Captain Charles W. "Smithy" Smith, with assistance from co-pilot Merle P. Brown, skillfully guided the crippled B-17 for about 2500 feet before it came to rest. The crew members, all ten of them, were stunned but unhurt. It was 4:55 in the afternoon....
Our wilting B-17 Liberty Lady is flying over the island of Gotland, a Swedish province. Remember that the crew had no idea where they were and suspected that they were still flying over enemy territory. As waist gunner Don Courson remembers, when they came...
Lasse Svensson, a little boy who lived in the tiny village of Hemse on the island of Gotland, heard the noise of a plane flying low. Because his Dad owned a photoshop in Hemse, there was always a camera nearby, and it was always loaded...
I am in Columbia, spending the weekend with the Colonel. We went to the Pancake House....
On Sunday, December 5th, 1943, Herman was awakened for his 2nd missions at 2:30 am. The target for the day was the factories at the airport near La Rochelle, deep in France, southwest of Paris....
Charles L. "Steve" Stevenson was the navigator of Herman's original crew. He and Herman flew side by side in "the nose" of the B-17, and they became close friends....
Well, it's time to formally introduce "The Colonel." Herman lives in Columbia, SC in The Atria, a Senior Living community. ...
Santa Ana Army Air Base (SAAAB) was a huge classification and preflight center on the west coast where new Aviation Cadets were indoctrinated into military life. ...