Mr Roper was a tail gunner on a B-25 Mitchell in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Credited with two kills over Japanese fighters while serving as a gunner on B-24 “Liberator” bomber aircraft in the Fifth Air Force (Pacific Theater) during WWII.
Based on his TV Show persona, one would never have thought the Mr. Roper character came from such an adventurous background. On the show, I often got him confused with the crabby, jittery character played by Don Knotts.
A man was telling his co-worker one day that the company was transferring him to Chicago. He explained that he was going to quit before he had to move there.
When asked why, he replied that he was just too afraid of all the crime even though he would be passing up a big salary increase and greater benefits.
His co-worker said he should reconsider. Chicago was a magnificent city, with world class museums, loaded with a great history, sites, good public transportation, etc.
Then he said: “Why I myself worked in Chicago for almost 15 years, and in all that time I never ever had a problem with crime while I was working.”
The first asked “What did you do there?”
To which the other replied, “I was tail-gunner on a bread truck.”
wow. He was a hero. Brave man who stood up for our country. Thank you for bringing this up.