Who is your Hero? I thought it would be nice to remember or honor those of us who have served, sacrificed, and for some - paid the ultimate price for our freedom.
I would say one of my Heroes is my Uncle. He served in the Army Air Corps during WWII, flying B-17 command bomber pilot missions over France and Germany in mid to late 1944. He was probably only 18 when trained to fly, and forced to fly missions at only age 20-21, due to the high wartime training and mission casualty rate.
Statistically, after about 10 Bomber missions back then, you were likely dead. They had a 10-15% casualty rate (10-15% of bombers didn't come back per mission). They were asked to fly 10 missions then were supposed to be rotated out/relieved. His crew was re-upped 2 extra times concurrently, and he flew/survived 30 (!!) combat missions. Amazing!
I guess they finally figured that was enough after 30 missions. So afterwards he was rotated to Mustang pilot duty, escorting more bomber raids over Europe and Germany through the end of the war in 1945.
Notably, he piloted Eisenhower back to the States after the war. His Bomber Flight jacket is in the WWII museum in New Orleans.
Edit: I understand Memorial Day should be to honor our fallen, but I think remembering our "living" men and women servicemen is probably OK. Let me know if you don't agree. Memorial Day just seems a good time for "stories" that should be shared.
I would say one of my Heroes is my Uncle. He served in the Army Air Corps during WWII, flying B-17 command bomber pilot missions over France and Germany in mid to late 1944. He was probably only 18 when trained to fly, and forced to fly missions at only age 20-21, due to the high wartime training and mission casualty rate.
Statistically, after about 10 Bomber missions back then, you were likely dead. They had a 10-15% casualty rate (10-15% of bombers didn't come back per mission). They were asked to fly 10 missions then were supposed to be rotated out/relieved. His crew was re-upped 2 extra times concurrently, and he flew/survived 30 (!!) combat missions. Amazing!
I guess they finally figured that was enough after 30 missions. So afterwards he was rotated to Mustang pilot duty, escorting more bomber raids over Europe and Germany through the end of the war in 1945.
Notably, he piloted Eisenhower back to the States after the war. His Bomber Flight jacket is in the WWII museum in New Orleans.
Edit: I understand Memorial Day should be to honor our fallen, but I think remembering our "living" men and women servicemen is probably OK. Let me know if you don't agree. Memorial Day just seems a good time for "stories" that should be shared.
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