On Veterans Day, 2014 ... I post this in honor of my late father, Capt. Jerome K. Lawrence, USAF, retired reserves. (Well, not exactly U.S. Air Force, which, strictly speaking, didnt yet exist during my dads active service. Technically, he was in the Army Air Force, I believe.) Dad was a B-17 navigator in WW II, and Im pretty sure he flew his bombing missions out of Ipswitch, England. There are 30 bombs painted on the back of his flight jacket - oh, if that leather jacket could talk - and I guess that means he flew, and survived, 30 missions. Theres only space for 30; maybe there were more? Each painted bomb has the name of a target (or so I would presume thats what they mean), and by my count, Berlin comes up five times, along with other familiar names like Frankfort (twice), Munich and Cognac (France?). Dad didnt die fighting, though many B-17 flyers did lose their lives. In fact, my father lived sixty-odd fruitful years more after the war ended. (Im one of his fruit!) Ive read that more flyers perished than survived the missions, but Im not sure if thats true. I think the survivors officially, or maybe inofficially, called themselves the Lucky Bastards. Well, heres to all the military veterans out there, both alive and not, including Jerry Lawrence ... who had a slightly different name at the time. (Long story; lets just say I could have had a whole different last name.) Ill salute you all with a big sip of bourbon - a French word, though I think my stuff is from Kentucky - later. Pete
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 01:23:32 +0000
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