In article <nnli5c01sjm@news4.newsguy.com>, Jess Lurkin says...
>
>
>
>In spite of all the good work done by the B-24, I have
>little regard for it. I read Louis Zamperini's book a
>long time ago. Read it long before the be-nice-to-Japs
>movie. The 24 was a bucket of bolts. Louis wasn't the
>only one I've heard express this. Read more slams by
>those who flew it. Sorry if my opinion has offended a
>few in here.
>
>---
>This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
>https://www.avast.com/antivirus
>
FWIW...from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_B-24_Liberator
Notable B-24 crewmen
Robert Altman, film director, was a B-24 co-pilot, flying over 50 bombing
missions in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies.
Chuck Bednarik, NFL Hall of Fame member, former Philadelphia Eagle and the last
full-time two way player, served as a B-24 waist-gunner with the Eighth Air
Force 467th Bomb Group. Bednarik participated in 30 combat missions over Germany
as a S/Sgt and eventually attained the rank of First Lieutenant. Bednarik was
awarded the Air Medal and four Oak Leaf Clusters, the European-African-Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal and four Battle Stars.
Lt. Thomas Cartwright piloted B-24J Lonesome Lady, 494th Bomb Group, 7th Air
Force, and was shot down 28 July 1945 over Kure, Japan. Eight crew members
survived; Lt. Cartwright was taken to Tokyo for questioning, and the remaining
seven were taken to the military police facility in Hiroshima, fifteen miles
from Kure. They died there nine days later, 6 August 1945, when the atomic bomb
was dropped on the city.
Lt. Mark E. Estes, from Milwaukee, Oregon, was one of the first test pilots of
the B-24. He and his crew were lost when their plane went down in heavy weather
during a test and training flight.
Hal Clement, science fiction author, was a pilot and copilot on B-24s and flew
35 combat missions over Europe with the 68th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group,
based in England with Eighth Air Force.
Ernest K. Gann, early airline pilot and author, flew C-87 Cargo Express aircraft
in Southern Asia and China, including flying cargo over "The Hump". He detailed
his flying experiences in Fate is the Hunter.
Don Herbert, television pioneer "Mr. Wizard", flew 56 missions as a Liberator
pilot over northern Italy, Germany, and Yugoslavia, winning the Distinguished
Flying Cross.
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., elder brother of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was
killed in Operation Aphrodite when his PB4Y-1 Liberator, modified to be a
remote-controlled bomb, exploded in flight.
Ben Kuroki, top turret gunner, was the only Japanese-American in the United
States Army Air Forces to serve in combat operations in the Pacific theater of
World War II.
George McGovern, U.S. Senator and 1972 presidential candidate, served as a B-24
pilot in missions over Italy as a member of the 455th Bomb Group of the
Fifteenth Air Force; his wartime exploits and some of the characteristics of the
B-24 are the focus of Stephen Ambrose's book Wild Blue.
Actor Jimmy Stewart flew B-24s as commanding officer of the 703rd Bomber
Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, out of RAF Tibenham, UK. (He was later
promoted to operations officer of the 453rd BG.) From 1943 to 1944, Stewart was
credited with 20 combat missions as a pilot, including one over Berlin. Stewart
flew several (possibly as many as 20) additional uncredited missions, filling in
for pilots as duties and space would allow. Stewart's leadership qualities were
highly regarded; the men who served under him praised his coolness under fire.
He entered service as a private in early 1941 and rose to the rank of colonel by
1945.
Stewart Udall, author, conservationst, U.S. Representative, and Secretary of
Interior, served as a waist gunner on a B-24 in 1944. He was based in Southern
Italy; 15th Army AF, 454th Bombardment Group. His Liberator's nickname was
"Flyin' Home". He is credited with 50 missions. The 454th received a Unit
Citation for leading an attack on the Hermann Goering Steel Works in Linz,
Austria on 25 July 1944. Udall's crew suffered one casualty on the mission. The
dead crew member was serving at the waist-gunner position normally manned by
Udall; by chance, the pilot assigned Udall to the nose gun for this mission,
saving his life.
Jim Wright, former Speaker of the House, served as a B-24 bombardier in the
William Charles Anderson, author of BAT-21 and Bomber Crew 369, piloted
Liberators based in Italy as a member of the 451st Bomb Group of the 15th AF.
Louis Zamperini, Olympic runner, and later war prisoner and hero, served as a
bombardier on two B-24s. The first, "Super Man", was damaged, and the crew was
assigned to B-24D "Green Hornet" to conduct search and rescue. On 27 May 1943,
the aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Eight of the 11 crewmembers were
killed. Zamperini, pilot Russell A. Phillips, and Francis McNamara survived the
crash. Only Zamperini and Phillips survived their 47 days adrift on a life raft
on the sea.[48] Zamperini is the subject of two biographies and the 2014 film
Unbroken.
...also, my father.
*
|
|