Seven decades melt away as World War II vet buckles himself into plane and the memories it carries

[Omaha Steve]

My post last year about riding in a B-17 with the same preservation group: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026991786

OS

http://www.omaha.com/news/military/seven-decades-melt-away-as-world-war-ii-vet-buckles/article_8b8b2432-ad7c-5a6b-a4d9-bfad1833bb90.html




By Reece Ristau

As 95-year-old Willard Hunzeker fumbled with the plane’s seat belt, he thought back seven decades to the last time he was in a B-24.

“At 95, it’s going to be a little different than 22,” he said. “I hope the body can stand it.”

When Hunzeker last flew in a plane like this it was the summer of 1945. World War II would end in a matter of weeks, and Hunzeker, a navigator for the planes, was about to be relieved of duty after 33 missions.

Friday afternoon, more than 70 years after his last flight, the veteran got a sky-high surprise, getting to ride along on the world’s last fully restored, operational B-24J Liberator.

FULL story and video at link.

[brewens]

1. I've been in a B-17 once. At an airshow. Being a real big guy, how tight it was in there struck

me. They wouldn't have wanted a kid my size in there, even at 19 or so.

My dad had to be pushing the size limit too when he was a PB4Y (Navy B-24 Liberator) crewman in the south Pacific. One of the regrets I have for his not living longer, he died when I was 12, was not getting to hear more of the stories of his service. He flew long range reconnaissance missions, mostly in the Solomon Island area in 1943. They were a lot like submarine patrols, out on their own in hostile territory and several were lost with all hands, no one knowing what happened to them.

From what I have read that I could find about his squadron, at the time he served, it was not unlikely to be spotted by a Japanese fighter patrol and be engaged. It seems it would typically be a four or five plane flight of Zero's and the heavily armed b-24 could usually chase them off. But just a few critical hits could just as easily bring them down.

I remember some of the stories he told my brother and I, but there had to be a lot more.