Worked for an old colonel who was an enlisted waist gunner in one when I first went into the AF. He said he an his other gunners may have shot up more of their own planes than the enemies....
We need to take time for these men who did the impossible with very little. Listen if they will share their history.
We owe such time an respect to each generation of veterans IMO.
Stay safe !
My Dad always told me the same thing. He was a waist gunner flying out from a base in England. He spent many hours telling me all about his experiences, showing me his photographs and educating me on WWII. Once, I took him to the local airport to see a 17 that was there on display. After waiting on line for a while, it was our turn to get up inside and it was as though my Dad had been transported back in time. You could see by the ease of his climb that he was repeating a move that had become second nature to him. Once inside, he started to describe how cold the plane was inside during their flights and how scary walking the narrow catwalk could be. I tend to forget that these soldiers were barely men! He
walked to the midsection and took his place in front of the disabled machine gun and began describing how in the beginning, many gunners shot their own wings. It was at that moment I realized that everyone on the plane with us had stopped moving and was completely absorbed by what he was saying. They began asking him questions and he began answering them; happily and proudly.
I will never forget that day and I am so grateful it happened. He died later that year and I am now the proud keeper of all of his photographs,
keepsakes and medals. Whenever I hear the liberal revisionist version of WWII history, I’m glad my Dad isn’t there hearing it. What an insult it is to the brave men (and women) from that era.