On veterans day a few weeks ago I went to a little town in central Nebraska to attend a special function at their local VFW. You see, my dad was making a speech there and I had the pleasure to meet someone with bigger ****ing balls than all of us combined.
He was a B-17 ball turret gunner during the war. The amazing thing about this occupation was that all of these men on the plane knew they would probably die. He was part of the bomb runs over Berlin and was actually shot down once. They took a direct hit, mid fuselage, and babied the damn thing to friendly territory before ditching.
This bad-ass survived being shot down, hitched a god damned ride back to base and got on with another crew that just lost their gunner on the same mission.
Another amazing thing about this guy was that I didn't get this information from him. I got it from his son who had to research it on his own. Before he did so, all he knew about his old man was that he was a veteran of the great crusade.
So here we go, Sarge got back on the plane, (while his old crew had to wait for another B-17 for a week) and flew 2 more missions.
BOOM!
Got hit again, Flak took out 2 engines. The plane was so amazing that you could actually fly with just one. However, the pilot had to be a strong SOB to keep her straight.
Engine 3 almost goes out but they make it back in time.
Oh shit...
They barely make it back to base, (in England) and get off the plane right before the damn engine catches fire.
They take a look at it and half the tail was gone.
So, this miracle of modern technology flew several miles on 1.5 engines and 1/2 a tail.
Just a note here, we lose 1,000 WWII vets every day. The next time you see one, thank him. I don't care what line of service he was in and I don't care if he was a cook or a commander. Hero's, every one of them. Most of them will tell you to eat a shit-sandwich because they don't view themselves that way.
99% of them will say, "We did what needed to be done."
Truly, our greatest generation. It's a shame we're losing them so fast. If we could clone them, our country would be in much better shape.
