Dantankerous Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 https://www.ksn.com/community/veteran-salute/veteran-salute-ball-turret-gunner-says-you-never-get-over-combat/2018748578 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I just can’t imagine what that would be like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 "Sometimes you lose your urine and of course you can do even worse than that, cause when people shoot at you, it's not good," Gibbs said.” Bomber crews took a special kind of hutzpah, flying dead on course while hell broke out around you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I heard a story once, an infantryman and an AAF bomber crewman were drinking in a pub in England comparing war stories. The infantryman complained that he had to do all the dangerous stuff like sleep in muddy foxholes and deal with tanks and artillery, while the bomber crewman got the easy job. The crewman challenged him and offered to switch jobs if he liked. When the infantryman asked him what he did he said "I'm a ball turret gunner". The infantryman promptly told him to go to hell, he could keep his job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailrider #896 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Salute! God bless him and those like him in the Mighty 8th Air Force (and other Air Forces of WWII)! Especially before the P-51's were available to escort the bombers, the Army Air Forces in Europe lost more KIA than the U.S. Marines did in WWII (with ALL due respect to the Marines)! The ball turret gunner was really vulnerable. If the turret jammed so he couldn't get the hatch into the fuselage open, and the plane had to make a belly landing due to jammed landing gear...well, it could be bad news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 After watching war movies as a kid, I actually wanted to be a ball gunner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 11 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: After watching war movies as a kid, I actually wanted to be a ball gunner! In the Navy and while in boot camp, I listed 'Corpman' as my top choice for Navy career. This was 1969. They made me a Radioman. Go Figure. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 14 hours ago, Widder, SASS #59054 said: In the Navy and while in boot camp, I listed 'Corpman' as my top choice for Navy career. This was 1969. They made me a Radioman. Go Figure. ..........Widder They did that because you misspelled Corpsman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Lud Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 Made me think of this poem from high school... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Eye Jake Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 Thanks for posting that. Another true American hero from The Greatest Generation. Thanks to all who have served. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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