks. A few of them went right through the roof. The chutes pulled the welded hooks off and the drums plummeted down like bombs. On our last trip we were very accurate! We buzzed the camp again. The men were clustered around the drums like children, deliriously waving and dancing. Someone was on the roof waving an American flag. It had been a long wait for them. We dipped our wings in salute, and headed back. Maybe some of the prisoners were captured flyers. We were one happy crew. What a wonderful way to end it all.”
Bert kept a journal throughout the war and his great adventures. On April 20 and 26, 1945, during the flights of 12-plus hours from Tinian to Japan and back, there was no flak. He wrote, “And sometimes, when you have nothing to do, you should try writing a poem. I know nothing about poetry, but here goes: Flak Alley.” After Bert retired, he and Hattie visited a former crew member, William Royster, and Bert shared his war journals with him and Royster turned Bert’s original Flak Alley poem in to what is now the International War Veterans Poetry Archives.
When the war ended and Bert returned to Lynden to visit his mother and sisters, “…. the Chevrolet dealer in Lynden offered me one of the first new 1946 Chevrolets available — for about $1,700. The waiting list was very long, so I really appreciated this gesture. My war bonds would just about cover this cost.” He then moved to Seattle and attended the University of Washington, taking a year off to explore South America. He graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and lifelong friends that he met multiple times a year for over 50 years! After graduation, he headed for Sweden and a bicycle trip through Europe. In 1953 Bert went to Alaska to work, and there he met Hattie Barr, whom he married in 1954 in Kelso, Washington. Bert earned a Masters in International Relations degree from the University of Southern California in 1959.
Bert and Hattie had four children, the two oldest daughters born in Alaska prior to statehood, and they eventually settled in Edmonds and then Richmond Beach, Washington, where they lived in their home for 50 years. Bert enjoyed travel, adventure, writing, folk dancing, skiing, hiking, fiddle music and horseback riding. Bert and Hattie believed in helping others and over the years volunteered at church, counseled prisoners at Monroe Correctional Complex, drove vans for Northwest Harvest, made pies on Thanksgiving for the Union Gospel Mission, and hosted women who needed temporary shelter.
He is survived by his four children, Janet, Ronald and two other daughters; and six grandchildren, Hannah, Ben, Amelia, Peter, Rachel and Alexander.
The family held a graveside service in Monumenta Cemetery of Lynden on Saturday, Jan. 19, which included a VFW Honor Guard. The forecast had 80 percent chance of rain for the gravesite. The family prayed all week that the rain would hold off. That morning, it was only broken clouds and no rain during the service. At the end, a rainbow appeared to the north. After the service, it began pouring rain.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, in Faith Community Church of Edmonds.
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