My dad was a B-24 nose gunner, but was injured in training -— bailed out of a burning B-24 over Harlingen, Texas and got a double hernia. Spent the rest of the war as a clerk-typist for the 420th Base Operations Company at March Army Air Field in California.
The USAAF got ‘war weary’ aircraft back from overseas and used them to train new crews. The rooky pilots exceeded the limits for the engines and they caught fire. This happened twice to my dad. The first time he bailed out, the 2nd time he decided to ride the plane down when the pilot gave the crew the option of jumping or landing with him. Dad’s double hernia was found during his final pre-deployment physical for the Southwest Pacific in early 1944. And to quote him the hernia “was found after I had received all my shots!”
Real similar story to Jack Palance...