Posted by Todd Somers on Sunday, July 09, 2006 at 11:50PM :
In Reply to: OT posted by Kaegi on Sunday, July 09, 2006 at 3:14PM :
I have a first cousin who was a pilot in a B17 in WW2. He flew many missions during the war. (He is 22 years older than I am.) His plane was shot down over Germany. He told me that he does not remember pulling his rip cord. He said he fell out of the bottom of the plane. He was the only survivor of the crew. He had a rough landing and was not able to walk. He was captured and put into a POW prison. Before they put him in prison they dragged him through the streets with a rope tied to a truck. This was near the end of the war. I still have the telegram that was sent to my mother telling her that he was missing in action. He said there was not much food and no medical care in the POW camp. The camp was eventually over-run by the allies. If this had not happened, he would have perished. There is a large black & white photo of his plane and all of his crewmen taken not long before his final flight in a frame in his office. (I wish I had a copy of it.) It is still hard for him to talk about this experience. It is also hard to comprehend what the what the men of our armed services have done to keep our country free. Fly your flag on Memorial Day and Independence Day!
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