It may not have. I spoke with a gentleman that was on a B-17 crew later in the war and he said that by the time that he was flying missions, it was pretty rare to see a German fighter because by the time that they reached the Luftwaffe fighter range, they were already in Germany and in constant flak for almost the entire time. He said that the Germans never seemed to have a shortage of the flak and that they had some casualties from it.
"That boy's just not right in the head."
a really good friend of mine had a grandfather that was in a crew that crash landed their bomber somewhere in switzerland after being shot up. they weren't allowed to leave til the war was over.
my uncle and my dad's best friend were both tail gunners...they both said that going up in that little cubicle was the most horrifying experience of their lives. lucky for them the war ended not too long after each of them was on active duty because their survival rate was quite low. my father was an ack-ack gunner on a navy cruiser...luck would have it that the war ended about 2 weeks after he left basic. ww2 vets...heroes all.
LOL! A quickie but goodie from the Freek. Manti Gump.The latest from LSUfreek:
The crew in the fuselage felt really sorry for them. Of course, the degree of danger wasn't too comfortable for them, either. When my brother first went over, they were having a high number of parachute failures. They solved that problem by selecting parachutes at random, making a parachute packer put it on and climb in a B-17. Failure rate dropped to zero. To clarify the casualty rate, I was speaking only of my brother's squadron and he was in on the first and worst of it. At the end of his tour, after VE day, there was only a handful of them left who'd started the air war, a couple of whom I got to know. All the remainder were greenhorns. 92, that was standard and not the worst which could have happened to them. Switzerland was officially neutral. Sweden was also, "officially," but leaning towards the 3rd Reich. Hitler thought several times about taking on Switzerland - narrow little valleys and a gun under every bed. Also, it was a handy money hideout for the biggest Nazis...
I'm glad to see someone from the mainstream picking up on how ND handled Seeburg vs. Manti. I'd like to see them include Declan as well. Te'o has essentially admitted to lying about the extent of the relationship, although he didn't use the word, and I doubt he admits to much else. I doubt much else will happen because someone will fall on the sword for him and his "tailoring" will be portrayed as simply a shy/ naive guy embarassed about an online only 'relationship.'
One of my uncles was a flight engineer with the 457th during WWII, with stories told and untold. He passed away last year; 'the greatest generation' is a pretty apropos moniker, I think.
I have no problem with Mrs. Hill but for God's sakes take here off the sideline reporting ESPN!!!! I need a little eye candy or something...
I did not know you could spout idiocy with Morse Code.
My uncle was a turret gunner on a TBM Avenger with VT-82 off the USS Bennington. Man by the name of Bradley wrote a book called "Flyboys" about members of his squadron. You`re right. Heroes all. And leaving us fast.
