YoungMedic
Well-Known Member
I ran across this on another forum I patrol and thought it would be great to share here as well.
zepher11;4970511 said:Made it down to a 4th of July parade today. A bit warm, but overall very enjoyable. I had 93 year old Lt. Kelley with me. He insists on wearing his flight jacket even though it is close to 100 degrees. Here are a couple of photos.
Had to "Keep 'em Rolling" by giving the little Jeep a Jump from my Beep:
Kelley likes to imitate Patton by standing along the parade route:
On the way home from the parade Kelley and I stopped by and I met Bert Shope. Bert was in the 91st Bomb Group, 322nd Bomb Squadron...the same as Kelley. Bert is 93 years old and was a Radio Operator. Unlike Kelley, he completed his combat tour with 32 combat missions. He actually left the 91st on the same day Kelley's crew arrived as a replacement crew for Bert's crew. They live in the same small cow town...go figure.
I brought down my BC-348 radio receiver which would have been what was used in the bombers that Bert would have used. He enjoyed checking it out:
Bert had some photos of some of the planes he flew on at the 91st BG. I used my trusty phone camera and took photos of everything he had. Here is Bert ready to go in the early days of training:
Man-O-War II with Bert poking his head up:
Sleepytime Gal. Bert is standing third from the left:
Bert is kneeling all the way to the right. The plane's name is Fifinella. Most of these planes were shot down after Bert left the 91st:
Wabash Cannonball...can't quite make out the rest. This is an early B-17F model. The ones with the twin 50 Cal chin turrets are the B-17G's. Devastating frontal attacks by the Germans necessitated the chin turret upgrade:
Wee Willie. Bert is second from the left standing in the lower photo:
Sorry to be a bit long winded, but I can go through these types of photos for days. Especially, if I have met the individual in some of the photos. I thought maybe everyone would be interested in seeing them as well.
Happy 4th everyone!
