A Veterans Day Email

[skeetbum]

I received this from a good friend who is retired Air Force. Bill was in C-130's in Viet Nam among other assignments. This has a history that goes back further into WWII. As we age we remember the stories we heard from the Dad's and Uncles and such about this conflict. The younger folks never had these chances, and we should pass these stories on. We should never forget. Folks think of 9/11 when they hear that, but there is so much more. God Bless all of our servicemen. Those still with us and those that have already gone Home. Thank You for all you have done and will do for those of us you'll never meet. It means the world to me.......Skeet



> Subject: FW: VETERAN'S DAY---MEMORIES FROM WW II
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> Can you imagine having to trust today’s young men (and women) to perform these type things? I have no doubt that some would come forward, but not nearly enough to preserve our freedoms.
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> I'm going to have dinner with some of my friends on Veterans Day, as alway I will enjoy being amongst so many Hero's! The Greatest Generation!!!
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> The original author of the diary was not included in the email sent to me. Memories from the diary of a B-24 pilot during World War II.
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> Veterans Day Holiday Wednesday is Veterans Day and is a Federal holiday. While we all enjoy an extra day off from work it is important that we not lose sight of why our nation celebrates Veterans Day.
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> Last week we were going through my Dad’s military box looking for a picture of him for the Chronicle Veterans Day publication. In the box was a 1944 diary he kept during his 50 missions piloting a B 24 liberator bomber. I have shared a few of his entries below.
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> I have to remind myself that in 1944 my dad was just 23 years old. He was one of thousands of Montana farm and ranch kids who were called to defend the world from the relentless march of Nazi Germany. In his case he was recruited from the ranch, given 6 weeks of basic training, then 40 hours of flight training. Then along with 10 other crew members he climbed into a newly built 4 engine bomber and soared into the sky to fly alone over the ocean to a home base in Italy. My dad was the pilot and head of the crew at his young age. The crew included a copilot, bombardier, engineer, navigator, radio operator, gunners in the front, bottom and top turrets, tail gunner and two waist gunners. At 23 he was the oldest member of his crew.
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> At the beginning of world war II the air crews were required to complete 35 missions. By 1944 so many crews had been shot down and couldn’t be replaced that the number of required missions was increased to 50. Statistically a third of all allied airplanes were shot down each mission so the odds of completing 50 missions were extremely low.
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> My dad’s diary did make me think about what a 23 year old today would answer if asked, “how was your summer?” Or when someone is asked in a job interview, “what was your biggest challenge in life and how did you handle it.” I wonder how the veterans mentioned in his diary, or for that matter veterans from all our conflicts, would respond.
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> When my 94 year old dad’s weathered fingers were turning the pages of his re-discovered diary last week he got a bit teary eyed. I suppose he was thinking not only of his lost youth in the skies above Europe, but also his young comrades who never came home. I think that is why all Veterans hold Veterans Day so sacred. They know about the commitment and sacrifices made in the sky and on the oceans, on the beaches of France and in the forests of Germany, on small atolls in the Pacific, throughout the jungles of Asia and in the sands of the middle east. That is why the rest of us need to remember that those sacrifices are why we enjoy our freedoms and lives we live today.
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> Veterans Day shouldn’t ever be viewed as just another day off. Let’s remember and honor those veterans who didn’t make it home and especially those who came home but have the scars and memories of war and service. If you see a Veteran on the street next Wednesday, please make it a point to shake his or her hand and say, “thank you for your service.”
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> May 11, 1944 Wiener Neustadt, Austria
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> Mission carried out by 484th bomb group to date. Flak extremely heavy, intense, accurate. Ships ahead of us, on our right and on our left shot down and left us as a single plane. Hydraulic system shot out. Landed with no brakes. Large hole in left rudder, large hole in left aileron. All scared but no casualties. 48 missions to go.
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> May 25 1944 Sagreb Yugoslavia
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> Flack heavy to our left and in front. Made a 360 degree turn over target with weather too bad to locate target. P 38 fighter escort ran low on gas and started for home. 461st bomb group made run on target without fighter escort and lost two planes and wounded 12 men when jumped by German 109 fighters. Earned Air Medal today. 43 to go.
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> May 29, 1944
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> Assigned to Wiern Neustadt, Austria but had to turn back when lost oil in number 3 engine. Had to feather. Dumped our bombs off of coast of Yugoslavia and accidently set off German minefield and exploded 30 to 50 mines. No mission credit since we didn’t drop on target.
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> May 31, 1944 Ploesti Rumania
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> Hit oil refinery on edge of Ploesti. Flak extremely heavy. B-17 pilot with 35 missions said there was more flak than all his missions put together. Hit target and oil spouted flames up to 18,000 feet. Four squadrons lost two planes apiece that we know of. Two planes made it to home field but were too shot up to land. Everyone bailed out. Copilot of one jumped with unconscious engineer and pulled his rip cord then pulled his own. We were lucky as usual and only got one little hole in Aileron. Getting used to flack cause we get it on all raids but we are darn lucky, so I guess we will make it. This life is doggone hard on your nerves. 40 to go.
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> June 8, 1944 Nice France
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> R.R. bridge on Ventimiglia above Nice. Very heavy flak. High explosive shells. We got hit in number 3 engine and oil line shot out. Landed at Corsica Island for temporary repairs. No one hurt in the crew. Came home and tent all ripped down and clothes burned because of a haystack fire close by. 37 to go.
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> June 14, 1944 Munich Germany.
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> Supposed to bomb airplane factory but never got the chance. Half the group turned back leaving only 9 planes in first attack unit. Flak extremely heavy and we got jumped by 30 or 40 fighter planes. We are sure of shooting down 4. That makes 7 planes we shot down in the last 2 raids. The Germans are getting mad and sending up fighters. Six B-24’s’ missing today and 5 the last raid. Only 12 crews left so we have to fly almost every day. 35 missions to go.
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> June 22, 1944
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> Bombed Pola Submarine base in Yugoslavia. No casualties but bombardier hit between the eyes with flak leaving only a bruise. 33 to go.
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> July 8, 1944 Vienna Austria
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> Second most heavily defended area in the world. Flak very intense. Our target was oil storage tanks and we got no hits. I counted 16 parachutes about 10 miles from target. I think they came from three separate ships. 28 to go.
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> July 12 Nice France
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> Flak fairly accurate and heavy. Hit target very well. Came home on three engines. Every time I have flown to France I have come home on three engines. 26 to go.
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> July 18, 1944 Fredrichshvean, Germany
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> Bombed Dornier aircraft factory. Did a good job. Right on Swiss border. Might have gotten into Switzerland a quarter of a mile accidentally. Flak heavy and accurate. Got a couple of small holes. 466th bomb group lost 12 out of 22 ships to fighters. 20 to go.
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> July 20, 1944 Munich Germany
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> Flew behind lead ship of group. Pilot of ship on our left got hit in hip with flak. Lead ship got controls shot away and bombardiers leg broken by flak. Ship on right got hit in gas tanks by flak. Our bombardier hit in face and shoulder by flak. All ships hit at same time. One, two and three lead ships fell out of formation so we led the group out of flak. Came closest today to being shot down than any other time. This is second time ships ahead and on our wings have been knocked down leaving us up there alone. Bombardier not too badly hit but suffered a little shock. He gets an Oak Leaf Cluster to go with his purple heart. 18 to go.
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> July 28 Ploesti Romania
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> Rough Mission but we went around the target cause we got in prop wash and lost two turbo’s. I was sure glad we didn’t go through all that flak. Saw one plane explode ahead of us so completely there was hardly anything left. Never was so scared in my entire life. Saw many ships cracked up on the ground all along the route home. 16 to go.
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> July 30 Budapest Hungary
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> Rough mission and I’ll be doggone if I don’t get so scared its pitiful. Bombardier lay on the floor and covered himself up with metal flack suits and navigators knees gave out on him over target and he can’t look out any more. Crew now never looks out to see where bombs hit. I guess 50 missions is about enough. 15 to go.
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> August 3, 1944 Avignon, France
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> Bombed bridge. Lost one engine on bomb run and second lost almost all oil pressure coming off target. Had everything ready to throw out in case we lost too much altitude. Made Corsica ok and left our plane there. Needs two new engines. At camp someone said we were last seen heading for Spain so all the enlisted men’s pistols and jackets were taken. They got them all back from some embarrassed boys. We got a new plane. This makes our fourth. The name of it is the “Flaming Mamie.” All of its crew finished 50 missions except its pilot who was shot down in another plane and is probably a POW. 14 to go.
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> August 11, 1944 Ploesti, Romania
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> Hit a very rough target. Flak heavy, accurate and intense. Flak hit flight deck, top turret and a piece about 4 inches long wrecked the tail turret. No one hurt. We dropped back after we dropped bombs and it’s a good thing or we would have been shot down cause flak started bursting where we should have been and there were about 20 birds there. 12 to go.
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> August 15, 1944 Fretua, France
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> Supported invasion this morning by bombing beach. Saw hundreds of boats and troops landing. 5 minutes after we hit the beach the infantry hit it. Big show with lots of planes and boats. They also landed paratroops inland when we were bombing. 9 to go.
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> August 21, 1944 Vienna Austria
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> Roughest Raid since my first one. Hit by 30 or 40 fighters and lost one plane piloted by my old copilot on his last mission. Flak was extremely heavy but we dropped bombs and went around it the best we could. Fighter planes laid for us all the way home and flew around us until we sighted the coast of Italy. Hope I never have another mission like today. Too rough. My nerves are getting too shot. Can’t sleep much at night. Flew a couple of new gunners with my crew today to break them in. They’re broke in! 4 to go.
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> September 1, 1944 Ferrara Italy
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> Returned bombs to base due to cloud coverage over target. Group separated in a cloud over fighter territory so I stayed with my box leader. We were the only two ships together so the fighters left us alone cause there were lots of single plane up there. Another new crew broke in on a very rough mission. Hit by flak. Mission 50 – FINITO-
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[Gobob]

Thanks for sharing wish I would have recorded my Father in law telling me about his tours. He was on the ground walked acrossed Germany 3 times Purple Heart Silver Cross. Great Man
Thanks to all the Vets young and long gone

[riptide]

A few years back, there was a weekend where they celebrated the recipients of the Medal of Honor in Gainesville, Texas. That Friday night a dinner was held to kick off the weekend. During that dinner, a huge cake was brought out to celebrate the 100th birthday of John Finn. Finn was a Navy veteran who served at Pearl Harbor on that fateful December day. His quiet demeanor spoke volumes when he smiled as that cake came out. It was a fun night listening to him talk and conversing with the other veterans at the table. Laughs were shared and rival service jokes abounded. Especially when the organizers put together a table composed of Sailors and Marines.

This Marine will never forget the story of where John Finn rushed back on base that day to do what he could to fend off that attack. He took machine guns and placed them on training racks to fire upon enemy Zeros firing on the base. The pilots of those Japanese planes strafed him numerous times. Yet he continued doing what he did even injured. His was only one of so many indelible stories of courage. May we never forget those stories of sacrifice, courage, and bravery in the face of the flames.

God Bless our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard

Fred, USMC

[Hanr3]

There are still men out there who wish to do us harm, daily.

We ARE the strongest fighting force in the world. Make no mistake about it. While we may joke within the branches, as team USA we are fierce. Our enemy knows this and fear us.

Semper FI to my brothers-in-arms, all branches. I salute you

[shipahoy41]