WoW Nice records and that historical quality set Norman left you. He was one grear fighter and record keeper. I wish I was going to Baltimore.
My Great Grandpa fought in the war, he was in the invasion of the Philippines. He's been dead for a while now but last year my grandparents gave me his old uniform because I'm the only member in my family who respects history. It meant a lot to me and really brought things back. Best part is, it fits perfectly.
I agree. We were going to have my great grandpa come and tell us his war stories (he was surprisingly very open about it) but he passed away right before.
haha all it takes is a moment. For me it was a couple of good teachers who really brought history alive. Then I moved to Australia for two years and it helped me take my focus and expand it outside the U.S. Just the small things that we do everyday helps.
Once you have seen outside America your eyes do see more Why no safety net I guess I know when my eyes open fully for first . time. We are sheltered from the other half of the planet Til war.
After reading all this, I put the coins value as priceless. That really is an amazing story and show much history to show for it. What would be really cool is to gather up those items and put them in a shadow box and display it on a wall.
Great history Paddy. I have studied the history of the air forces in WW II quite a bit by researching my fathers service in the 9th Air Corps. I look forward to seeing some of those items next week in Baltimore.
There's one more part to this pilots log book. That I'm going to share. The date entry 11-30 -44 mission #14 Target Lutzkendorf Ger. Flight from Bury, St. Edmunds. It seemed he listed this as a mid air crash in his log book. But what it really was trying to get a crippled B - 17 back to base. As one of the B - 17 took some heavy hits from anti aircraft fire as well as Nazi fighters planes tried to break the B - 17 formation. One plane that was hit bad and had it's crew wounded he was trying to help the plane back to base. Flying cover then along side to give the wounded crew some hope making it back to base. On the approach the two planes clipped wings. His plane went down on a farm the other did not make it. It was determined that the pilot had died at the controls as he bleed out from the wounds. His crew had no injuries and walked away. He often told his children and grand children that they always should eat Brussels sprouts as you never know who they might save. As the farm his plane landed was a Brussels sprouts farm. His wife told me this story yesterday as we talked. She also said he never made a big deal about trying his best to save the wounded B - 17 and it's crew. That was the code in those days.... you did what you would want done for you and your crew......
My father flew A-20s in the Pacific. You probably look a lot like he did when he was your age. This fact was brought home to me several years ago prior to my dad's passing when a man came running towards me calling "Ed! Ed!" When he caught his breath he said, "Ed, you haven't changed in 25 years!" Thru speaking to him a bit I learned he thought I was my father, and couldn't believe how much we looked alike!
That is a great story! I'll take that as a compliment. I really look up to my great grandpa. If I can be half the man he was then I will consider my life a success.