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Posted By: Idared A B-17 gunner's last mission. - 05/27/16
This story got to me. cry

What a way to go
Steel true, blade straight. -Sir ACD

RIP soldier
Posted By: g5m Re: A B-17 gunner's last mission. - 05/27/16
Good story.
Saw that in the paper this morning. Rest in piece, soldier brave.
What a story.

My father in law is almost 95 and also served as a radio operator/gunner on a B-17 stationed in Deanthrope UK. He lives in Bluffton SC and we have taken him several times to the Mighty 8th Air Force museum near Savannah GA. On one trip, my F-I-L was standing near the model of the Deanthorpe base that they have on display and a young English man approached him and asked if he was stationed there. He answered in the affirmative, and the young man said that his family lived near there and thanked him for his service. They had a nice chat. He also got a round of applause from a school group that was attending the museum. If you are ever going down 95 near Savannah, stop into that museum. It's very nice and has a B-17 that is being restored.

In a couple weeks we are going down to visit him on his 95th birthday. Both he and my 89 yr old father (who served in the Army infantry) have learned that wearing their WWII veterans hats sometimes gets them a free lunch from a patron or the mgt at a restaurant. They love that.
Posted By: CCCC Re: A B-17 gunner's last mission. - 05/27/16
Thanks for posting this - a fine story. Old brave fighters of that stripe deserve all of the good anyone can shower on them.
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”..... Winston Churchill

I'm not sure any truer words have ever been spoken.

Thank you, rest in peace great warrior.
A great uncle was a B-24 pilot, perhaps out of the same bases in England. He would have approved.

Salute, Sir. Rest easy now.
Originally Posted by cooper57m
What a story.

My father in law is almost 95 and also served as a radio operator/gunner on a B-17 stationed in Deanthrope UK. He lives in Bluffton SC and we have taken him several times to the Mighty 8th Air Force museum near Savannah GA. On one trip, my F-I-L was standing near the model of the Deanthorpe base that they have on display and a young English man approached him and asked if he was stationed there. He answered in the affirmative, and the young man said that his family lived near there and thanked him for his service. They had a nice chat. He also got a round of applause from a school group that was attending the museum. If you are ever going down 95 near Savannah, stop into that museum. It's very nice and has a B-17 that is being restored.

In a couple weeks we are going down to visit him on his 95th birthday. Both he and my 89 yr old father (who served in the Army infantry) have learned that wearing their WWII veterans hats sometimes gets them a free lunch from a patron or the mgt at a restaurant. They love that.


Go by there often....going to pull in the next time I pass by. My dad fought in the Battle of the Bulge and always wanted to travel back to the Ardennes, etc. Sadly, Alzheimer's prevented him from doing so.
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