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Politics : Proof that John Kerry is Unfit for Command -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kirby49 who wrote (21745)	10/24/2004 3:48:18 PM
From: ManyMoose	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27181

It is indeed possible that our fathers knew each other. My father-in-law flew out of Thurleigh England and was shot down during a bomb run on Hanover. The formation was at 25,500 feet, two thousand feet lower than normal due to an engine problem in the lead plane. Flak got him. Who knows what would have happened if he'd been at the proper altitude and returned from that flight to the rest of his 25 missions. He was half way through, on his 12th when shot down. He was on that march you are talking about, in the dead of winter. It was a 300 mile march between camps. He and another fellow took refuge from the cold in a bombed out factory along the way. They said the Germans would have shot them if they'd been caught but they were so cold they didn't care. Almost all of the men in the Great Escape, mostly British, were captured and shot. My neighbor flew B-24s. If I can get the two of them together, I hope to spark a debate about the relative merits of the two planes. The B-24 was more advanced, but not as likely to survive the hits the B-17 could take. Isn't that the plane your father flew? I thought they used B-24s down in North Africa. If you ever get a chance, visit the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. There is a small prison-camp display there. My father-in-law says they reused everything, and recognizes all the artifacts on display. One I remember is a Klim can -- milk spelled backwards. It stunk but they were glad to get it. He has a large book which was given blank to the men by the Red Cross and since the Germans had no use for it they were allowed to keep it. The book is filled with his journals and poems that he copied from journals of other men. I'm one of the few people who have read it. I nearly break out in tears every time. At the end of the book he kept a list of every single one of the letters written to him, most by his wife-to-be. Next year is their 60th anniversary. I wonder if your father has a similar book? Thanks for the links.