June 6th

[lucas80]

My dad was boarding a “ liberty ship” on 6/6/44....he had just completed flying 50 combat missions as a B-24 pilot out of southern Italy on 5/30/44.... A two week cruise back to Philadelphia from Naples, I believe....and after that “cruise” he never had a desire to cruise again! Ship full of sick GIs, card games ( he never cared for) p, terrible food and the fresh smell of human vomit every day!
He ended up assigned to Las Vegas, where for two weeks, he was the first overseas pilot to be stationed there...for two weeks he never had to by a meal or a drink.....and then, in his words, “ the other bastards came home and ruined it for me.”
Those beaches of Normandy are a special place for all of mankind. The French have done a wonderful job maintaining the atmosphere....and their love for the American is as strong as ever there.

Did your father ever speak of, or are you aware of the rescue missions to fetch downed airmen out of Yugoslavia? Those guys were stationed in the base near Bari.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I now know of 2 great uncles killed in WW2. One was killed in a non combat accident but I found out I had a great uncle on my mom's side killed in combat and still buried in Europe.

 

[joelbc1]

Did your father ever speak of, or are you aware of the rescue missions to fetch downed airmen out of Yugoslavia? Those guys were stationed in the base near Bari.

I have a good friend whose dad flew those rescue missions. Dewey passed away a couple of years ago at 95..he was a helluva guy! My pops bombed a lot of submarine tanks in France, railroad yards in northern Italy, and ball-bearing and Messerschmidt plants in Austria and Germany...a couple of raids on Ploesti and one or two on Budapest and Yugoslavia. Dad was stationed in the heel of the boot...and the name escapes me. His radioman has a diary of their experiences on the Internet....google up..”B-24, white tails, Toni Gayle” if interested..that oughtta get you to it...

 

[Lone Clone]

I have a good friend whose dad flew those rescue missions. Dewey passed away a couple of years ago at 95..he was a helluva guy! My pops bombed a lot of submarine tanks in France, railroad yards in northern Italy, and ball-bearing and Messerschmidt plants in Austria and Germany...a couple of raids on Ploesti and one or two on Budapest and Yugoslavia. Dad was stationed in the heel of the boot...and the name escapes me. His radioman has a diary of their experiences on the Internet....google up..”B-24, white tails, Toni Gayle” if interested..that oughtta get you to it...

Assume you are familiar with the story of "Lady Be Good," the B-24 that went missing after a raid and was found in 1959 in the Libyan desert.

 

[joelbc1]

Assume you are familiar with the story of "Lady Be Good," the B-24 that went missing after a raid and was found in 1959 in the Libyan desert.

My mom’s high school buddy was a B-24 pilot and was shot down over Libya the same day as The Lady Be Good went missing. Bob was “rescued” by Libyans who were taking him to Americans but on the way, the Arabs turned him over to the Nazis for a pack of Camel cigarettes...and Bob spent the rest of the war in two or three different POW camps in Germany. Bob was a Chesterfield man until he started smoking Tiparillos later in life.....