What's it's like to see-em die in a war?

What's it's like to see-em die in a war?

A World War II Vet Remembers An Air Battle

s
Jim Bramlett
May 24, 2009

Dear friends:

The below is from financial writer, Richard Russell, author of the Dow Theory Letters. Thank God for the men and women who have defended America with their lives. Let us remember them. With their own blood, they purchased a few more decades of freedom for us. May their sacrifice not be in vain, but what is happening in America today is cause for great concern.

(Russell speaks of the WW2 bomber, the B-25. The B-25 was a twin-engined, propeller-driven, medium bomber. I caught a ride on one in the 1950s. It was very noisy and cramped.)

Jim

From Richard Russell,

Since Memorial Day is coming up, have you ever wondered what it's like to see 'em die in a war?

It's late 1944 and three flights of B-25 medium (Mitchell) bombers are heading north up the "Italian Boot." We've got orders to "greet" a German Panzer division that we hear is parked near the coast. I'm hunched in the nose of my B-25. Below me is a metal plate that they tell us is flak-proof. But that's not enough. As usual, I'm sitting on my metal helmet, protecting the well-known "family jewels." I'm also wearing a flak-jacket. I've got a parachute on my back and another one strapped to my belly. I've got a Colt 45 (Army issue) holstered on my hip and a little 32 Beretta auto tucked in my boot. I"m pretty well packed up.

On one side of my plane are two other Mitchell bombers. In one is my best Air Force buddy, Eddy Whitman (he's also from New York). We started off as enemies. We were lined up for inspection. I stepped back and bumped into Eddy. It was a hot day, and we were all out of sorts. When I bumped into Eddy he said "Bump into me again and I'll shove this bayonet up your rear." I turned around and said, "Don't try it shorty." An hour later we're talking calmly to each other, and within a week or so we became good friends.

On the flight, Eddy's plane is next to mine. Eddy is also a bombardier. He's crouched over his bombsight. We wave and smile and give each other the thumbs up (meaning that with any luck we'll both get out of this mission alive and intact).

As we near the target black puffs of smoke appear to our right. Flak, Intelligence didn't tell us there'd be flak on this mission. Just another military screw-up and nasty surprise. We continue to cruise toward the target at maybe 185 MPH. I look down -- nothing yet.

I place both hands on the flexible 50 Cal. machine gun which is set in the nose of my plane. We're at 10,000 feet, so the flexible is not going to be of much use against ground troops. Fragments of flak hit the sides of our plane. It sounds like gravel hitting a big sheet of metal. But I know it's deadly.

I turn my head to see what Eddy is doing. To my horror, smoke is streaming out of the left engine of his plane. I know his pilot is doing everything he can to put the fire out. He's feathered the prop, hoping that the wind will put out the fire.

B-25's don't do well with only one engine and a full load of bombs. Slowly Eddy's plane begins to sink out of our formation. I turn to look at Eddy's face -- he's frozen with fear and I see that he appears pale and resigned. He looks at me but doesn't see me. I must look as frightened as he does. I know that to drop out of formation with a full load of bombs near a German encampment is like a death sentence (Eddy is a Jew, and will be killed instantly if caught by the Germans). They've already announced that they'll kill all Jewish flyers if caught.

I never did see or hear from Eddy Whitman again. You see, that's what death looks like in a war. And Monday is Memorial Day. I don't think I'll do any shopping on Monday.

s

My Immortal - Military Tribute

This video was created by itkkwan who writes:

"A lot of people think "Oh, you're in the army/military. It's such an easy, dumb job. Do you like to kill innocent people?" It's not like that. It's a difficult career, and makes a both positive and negative difference in peoples' lives. There are the troops who do the bad things you here of in the news, but the rest are good people. And if those people ever do have to make the difficult decision of shooting someone, it's not easy to get over it whether it was justified or not. This is what they have to go through... "