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I've always had a "soft spot" in my heart for the Martin aircraft. My Uncle used to fly the the B-26 (the "Whore From Baltimore", at least that's what he called it when his wife and my mother were NOT around!) and recalled to me what a great aircraft the Martin folks made. When we moved as family to St. Petersburg, Florida, it brought back all sorts of memories for him of when he was training on the B-26 at MacDill, "One a day, in Tampa Bay!" that was the fatalistic attitude of many toward the aircraft. He loved it! Thought the plane was just too hot for the pilots they had chosen for training. His high praise for the Martin company caused me to check into the many aircraft they made and the enormous contribution Martin made to keep the world free.

I remember running into an older gentleman in a Sears store, and in his jacket he wore a golden pin with a PBM. I remembered the difference in the shape between the PBM and the almost cliche PBY. I noted the fact that he wore a PBM and his eyes welled up and said that the aircraft had saved his life when he had been lost at sea. The PBM had the range to find he and his shipmates, well out at sea. He wore that pin as a salute to the aircraft and its company.