I worked at a talent agency in L.A. and met some of the biggest names in biz. But I just met a guy and I still have chills! Was at the car wash when this elderly man sits next to me wearing a "Flying Tigers" hat. We start talking; he was stationed in China and was part of that famous flying outfit. I'm a big history buff and love W.W.2 stuff so I was awe-struck. We talked for a while. he says there are only 11 men left. We talked about the P-40 and what a great plane it was to fly. (it was over-shadowed by the P-51 Mustang) he says they shot down around 300 Japanese planes. Man, what a great day!

those men were members of the greatest generation.

it is very cool to meet a piece of history.

I hoped you thanked him for his service...I always do...greatest Generation for sure!! :thumbsup: BTW, here is a few shots I took at the Dream Machines car and plane show last year. Matter of fact it is happening again on the 26th of April...If you are near Half Moon Bay in California...this is a show you shouldn't miss...:yes:
http://news.webshots.com/album/558862120mzuoAM

Mike: I did. What's cool is I've been reading BAND OF BROTHERS for the last few days. so, to meet someone like this guy was awsome. I told him my uncle was a top-turret gunner on a B-29 stationed in England. He shook his head and said "I'm glad he got out alive, those boys had it rough"

What's not to like about a Warhawk :thumbsup:
9802

To say that these guys are a dying breed is the worlds largest understatement.
They made our lives possible :thumbsup:
I almost lost my father last weekend - one of the few remaining Iwo Jima "Spearhead" survivors :sad:
He should be home again later this week.
I don't look forward to the next 'scare' at all...

my dad has been dead almost 20 years. he went in the service january of 1942 and was discharged january 1946.
he spent 2 1/2 years in the pacific theatre.

it makes me sick to hear any of the Europeans talking trash about America. Guess they have short memories over there.

it makes me sick to hear any of the Europeans talking trash about America. Guess they have short memories over there.

Makes you wonder if they keep if up if we'll be in big hurry to help out 'next time' doesn't it ;)
And there will be a next time... :sad:

My Father is now 83...got in the Navy in 1944, whenever I get a chance I ask him about the war to end all wars...He has got a few prettygood stories...

Very Cool to meet one of the original Flying Tigers...The Curtis P-40 is one of my favorite WWII fighters.

Had to be neat, I know 2 Tuscegee (sic) Airmen, one lives across the street, The other is very weak and old. It is ashame to loose all these GREAT gentlemen and the ladies who supported all the effort by all at the time!

yeah, it was neat. When I told him about my uncle, and he said, "Those boys had it rough", it really hit home; coming from someone who didn't exactly have it easy himself!

I met an F4U pilot at the Indy Air Show a couple of years ago. They were having a reunion of the remaining Corsair pilots from WWII He was wandering around the crowd looking lost, so I thought I'd see if he needed help. He couldn't find the tent for the reunion, so I pointed him in the right drection. He was gracious enough to take the time to talk to me for 15 minutes before he ambled off. I REALLY enjoyed talking to him.... and yes, I thanked him. Made my day!!

Mike: I did. What's cool is I've been reading BAND OF BROTHERS for the last few days. so, to meet someone like this guy was awsome. I told him my uncle was a top-turret gunner on a B-29 stationed in England. He shook his head and said "I'm glad he got out alive, those boys had it rough"

i didn't know there were B-29's in Europe- i thought they were just used in the Pacific??

My Grandpa on my mothers side also served in the Pacific Theater during WWII. He was in the army from what I hear he got to see a LOT of ground action. He would never talk about anything he seen over there to us grandkids, other than to say he seen things that no man should ever have to see.
I know his demons followed him for the rest of his life, and ultimately led to his, and my uncles wifes', demise (a bad, sad story within itself).

A couple of years after Grandpa passed, Grandma had a serious stroke (this after 2 heart attacks in previous years) and ended up moving in with my parents. When we went to clean out my grandparents house, we found that my Grandpa was highly decorated, and had a number of Congressional medals and what not. Nobody knew...not even Grandma.

One can only imagine the things these people seen.

Cool.

My Dad just turned 87. Took him to Stewart Air Base last year when the B-17, B-29, etc flew in. We climbed around through the B-17 (he was a navigator) and the memories and stories came out in a stream. He had a crowd around him while he started discussing the differences in the model upgrades. It was wonderful.

Novaderrik: You're probably right, I always get the B-29, B-17, B-24 confused.

My neighbor across the street casually mentioned fighting in WW2 a few times over the years I've known him. Found out recently that he flew a glider into Normandy behind the German lines. I had just read Band of Brothers before finding this out, and my neighbor is now my hero. He had a bunch of medals that got lost along the way. A few years ago his wife was able to get them replaced and they now hang on the wall. He still won't talk much about his service during the war, typical of the hero's of WW2.

My father served in the Navy in the Pacific during the war. I know virtually nothing about his experiences.

Novaderrik: You're probably right, I always get the B-29, B-17, B-24 confused.

the B-29 was designed in 1940 as the eventual replacement for both the B-17 and B-24. In December of 1943 the decision was made not to utilize the B-29 in the European theatre.

john68,
just so you know, it's Tuskegee.

... In December of 1943 the decision was made not to utilize the B-29 in the European theatre.
...

But, oddly enough, there was one YB-29 stationed there and rotated between several RAF Airfields (Horsham, Glatton and Bovingdon mainly - due to required runway lengths) from the late 1943~early 1944 period before being redeployed for the new bombing campains from India.
There are several historians that think this was done to fool the Germans into thinking the US was going to step-up it's 'Day-light' (which the B-29 was designed for) bombing campaigns against them and others think it was to decoy the Japanese into reducing their fighter support over the China area, in advance of deploying these aircraft to that area, in hopes they would deploy more aircraft to the Pacific areas where the US already had air-superiority and reduce aircraft loss in the upcoming plan to deploy bombers against Japan from India and China - or maybe a little bit of both of these scenarios...

There is also USAF/Boeing memos and documentation discovered in the RAF files, after they were diclassified several years back, that outlines a proposal to do assembly of the B-29 in England starting in early 1945.
Assumption is that with the europian theather operations going so well for the Allies, as the last two main German offensives "Watch-on-the-Rine" (Battle of the Bulge to us) and the "Nordwind" offensive in late Dec. 1944, where under control by mid Jan 1945 so the plan was not needed anymore and the planes were diverted to the Pacific Bases in newly captured islands where they could be resupplied easily by sea and we could step-up the bombing of the Japanese mainland.

A picture of one of the B-29s on a RAF airfield was published in a german newspaper in 1943 and that picture was blown up and hung in the Boeing WA. plant to encourage the workers to build a great aircraft the germans were really affraid of!!
That picture still remains in the Boeing archives :thumbsup:

really cool....without those guys we wouldn;t have our freedoms we have..

My American grandfather never spoke much about the war, spending time in both Europe and the Pacific theater. I know he did not like the Japanese, but held nothing against he Germans. My wife's grandfather (now deceased) said they ran into each other on Luzon, so I can only imagine what they went thru.
My German grandfather was one of Rommel's Afrika Korps, and I have gotten him to tell me a few things about the fighting around Bardia, Cappuzo, Sollum, Hellfiya Pass, etc. He was wounded Nov 30, 1941 and it put him out for the war.

i would add that all men & women who selflessly serve our country deserve a big thank you..that whole generation ....had a whole different outlook....my father served on subs during wwII ... i did not get to know him very well at all..he died in 1964 when i was 7..however the stories i have heard from customers/friends who served during that time really make you gratefull to all these folks..their outlook on life is totally different ..