In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II

Introduction

xv The฀two฀years฀and฀eight฀months฀I฀was฀on฀active฀duty฀serving฀ in฀the฀Army฀Air฀Forces฀during฀World฀War฀II฀were฀the฀most฀exciting฀ times฀in฀my฀life.฀I฀also฀see฀it฀as฀a฀miracle฀that฀I฀survived฀the฀roughly฀ thirty฀combat฀missions฀I฀flew฀over฀occupied฀Europe฀and฀Germany฀in฀ 1944.฀Many฀other฀men฀just฀like฀me฀flew฀missions฀during฀that฀period฀ and฀ultimately฀made฀the฀supreme฀sacrifice.฀I฀do฀not฀know฀why฀I฀was฀ spared฀but฀feel฀blessed฀that฀I฀have฀been฀able฀to฀live฀a฀full฀life.฀I฀look฀ back฀on฀the฀war฀with฀few฀regrets.฀If฀I฀ever฀had฀any฀concerns฀about฀ the฀destruction฀of฀property฀and฀loss฀of฀life฀that฀might฀have฀been฀ caused฀by฀the฀allied฀bombing฀campaign,฀they฀were฀eliminated฀during ฀a฀trip฀my฀wife,฀Jean,฀and฀I฀took฀in฀1983. We฀returned฀to฀England฀that฀year฀to฀attend฀a฀reunion฀of฀the฀2nd฀ Air฀Division฀of฀the฀Eighth฀Air฀Force.฀After฀a฀wonderful฀time฀visiting฀ with฀old฀friends,฀we฀decided฀to฀visit฀Switzerland฀for฀a฀few฀days.฀One฀ morning฀we฀took฀an฀all฀day฀tour฀that฀included฀a฀stop฀in฀Bern.฀The฀ driver฀parked฀the฀bus฀and฀told฀us฀we฀would฀have฀an฀hour฀to฀walk฀ around฀ and฀ visit฀ the฀ city.฀ Jean฀ and฀ I฀ had฀ only฀ walked฀ about฀ two฀ blocks฀when฀a฀gentleman฀who฀was฀also฀on฀our฀tour฀approached฀us฀ and฀said,฀“I฀believe฀you฀are฀Americans,”฀in฀very฀broken฀English.฀He฀ asked฀if฀we฀had฀visited฀any฀other฀places฀in฀Europe,฀and฀I฀told฀him฀ we฀had฀just฀visited฀England฀for฀a฀few฀days,฀where฀I฀had฀attended฀a฀ reunion฀of฀my฀World฀War฀II฀Air฀Force฀unit.฀฀He฀then฀asked฀if฀I฀had฀ Introduction xvi฀ In฀Hostile฀Skies flown฀over฀Europe฀during฀the฀war,฀and฀I฀told฀him฀that฀I฀had฀been฀a฀ B-24฀pilot.฀He฀immediately฀took฀my฀hand,฀embraced฀me,฀and฀told฀ me฀he฀owed฀his฀life฀to฀me฀and฀the฀others฀who฀had฀flown฀over฀Europe ฀on฀bombing฀missions.฀He฀said฀I฀was฀the฀first฀pilot฀he฀had฀met฀ and฀that฀he฀had฀always฀looked฀forward฀to฀meeting฀someone฀who฀ flew฀those฀planes. He฀then฀explained฀that฀he฀had฀been฀a฀young฀Jewish฀boy฀of฀sixteen ฀living฀in฀Poland฀when฀the฀Germans฀invaded.฀All฀of฀his฀family฀ had฀been฀killed฀in฀the฀Holocaust,฀and฀the฀only฀reason฀he฀was฀not฀ killed฀was฀that฀he฀was฀young฀and฀valuable฀to฀the฀Germans฀as฀slave฀ labor.฀With฀tears฀in฀his฀eyes฀he฀said฀the฀only฀thing฀that฀gave฀the฀Jewish ฀prisoners฀enough฀courage฀to฀survive฀the฀last฀years฀of฀the฀war฀ was฀the฀fact฀that฀every฀day฀or฀every฀few฀days,฀they฀could฀hear฀and฀ sometimes฀see฀the฀bombers฀go฀over.฀Hearing฀the฀bombers฀would฀ give฀them฀that฀little฀bit฀of฀hope฀that฀maybe,฀just฀maybe,฀they฀would฀ some฀day฀be฀freed.฀He฀told฀us฀he฀was฀so฀indebted฀to฀me฀and฀the฀ other฀airplane฀crews฀that฀he฀wanted฀us฀to฀come฀to฀Israel฀to฀visit฀him฀ and฀his฀family. He฀pulled฀out฀his฀billfold฀as฀we฀were฀talking฀and฀showed฀us฀the฀ pictures฀of฀his฀family.฀One฀of฀the฀pictures฀was฀of฀his฀daughter’s฀wedding .฀He฀pointed฀out฀the฀guests฀in฀the฀picture,฀including฀the฀head฀ of฀the฀government,฀the฀defense฀minister,฀many฀cabinet฀ministers,฀ and฀other฀high฀government฀officials.฀He฀told฀us฀if฀we฀would฀visit฀ Israel,฀they฀would฀lay฀out฀the฀red฀carpet,฀and฀we฀would฀be฀treated฀ as฀royalty.฀He฀begged฀and฀pleaded฀for฀us฀to฀come.฀We฀told฀him฀we฀ could฀not฀at฀this฀time฀but฀would฀look฀forward฀to฀visiting฀sometime฀ in฀the฀future. I฀ planned฀ on฀ writing฀ him฀ after฀ returning฀ home฀ to฀ thank฀ him฀ for฀ the฀ visit฀ we฀ had฀ and฀ to฀ tell฀ him฀ that฀ some฀ day฀ we฀ hoped฀ to฀ visit฀Israel.฀Unfortunately,฀I฀lost฀his฀name฀and฀address.฀However,฀ our฀visit฀with฀him฀that฀day฀made฀all฀of฀my฀combat฀tour฀well฀worth฀ the฀effort฀and฀sacrifice.฀It฀also฀encouraged฀me฀to฀ponder฀my฀life’s฀ experiences.฀I฀turned฀62฀in฀1983฀and฀knew฀retirement฀was฀not฀too฀ far฀in฀my฀future.฀As฀I฀thought฀about฀my฀life,฀I฀realized฀that฀I฀had฀indeed ฀seen฀and฀participated฀in฀a฀lot,฀including฀the฀Great฀Depression,฀ Introduction฀ xvii World฀War฀II,฀and฀the฀baby฀boom.฀I฀soon฀recognized฀that฀I฀had฀been฀ blessed฀with฀loving฀parents,฀dedicated฀comrades,฀and฀a฀wonderful฀ wife.฀Looking฀back...