My dad was a tail gunner on the B-24 Lonesome Polecat which flew out of Old Buckenham in England.
Salute to him and all his crew, and all the others like them.
He's told me (finally) about "his" war.
Having watched films like Memphis Belle - there is no comprehending the courage it took to get into those airplanes.
They were unpressurized, flew usually above 25,000 feet with the doors wide open. It was freezing cold and people were shooting at them. My dad says that planes would simply explode and disappear, silently. One second they would be there and the next there would be nothing but a flash of flame and smoke. Others would be hit and spiral down with the men trapped inside, unable to escape because of the centrifugal force. Sometimes people got out, with the aircrews above cheering and counting each little parachute.
It wasn't until relatively late in the war that the Mustangs were able to protect the bomber stream for any great distance. In spite of the "combat box" and all the gunners the fighters attacked sometimes line-abreast and flew right threw the formations - the heavies fell like fluttering leaves. Still they droned on. Over the target the bombadier or later, the toggler, took over the plane and it was committed, flying a direct route through the blistering flak. Wounded planes were attacked by fighters on the long, slow, staggering ride home.
Just mustering above the skies of England was fantastically dangerous. Planes collided in the fog. The casualty rate for the 8th Air Force was greater than for the Marines on the ground.
The story made me swell up. I am a Vietnam Veteran. My father also passed away recently on February 27, 2009. My father had served in the Navy in WWII in the Pacific. He came from a large Mexican-American family and had seven brothers (and just as many sisters), all of whom served in the American armed forces whether WWII or the Korean conflict. All of them were tough as nails and loud and proud Americans who felt that they were taking part in a global war against evilness. I salute your father, God Bless America.
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Wow.
My dad was a tail gunner on the B-24 Lonesome Polecat which flew out of Old Buckenham in England.
Salute to him and all his crew, and all the others like them.
He's told me (finally) about "his" war.
Having watched films like Memphis Belle - there is no comprehending the courage it took to get into those airplanes.
They were unpressurized, flew usually above 25,000 feet with the doors wide open. It was freezing cold and people were shooting at them. My dad says that planes would simply explode and disappear, silently. One second they would be there and the next there would be nothing but a flash of flame and smoke. Others would be hit and spiral down with the men trapped inside, unable to escape because of the centrifugal force. Sometimes people got out, with the aircrews above cheering and counting each little parachute.
It wasn't until relatively late in the war that the Mustangs were able to protect the bomber stream for any great distance. In spite of the "combat box" and all the gunners the fighters attacked sometimes line-abreast and flew right threw the formations - the heavies fell like fluttering leaves. Still they droned on. Over the target the bombadier or later, the toggler, took over the plane and it was committed, flying a direct route through the blistering flak. Wounded planes were attacked by fighters on the long, slow, staggering ride home.
Just mustering above the skies of England was fantastically dangerous. Planes collided in the fog. The casualty rate for the 8th Air Force was greater than for the Marines on the ground.
Salute indeed.
The story made me swell up. I am a Vietnam Veteran. My father also passed away recently on February 27, 2009. My father had served in the Navy in WWII in the Pacific. He came from a large Mexican-American family and had seven brothers (and just as many sisters), all of whom served in the American armed forces whether WWII or the Korean conflict. All of them were tough as nails and loud and proud Americans who felt that they were taking part in a global war against evilness. I salute your father, God Bless America.