Remembering One Vet – My Father.

[Larry124]

My father passed away on 9 October, one day shy of what would have been his 88th birthday.

After Pearl Harbor he joined the USN and was selected for flight school. He wanted to be a carrier pilot. During training he tipped a Stearman 75 biplane up onto its nose on landing. That was a “one strike and you’re out” wash-out. Forty years later I gave him a framed picture of two of his grandchildren standing in front of a restored Stearman at an air show. As children each year he would take my brother and I to the Philadelphia Naval Base for the Armed Forces Day Open House.

He transferred to the USAAF and was commissioned as a 1st Lt. Bombardier-Navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress. He always complained that in England his unit got the middle version B-17’s -- without the chin turret and in which bombardier & navigator were a one man job.
He flew 29 combat missions over Europe including those in the Battle of the Bulge. He always got mad at news stories that the USAAF was grounded at the beginning of the battle. He said: “We were up there, we just couldn’t see through the clouds to find a target!” At that point in the war the orders were that if you couldn’t find a target you were to return to England with the bombs aboard. Not fun. He was awarded the Air Medal.

After VE Day he was reassigned to the States and was being retrained for B-29’s on VJ Day.

About forty years later he saw a restored B-17 in flight on route to an air show at the Willow Grove (PA) NAS.

He had a WWII Vet automobile license plate. He (accompanied by my son) was a guest of former Senator Bob Dole at the dedication of the WWII Memorial in Washington DC.

His best friend was my uncle, still kicking at age 92 and a veteran tanker of Patton’s 3rd Army.

The USAF sent an E-4 and E-5 to his funeral. Not many men are recognized as veterans of three of the five armed services. I have the flag.

God bless the Veterans of that Greatest Generation -- and all those who followed.

[george7]

I tip my hat to heroes like your father. My father is my war hero as well, though he fought in a much later conflict.

[BruceK]

Larry:

Very moving tribute. My father served in the Navy during WW2 and was on a destroyer off of Okinawa. He never talked about it and I never thought to ask. He passed away in his sleep on his 68th birthday. I miss him greatly...

Bruce

[Riverkilt]

Aye, a fine story of the Greatest Generation. As mentioned on another thread I wore a replica of my father's AAC uniform in our local parade. He was at Dieppe in a Hurricane as a Flying Sgt in the RAF and was shot down in a P-39 at Kassarine after making multiple passes at an Afrika Corps convoy trying to stem the tide. Amazing when you think about the reality of what they survived.

Ron

[Pleater]

My Dad was RAF aircrew - and it is amazing that so many came back as when the squadron was set to go on a mission last minute hitches, leaks or blown out pressure sensitive disks, were fixed with chewing gum, string, wire or pennies, hurridly removed when (if) the plane got back.

When sharing airfields with other squadrons, even American forces he was sent over to get their problem engines started - he had a natural apptitude for fault finding - almost supernatural.

Around our neighbourhood, when a car wouldn't start one of the bystanders would be sent to ask Dad if he could come and sort it out.

I can do it sometimes - so can my sister. It just seems so obvious.

I suspect that WWII was the best time of DAD's life. In later years he was never happier than when working on cars or TVs - or anything else really - toasters, tape recorders, hair dryers - he never fired a shot in anger but he did keep aircraft flying.

Anne the Pleater

[Jock Scot]

Pleater,Larry,Ron and all, I just love the day to day snippets of stories about those times. Somehow these stories make those dire times much more human in such an inhuman time. Thank you.

[LANCER1562]

My uncle on my mom's side served in Air Force during WWII as a navagator on B-17s and B-29s. His favorite "horror stories" that he liked to tell were when he had to land a B-29 on an aircraft carrier while it was under way at night in high seas with no lights. Talk about you "pucker factors". His other favorite story was about volunteering for Wild Bill Donovan's Office of Strategic Services when he was 42 years old thinking he was too old to be accepted. His last tour of duty before retiring as a Lt. Col. was as navagator on a modified DC-3 chasing hurricanes.