Oct. 7, 1944:
We Bombed Politz Today. All Three Ships In The Lead Element Were Shot Down Over The Target. Colonel Luper, Our Group Commander Was Lost. I Think Two Men Got Out Of His Plane. We Were Hit Over Fifty Times, Holes Everywhere. Every Direction I Looked Flak Was Bursting. I Must Have Prayed Out Loud. I Could Smell The Flak Through My Oxygen Mask. I Was Sweating Even At 40 Degrees Below Zero. The Ship Flying On Our Left Wing Got A Direct Hit In The Nose. It Almost Crashed Into Us Out Of Control. One Man's Body Was Hanging Half Way Out Of What Was Left Of The Nose, Most Of His Clothes Blasted Off. In The Ball I Was Practically Looking The Bursts In The Face As They Tracked Us Along And Kept Exploding Right Under Me...
Nov. 2, 1944:
Our Target For Today Was Merseburg. There Was Very Little Flak Over The Target But There Were Enemy Fighters Galore. I Was Blasting Away At The Nearest One As He Was Coming Up On Us. I Saw His Prop And Cowling Go Flying Away And Part Of His Wing Tip Go Sailing Behind Him. The Ship Behind Him, I think I damaged. Our Tail Gunner Was Also On Him. He Turned Away Smoking. Then, Like Last Time, Our Fighter Escort Was There And It Seemed Like There Were Planes Falling Everywhere. One Fortress Exploded Behind Us. A Man Was Thrown Through The Side. I Think We Lost Nine Fortresses...
Nov. 30, 1944:
We Had To Crash Land In Belgium But Our Whole Crew Is Safe. Our Target Was Bohlen, On The Other Side Of Germany, Next To Leipzig. Then And There I Never Saw Such Horrible Flak In My Life. Fortresses Started Flaming, Exploding And Falling All Around Us. I Was Praying Out Loud Again. Wham! And Most Of Our No. 1 Engine Was Blasted Away. There Were Heavy Thumps In The Wings And Gas Started Leaking. One Rudder Control Was Shot Away. One Of The Oxygen Tanks Exploded. A Big Piece Of Flak Came Through The Waist. One Piece Thudded Against My Ball Turret But The Guns Saved Me. Our Radio Was Shot Away And The G. Box Burned Out. Our Flaps And Landing Gear Control Systems Were Shot Away. We Decided To Crash Land, Because We Figured We Had A Good Chance. We Came Down In A Field. The Prop On No. 1 Went Flying...
Dec. 7, 1944:
I Saw In The Stars And Stripes Where A Gunner Wants To Go On Missions Because They're Exciting. He's Either A Liar Or He's Crazy. It May Sound Exciting But When You See Your Buddies Getting Killed And You Know You Might Be Next, It's A Filthy, Dirty, Bloody Job... We Just Heard A British Lancaster In Trouble Overhead About An Hour Ago. We Ran Outside In Time To See The Whole Crew Of British Airmen Bailing Out Over Our Field Here. A Few Of Them Were Hurt. The Plane Went Off Over The Horizon. We Never Did See It Crash...
Dec. 27, 1944:
The Target For Today Was Gerolstein, Quite Close To Koblenz. I Can't Explain How A Guy Feels On A Bomb Run. He's Always Waiting For That One Explosion That Will Put Him Into Oblivion. As You Get Closer To The Target Your Heart Beats Faster And Faster. You Breathe Harder And Harder But There's No Air To Breathe. Even When It's 50 Below You Forget About The Cold. Your Nerves Are Strung Up To The Breaking Point. You Can Feel Every Blood Vessel In Your Body Bulging. You're So Nervous And Scared That Every Time There's A Burst Of Flak Or The Plane Jumps A Little, You Think; "This Is The End"...
Dec. 28, 1944:
Our Group Didn't Fly Today. The New Crews Are Up On A Practice Mission. I Think We Helped Things Yesterday. We Went For Transportation And Communication Facilities. We Were In An Area Of Hills Where Railroads Criss-Crossed Everywhere... Major Glenn Miller Is Still Missing. The Nazi Guns Know No Rank. When they Shoot Us Down And We're Armed To The Teeth, I Can Imagine What Happened To An Unarmed Ship...
Jan 14, 1945:
Today, We Destroyed The Huge Bridge Over The Rhine River In Cologne, With Thousand Pound Bombs. The Flak Was Very Accurate. You'd Hear A Tremendous "Whump" And A Concussion And Usually A Flash. Many Times You Would Hear A Loud "Clang" As A Piece Of Shrapnel Went Ripping Through The Ship. I Saw The Cathedral Of Cologne Standing Out From The Rest Of The City. It Looked Like It Was Standing Good Yet...
Feb. 3, 1945:
I Finished My Last Mission Today, But It Was A Rough One, Right To The Heart Of Berlin. What A Horrible Thing To Finish Up On. I Could See Berlin Below, Smoking And Exploding From The First Groups Over The Target. There Were Two Tremendous Explosions Ahead Of Us As Two Fortresses Got Hit And Blew To Bits Right In Front Of Us. Another Got Hit And Went Down In A Steep Dive. Half The Men Bailed Out And Went Floating Down Into The Fire And Smoke. We Lost Forty Bombers...
Feb. 15, 1945:
I Forgot To Mention I Saw Jimmy Stewart, The Movie Actor, Over Here A Short Time Ago. He's A C.O. And Pilot Of A Liberator. He Used To Be With The 389th. He's With The Second Division (Liberators). I Don't Think He's Taking It So Good. He's Nervous And His Hair Is Turning Gray. He Only Has In About 18 Missions And He Started Them Before I Left The States...
Feb. 21, 1945:
Got Off Guard Duty A Half Hour Ago. I Had A Lonely Post Last Night. While I Was Walking My Post, I Was Thinking Of All Sorts Of Things. I've Seen Too Much Happen. It's Not Much Fun To See A Riddled Plane Come Back And See Some Poor Guy's Intestines Splattered All Over The Inside And The Rest Of The Crew Crying Like Babies. When I Have Time On My Hands, It Seems As If I Can't Get Away From The Things I've Seen...
