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Hey Dad...Thanks!

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posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 01:20 AM
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Dad crash landed in occupied France in 1944 (3/4 I can't remember). They shot it out with the SS on the ground after they landed on an abandoned allied airstrip. It was a fierce battle with a damaged aircraft, injured crew and exactly zero hope of survival. Dad captured a Beholla (sp?) .32 pistol off of a dead SS officer as they made their escape. I have the pistol in my safe. WW1 vintage, likely given to him by his father or even grandfather from the Imperial German Army.

Said they shot up the radial engines with their last ammo from the waist guns on the ground to keep the German Luftwaffe from using them against allied forces. They commandeered a armored personnel carrier and made it 3-4 miles before it quit (it was shot up in the fight).

Miraculously, Dad was never taken prisoner and returned to England , via the French underground, to fly more than 30 more missions over Germany. Several of his crew were not so lucky.

Dad flew 88 missions, four tours...they said he was crazy, but I wouldn't be here if he was really crazy. That, or we'd all be living speaking a different language. The stories of the 381st Bombardment Group, Heavy, 533rd and 532nd Squadrons (B-17's) out of Ridgewell England, are so harrowing they defy imagination. More losses than any other bomber group, but they kept going back...over and over.

Dad would have been 94 today. He passed 4 years ago, on his 90th birthday, with my hand in his. (and I have a great big plaque with all the medals) Wow.

Love you Dad! Miss you, man!

A true "Hero". And my hero.



edit on 6/25/2017 by Flyingclaydisk because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 01:34 AM
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Sounds like a great Dad, and one who has the love of his Son. Great for both of you, also glad to know that you know where you have come from. Unfortunatly, there are many that do not know and seriously miss out. a reply to: Flyingclaydisk




posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 01:38 AM
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Our parent's and grandparent's generation was a noble and brave one. I have attempted throughout my life to honour those standards by aspiraspiring to the example they set for us. The debt of gratitude we owe is beyond anything we could ever repay.



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 01:39 AM
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They said it was "suicide" to fly more than the required (25) missions in the 381st. In late 1942 Dad was badly injured on a mission when a flak shell came through the cabin and blew the radio console apart, slamming into the side of his face, shattering it. The shell didn't explode, it just passed through the cabin and exploded above them. The shell blew off part of the tail of their B-17G, killed the tail gunner and one waist gunner.

They were still two hours from the IP (the turning point where the bomb runs began). As always, the mission went on. When they landed back in England 8 hours later, with two engines running and a 3rd on fire, they crashed into some trees and tore a wing off the aircraft.

Just another day. They went back the next day (in a different aircraft).



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 01:56 AM
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a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

You sound blessed to have had such a father, and blessed to have had him with you until the ripe old age of ninety. Must have been tough holding the hand of someone you admire and love so much and know it is time for goodbyes.

He obviously lives in your heart and somewhere I feel he knows how much you will always
love him and it is recipricated.



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 01:58 AM
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Schweinfurt was the worst. The Schweinfurt ball bearing plants where they made the big tiger tanks and Luftwaffe engines.

"The flack was so heavy you could look out the window and it looked like you could walk on it. I was never afraid of anything in my life, but that flak scared the living S# out of me!!", Dad used to say. "and then the 109's would come in out of the clouds, firing their cannons...the gunners were waist deep in brass on the floor from the 50's at the waist. The air was pure chop from the explosions....and then, then, it would get scarey" And then??? Hell, most people on planet Earth would have been TERRIFIED beyond sanity WAY before then!!

"The most nerve wracking part was after we would turn on the IP (the point where the bombing run began). Then there was no turning, no changing altitude, just straight and level...sitting ducks...straight in, until we dropped the bombs. It was the most terrifying thing you can imagine. All you could do was sit there, and hope you didn't get hit."

He used to say the silence of that time after the IP was the worst, because the ME-109 fighters would back off. He would say they were far outside fighter escort range, and the 109's would just magically leave. ........ This is when the German anti-aircraft ground forces would pull out all the stops and launch everything, at all altitudes. They would just shred the sky with shrapnel. The losses were devastating. Bomber after bomber would suddenly catch on fire and spiral out of control. They would look for parachutes, praying.

I can't even imagine that level of terror.

Courage? Yeah, I can only WISH I might have that much courage! Ever.



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 02:20 AM
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Father Flying Clay Disk, I'm not the hero you are, none the less I salute you.

I hope you're well with God



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 02:28 AM
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a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Awesome. Ever thought of writing a book from his notes. Maybe include any photos.

I think people forget and reminders from time to time help for that to not happen.

Would be one hell of a way to salute your old man and you do have the knack for writing.

P



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 02:41 AM
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a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Major respect to your Dad....

It was truly a great generation of men and women, who paid huge sacrifices with little fanfare, all just to return to their ordinary way of life once it was over.



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 02:51 AM
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a reply to: pheonix358

I love to convey the emotion and the thought of the moment in the written word. I don't know if I do it successfully, but I definitely try. It's a magic which is very difficult. I try to write exactly how I speak. I don't believe in video games, or any other A/V stuff...(lol, except I'm here, so I dunno). I love to read, and I love to try to express the exact emotion of the story (as best I can).

Thanks. I'll try.

P.S. As for books, I have about five of them mostly written now. I don't know if anyone would ever want to read them, much less publish them. Somehow, just putting something out on the internet seems so, I don't know, less than worthy. (yet, here I type...on and on). Doesn't make a lot of sense, huh?



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 03:04 AM
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a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

If you put it out there, one of two things will happen.

Either your work will pass unnoticed through the hordes of humanity or ...

You will become a famous writer.

What will happen, is somewhere between those extremes.

Write it for history and for the future generations.

Yes, you can write and write well. In fact, we have a lot in common in how we write.

P



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 03:32 AM
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a reply to: pheonix358

From the heart.

Always, right?



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 03:58 AM
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a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Those brave people fought he Nazis. So that the generation of now is able to be more Nazi than Hitler Germany from 1933-45!

Sad, isn´t it?



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 04:13 AM
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originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: pheonix358

From the heart.

Always, right?





Yes! I always want my readers to know how my characters are feeling. I try and write from a psychological perspective. Where they are, what they are doing is very important, but knowing how much angst a hero feels is critical to understand the character.

Try my book, see if it gels. The best writers are avid readers. Many great Authors have shown me how to write and sometimes they also teach what not to write.

P



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 06:34 AM
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a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

In reading your posts of your father's valiant daily "duties" I fall in to memories of my Dad who also was a UK soldier in that war. He was stationed in Africa and Burma (Myanmar). He fought awful missions against Japanese Soldiers. He did not speak of it often, or in any detail, but I know it haunted him for the rest of his life. He was the kindest and most loving person ever. I still wonder how much that experience changed him..
War is not honorable or patriotic.
Thank You for your posts and keep writing .. I think you should publish! At least I would enjoy reading your books..



posted on Jun, 25 2017 @ 03:28 PM
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From a old Irish man . thank him for me .
The time when it matter and made a difference .
The Irish are not fond of Germans .
The Germans have been doing that for 100 s of years .
Wish I could have been there .
I understand his courage its the kind that says no matter what ill just keep at it .
people think all the crap they talk ooo i kill or ill kick ass means they have courage . True courage is facing overwealimg odds and doing it anyway .
Courage is not the absents of fear but teh willingness to go forward in the face of fear .
all this sitting back with laser guided missles makes war a play time more then anything now .
you think the 5 or 10 k killed in the last ten years is alot?
look up en.wikipedia.org... tehn you will see .



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