LIEUTENANT BOB'S STORY OF BOMBERS TO BEANS
What do harrowing B-24 missions over the Pacific during WW2, Costa Rican coffee farms and Freedom Hill Coffee Roasters have in common? Lieutenant Robert Gallegos.
Lieutenant Gallegos was the son of Guillermo Gallegos, who as a young man left Costa Rica in the 1920's to study dentistry in Chicago. While there he met a midwestern beauty and they decided to get married, settle down and raise Lieutenant Robert Gallegos (Bob) and his siblings in America. In December 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, young Bob was a student at Notre Dame. One night in the dorms, Bob and his girlfriend each invited a friend along on a double date. Unexpectedly, Bob ended up liking his girlfriend's friend Jan even more, and from then on he knew Jan was the one for him. They were engaged soon after, and by the end of 1942 like countless brave men of the Greatest Generation, Bob was enlisted in the Army Air Corps and on his way to learn to fly the B-24 Liberator. He would go on to serve until the war was over, with Jan anxiously awaiting his return so they could start the rest of their lives together.
Lieutenant Robert Gallegos served in WW2, flying over 40 bombardment missions over the Philippines, Japan and China.
A B-24 Liberator flies during WW2.
In the Pacific the B-24 and work of the 7th Army Air Force was instrumental in softening Japanese defenses ahead of ground force invasions and destroying enemy supplies and manufacturing capabilities. In January 1945 on his 13th of what would turn out to be over 40 combat missions, Lieutenant Bob was written up in the 7 AAF paper for a close call on a bombing run. "While his 7th AAF Liberator bomber was successfully hitting enemy supply dumps at Bamban in the Philippines, the Chicago co-pilot had his head out of the window watching the flak bursts and bomb hits. Just as one shell burst very close to the bomber, he ducked inside and closed the window. "Too close for comfort," he said. Ten seconds later a jagged piece of steel made a clean hole through the glass and chipped a hunk of metal off the armor plate between Gallegos and his pilot. Had Lieutenant Gallegos still been looking out of the window the shrapnel surely would have hit him in the face." Thankfully, Lieutenant Gallegos survived enough missions to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and make it home to his fiancé Jan. It had been more than 2 years since they'd last seen each other.
Lieutenant Robert Gallegos puts his finger in the hole in his B-24 bomber, damage caused by flak from anti-aircraft fire over the Pacific. The skies were notoriously filled with the black clouds left by the AAF, commonly described as "flak so thick you could get out and walk on it".
Like many Veterans after their service, Bob and his young wife were looking for their place in the world. With family still in Costa Rica, he had an offer to travel there and work with his uncle in the family coffee business. At first things went great. There was a new adventure in meeting distant cousins for the first time, learning Spanish, trying new foods and the cold Chicago winters were a thing of the past. Still, it was hard being so far from home. Bob and Jan made friends with other American ex-pats living in Costa Rica and they'd get together often to talk and to catch up on news back home. One day at dinner Bob's uncle asked him to stop hanging around Americans. He wanted Bob to make more of an effort to make friends with his cousins and other Costa Ricans their age. What happened next isn't clear. It may have been free American spirit, Chicago attitude or three years dodging Japanese anti aircraft fire in a model of aircraft nicknamed, "The Flying Coffin," but young Bob was not having it. Sharp words were exchanged, chairs went flying and punches were traded. Bob and Jan were headed back to the states not long after and that was the end of their stint in the coffee industry.
Bob and Jan Gallegos wedding photo from November 8th, 1945
About 70 years later, coffee made its way back into the American side of the Gallegos family tree. Lieutenant Bob and Jan Gallegos had 9 grandchildren. One of them, Jill, just so happened to marry an Army veteran, Scott. Years into their marriage, Scott, too found himself looking to get into the coffee business. Together, Jill and Scott started Freedom Hill Coffee Roasters and without Freedom Hill Jill, there would be no Freedom Hill Coffee Roasters.
Bob and his granddaughter Jill
So this August, to celebrate the 79th anniversary of Victory over Japan, Lieutenant Bob making it home in one piece from WW2 and his adventures to Costa Rica and back, we're dedicating this month's EXCEPTIONAL Roaster's Reserve Costa Rican selection to him.
This month's Roaster's Reserve coffee is from the smallest lot of coffee we've ever sourced. The Cumbres del Poas micro mill is located in Sabanillia de Alajuela in the Central Valley region of Costa Rica. They were one of the first pioneers of high-quality honey and natural process coffees in Central America back in 2009 when they started experimenting with special processes. Water use at the mill is minimal, since their coffees do not undergo the washed process. During the harvest of their coffees they will measure the brix content in the coffee cherries to determine the best time to pick their coffees to obtain the utmost sweet and fruit forward profile. This is a must try coffee. Get some while you can, supply is limited.
Shop Roaster's Reserve here.
