Through The Lens: The Flying Fortress
They are called "The Greatest Generation" and the name is very fitting. Every time I meet a veteran of WWII I am awestruck at their stories.
Today's story took me for a ride in a historic B-17 along with former pilot Charles Fisher from the 301st Bomber Group. Mr. Fisher was awarded the distinguished flying cross for the fifty missions he flew over Germany during 1944.
He had a picture of himself and two of his buddies standing outside the tent they lived in while they were stationed in Italy. He pointed out the drop tank from a fighter plane next to the tent that they used to keep fuel in to heat their tent. That sounds a little risky, but these guys were all about risk. They left home when they were 17 or 18 years old and went aound the world fighting for freedom and working to make this the best country in the world, and for that we have to thank them.
As for flying in the plane dubbed the "Aluminum Overcast," well, let's just say I have the coolest job in the world. I have been fortunate enough to have flown in a B-24, a B-25 and this would be my second trip on a "Flying Fortress." The flight was short, but with all the wind bumping us around in the sky, I was thankful. If we had stayed up there much longer, I would have been reaching for the air sick bags.
The Experimental Aircraft Association does sell public flights on the B-17. For about four hundred dollars you can take a short flight and all the money they make off of the public flights they use to keep the old bird in the air.
It is a lot of fun to go up in a piece of history and imagine what our WWII vets went through. My respect for them grows each time I get to experience some of what they did and saw as very young boys in a foriegn country fighting for the freedom we sometimes take advange of today. So if you get the chance to listen to a veteran of any war, do yourself a favor and listen. Then thank them for their service.
