[thesharkboy]

I had an uncle who was in the raid on Ploesti. He was a waist gunner on a B-24. It was his most vivid memory of the war, but he didn't talk about it much. One of the few things he would relate was that they flew so low that they got corn stalks in their engines. He died about 15 years ago. I sure wish I could talk to him about it now. I contacted the son of the pilot, and his father (the pilot of my uncle's plane) said the same thing. My uncle's plane had to land in Cyprus because they were low on fuel and had been hit several times, but he made it through the mission.

Think about the courage of all the people involved in the rescue of this man after this daring mission--the villagers, the Yugoslavian resistance, and the British and American agents all risked their lives in this cause. He and his fellow airmen took the war to the Germans even after their planes were shot down! Something to remember on Veteran's Day.

[Dysart]

Thanks for your post. This was a fascinating war theater for the reasons you mentioned— from the daring allied military tactics to the resistance dynamics to perseverance of both. Very profound and inspiring. And I do consider the heroic nature of these(young)men and can’t help but wonder how this generation would fare in the same role.