Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Day of Infamy

Got to do a post for thw WWII generation, to my Dad who was on the USS Cibou and my Uncle who flew the mighty B-29 both served in the Pacific... glad my Dad got back as I was born after the war , and well!

The greatest generation.

I got a chance to walk thru a B-17 and a B-24 about a month ago. It must have been like flying a box full of hangers and coffee cans. When the bomb bay doors were open on the B-24, to get from front to back you walked along a 10 inch wide cat walk with nothing below you but planet Earth for about 24 feet.

I was talking to crew of the B-17. This thing was completely open to everything. They'd fly at 30,000 ft + wearing leather jackets. It gets 30 degrees below zero at 30,000 feet. Not to mention high velocity air blasting through the aircraft. A wind chill of a million below everything. I dress warmer than that when it's 30 degrees. Just flying a mission was an amazing hardship.

I lost my flying status after losing a canopy seal and blowing out my eardrums. A frickin' canopy seal! I felt like such a puss compared to these guys. They were warriors. They signed up for 25 missions. The Memphis Belle (piloted by Asheville's Robert Morgan) was the first to actually complete 25 missions and they were rock stars JUST FOR BEING ALIVE).

Gawd Almighty those guys were warriors.

My dad flew in the Pacific and I lost two uncles I never met. Although I do have an older sister born in occupation Japan. That generation was just ass kick, they will (are) be missed.

At the link there is an article with photos of WWII warrior art, mostly A-2 flight jackets, unfortunately my father's with a "blood chit" painted on the back was stolen out of my locker in HS. Also, note that gremlin bells didn't first appear on bikes.

enjoy,

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/wwii-war-paint-how-bomber-jacket-art-emboldened-our-boys/

Yeah, it was Pearl Harbor day. God love our soldiers, and vets.

Amen to that. God Bless America.

I asked a lot of people what happened on 12-7 but most were unable to tell me. That always amazes me.

My dad served in the Navy from Jan. of 1941 until 1946 (and his two younger brothers also served in the Navy during WWII). I took him on the honor flight to Washington D.C. (his one surviving brother also went) on June 5th of this year which was one of the greatest experiences of my life (I felt an amazing sense of pride being around him and about 95 other (mostly WWII / and some Korean War) heroes as we visited the memorials. Unfortunately, Dad passed away at the age of 92 from surgery complications on Oct. 31st... sigh. He was 48 years old when i was born, so he was the age of many of my friends' grandfathers... which provided a unique father/son relationship for me due to the life experiences he was able to share with me.

This is from my Uncle Joes obituary I found a google yesterday when I was looking to see if I could find anything about his service online. He was Dr Joseph Humbert.

During World War II, he was a lieutenant commander in the Navy, serving two tours of duty in the South Pacific. He volunteered with the Marine Raiders and participated in the invasion of Bouganville.

We had the B-17 and the B-24 visit our local airport about a month ago and the b-17 pilot and two paramedics escorted a man through the plane. He had flown over Europe as a flight engineer and wanted to sit in his old seat one more time. One of my close friends was a front turret gunner in a B-24 flying out of Italy. When I asked how close he was to his 25th mission he was when he was shot down over Poland, he told me he knows he flew over 35 missions. He claimed the 25 mission deal was late war to bring crews back to the US for bond drives and public relations tours!

My Dad was a navigator in the Halifax bombers from 1940--1946.
Can't imagine what it must be like to see people who you were drinking with the night before, getting shot down, in front of your eyes, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Indeed. Great generation. My Dad was in Okinawa (sp?) when the aircraft carrier he was on was hit by two kamakaze's. I never got tired of hearing his stories and am doing my best to keep telling them to his grandson....

I wish I knew more about my Uncle Joes service, 2 tours in the South Pacific, I'm sure he must have had stories but I didn't even know he served until after his death.
just found this vid of the invasion he volunteered for.
Bouganville