Doug,
My dad was also a ball turret gunner in a Liberator
but he was in the European theater. On his first mission
the plane right next to him took a direct flak hit,
turned upside down and exploded -- none of the crew
survived. Sometimes it makes me feel guilty as I never
chose to serve a stint in the U.S. Military.
Mark Hammons
Plano,TX USA
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 11:45 AM
> Subject: Re: [OM] Liberator Crash site
>
>
> > You're welcome Joel. I was thinking of the US contingent of the List
> > while we visited the site. I believe that you are right: I don't
> > think there was much of an investigation into the cause of the
> > accident.
> >
> > Chris
>
> Hello Group!
>
> I'm new to the OM list and have been a lurker till now, but you've touched a
> chord in me with this one. My father was a ball turret gunner and radio
> operator with the 307th BG flying B-24's out of Morotai (Dutch East Indies
> between Australia and the Phillipines) in 1944 and 1945. I asked him once
> about investigations of accidents, etc. He replied "Accidents happened all
> the time. It was just a fact of war. The Army didn't have time to
> investigate every crash to find out why." Hundreds of men died every day.
> They just notified the families that it happened and recovered the bodies if
> possible, if not, it was left to the locals to handle. War was awful. When I
> see the price that generation paid, I feel very humble and thankful. Let's
> all hope the world never sees anything of that magnitude again.
>
> Doug Betts
> Hartville, Ohio USA
>
>
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