- Joined
- Dec 4, 2004
America's Greatest Generation
He lost his crew on his last mission.....my uncle, a B17 Pilot, lost his navigator due to flak....it was very hard on him as it was his best friend....
Now George is back with his crew....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ILB8gXAu0c
I did not know he lost his crew, and I am also sorry for your uncle:sad21:
My father in law was a career Navy pilot. He started out as an enlisted man in. WWII doing whatever enlisted men do in planes, he was shot down over the Pacific, they flew a battered plane from island to island until they reached Australia. As a "reward" for surviving, the Navy took him off the forward lines and sent him to flight school. He died with the bullets still in his back, they could not be removed.
War is hell.
Thank you for your thoughts and feelings. Uncle Howard was shot down over Austria but his whole crew survived the POW Camps and he did just fine after the war.
Very interesting story about your father in law. If you would like, PM me as much of his history as you care to share. Enlisted men might be flight crew...a rear gunner, perhaps...or into aircraft maintenance, bomb loading, refueling, etc.
War IS Hell. But family and US Military History needs to be preserved if one is from the US.
May he rest in peace, and may his family rejoice in his being reunited with their matriarch.
Thank you Chris, I asked spousal unit, and he said Father-in-Law was a “radioman” before he went to flight school. That’s how he ended up shot, because the radio equipment was near the fusillage in the back of the plane? FIL actually did write it all down and gave talks in schools in his later years. As my spousal unit is a lifetime academic in the humanities, no one would expect him to know so much about the military. But he “served” 18 years.
You are right that all history should be preserved:agree:
I can see Barbara grinning from ear to ear with arms wide open waiting for her man!!
I was so touched when I saw George W. fighting back the tears.
Thank you Chris, I asked spousal unit, and he said Father-in-Law was a “radioman” before he went to flight school. That’s how he ended up shot, because the radio equipment was near the fusillage in the back of the plane? FIL actually did write it all down and gave talks in schools in his later years. As my spousal unit is a lifetime academic in the humanities, no one would expect him to know so much about the military. But he “served” 18 years.
You are right that all history should be preserved:agree:
The TBM Avenger, the same plane Bush flew, is the only Navy plane of the period that was a carrier plane that had a radioman in back. A number had gunners. Hope your family has the history well preserved...I take our family's history and give it to WWII Air Force Historians to put on websites and Web pages. It helps to digitize any pics and docs and spread them around to family members.
Those are good ideas; now I need to find the written speeches, since they are put in a “safe place”, and Like alll safe places, I need to remember it and I don’t know the plane or the ship. I do know his last posting, at Pax River (Patuxent NS, Maryland) he was a test pilot and not allowed to say anything about the planes
And back to 41, a very touching service today. And I loved the photos of “Sully” the service dog earlier this week; rthey brought a tear to my eye.