When men were men.. the greatest generation !!
When men were men.. the greatest generation !! ............... Nope, when boys became men in their mid to late teens. We had 16 yr. olds using their older brother’s birth certificates. May a couple even younger got away with it. (There was a young teen kid in the Navy, that made the headlines back then.)
I lost a cousin, before I was born, who was a waist gunner. He is buried in Belgium.
Correction: My cousin is buried in the Netherlands. His plane was shot down over Munster, Germany. Only the 2 waist-gunners were killed; tge surviving crew members were taken as prisoners. Charles had just turned 20.
I knew a guy that had a photo album filled with photos of nose art on a lot of the bombers...photos that he took. The album also contained a safety pin from a bomb from each of his forty-some missions. He enlisted at 17.
My husband’s only maternal Uncle died in Switzerland after they got hit over Germany. Talked with other WW2 Vets who said just surviving the Bomber TAKE OFFS was a major fete, also.
Yet victory has its own tests, and few are victorious over prosperity. The progressively liberal post WW2 generations have produced a country - including its Woklitary - that almost begs to be conquered. .
My Dad was part of the B-17 ground crew for 8th Air Force - They were the first troops in England. He told me a few stories about pulling the wounded or dead crew out of the wrecked planes. He had nightmares for many years...