Posted on 11/23/2016 1:20:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
World War II veteran Francis Robert "Frank" Royal made a fateful trip to the National Museum of World War II Aviation in Colorado Springs.
"Having had a life long interest in flying, I had to come see what they had," he told Fox 31.
Royal served as a squadron commander of the 39th Pursuit Squadron, 5th Army Air Corps in Papua New Guinea. He flew the P-38 Lockheed Lightning in combat. The Germans called it the fork-tailed devil, "It was a real godsend. From a pilot's standpoint it was great," Royal said.
So there it was, in the museum. A P-38 just like the one Royal flew in combat.
But then, something very special happened. Against all odds Royal realized that he was once again reunited with the very plane he flew in New Guinea. "It was quite a thrill."
The plane eventually was fully restored, with the original markings still in place, White 33. The fighter once again took to the blue at the Colorado Springs Airport. This time Royal was in a chase plane, flying alongside as a passenger.
After the flight, Royal said he has one more mission to go, "I'm going on my last flight. As of last week I've been put in hospice."
At 101-years-old and a widower, Royal said he missed his wife Norene and the men he flew with who never made it back.
On Saturday, with son Randy holding his hand, Frank Royal slipped the surly bonds of earth, "He's back there with all his old pilot buddies swapping stories and talking about lost times," Randy said.
On Nov. 19, 2016, Frank Royal traded one set of wings for another.
Nice story. Interesting theology though.
People living in glass houses... you know.
Beautiful story. My uncle was a waist gunner in a B-24 in North Africa and Italy during the war. I offered many times to take him up again in a B-24, but he always said he’d pressed his luck enough during the war. He never flew again in any kind of plane—not even a passenger plane.
Huh?
I love to read stories like this! Thank you for posting.
May God’s Holy Angels escort him to Paradise...
A true hero.
We will not see his like again
Rest in peace World War II veteran Francis Robert "Frank" Royal
My uncle in law flew p38s over Germany, he was a brit. Great plane. Fast as hell and lotsa guns. Germans did not like these planes.
Something similar happened to my dad. He flew a KC-97 Stratofreighter in the Texas Air National Guard. When he visited the USAF museum in Dayton, he realized the plane there was one of the ones he flew back then.
That’s a beautiful thing.
God’s speed warrior. You are now home again. Your brethren airman are there with you. I hope they have whiskey in Heaven.
Rest in peace Mr. Royal. Thank you for my freedom.
Interesting story, thanks for posting. My late Father was a bombardier in a B-24 with the 5th Army Air Corps in Papua New Guinea. He would have been 99 years-old this year. He always wanted to go back and visit New Guinea and was planning a trip there when he passed away in 1988.
The P-38 wss my favorite model to build back in the day. I must have assembled half a dozen of those “Black Widows”.
Mean looking -
Awesome video, thank-you!
I have a deep affection for these old ww2 vets since my grand dad was also one. He served in BOTH ww1 and 2.
That’s really neat that the old man was able to take one last ride in ‘his’ plane.
One of the biggest mistakes of World War II, in my opinion, was the decision to transfer the P-38’s to the North African front instead of keeping them for bomber escort duties throughout 1943. Had the P-38 been available for bomber escort duty throughout 1943, we wouldn’t have suffered grievous losses of B-17’s during the Schweinfurt raids.
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