As I approach my 81st birthday, and as events and scenes of 58 years ago begin to fade, I feel compelled to put in print my remembrance of a special time and place so many years ago. Most of us fail to recognize at the time the most significent moments in our lives. I think perhaps the years '42 through '45 were the years that shaped the future for me. I often wonder how different my future would have been had it not been for the events of those years.

My generation was born in the early "Roaring Twenties", grew up and suffered through a world wide economic depression which lasted through the 1930's. We were just beginning a recovery from this depression when we found ourselves thrown into an enormous world conflict called World War II. My experiences during this war from 1942 through 1945 are the basis for this web site and represent my best efforts at recalling in accurate detail as much as I am able. My family has been supportive of my effort and have lovingly encouraged me during the many months I have struggled to make this a reality.

This was a time, when each American, young and old alike, gave of themselves for the love of their country. A time when almost everyone worked in war industries and no one doubted our ultimate victory. A time when those of us in our teens anxiously awaited our 18th birthday so that we could enlist in the services. A time when we eagerly awaited the completion of our cadet flight training so that we could join in combat and help conclude the war. A time when many of us left our homes and loved ones for the first time and learned what it meant to be homesick. A time when most of us had to deal with the death of close friends or crew members for the first time.

The exuberance of youth made us feel invincible and thoughts of death seldom crossed our minds. To say we were scared flying into enemy terrority would understate our feelings. The tightness in the stomach, when the curtain was raised in the ready room to display our target, is still felt today. Only the flares bursting in the darkness, signifying the order to taxi our plane, relieved the tensions and we were again ready to go to work. Our flying training had prepared us for this mission and our fears left us temporarily.....only to reappeared when we sighted the black puffs of antiaircraft fire or distant contrails of ME 109's.

I raise a reverant toast to those of my comrades who made the supreme sacrifice for their country.....and there were so many.

Our crew flew 30 bombing missions over enemy territory in a B-17 "Flying Fortress" - the finest bomber produced in WWII. Most of the missions that we flew between October 1944 and April 1945 were not memorable. This was a period in time when we experienced the worst of European weather and a period when all our missions were accompanied by a friendly fighter escort, unlike the earlier part of the war when fighters did not have the range to accompany bomber all the way to the target. We seldom saw enemy fighter aircraft up close and frequently our targets were obscured by clouds, leaving the results of our bomb drops to our imagination.

We regularly flew from the initial point (IP) to the target, through a field of hundreds (seemed like thousands) of bursts of 88 millimeter anti-aircraft fire (Flak), always flying straight and level and at a fixed altitude - a perfect target for the German antiaircraft gunners intent on sending their shells into our plane or deflecting us from our target. I don't remember a single mission that we did not encounter some anti-aircraft fire.

I hope that these real life stories will be read by my family and my descendants and those of my peers who were with me at that time and may survive me.....and to all others who may have an interest in this short period of time in the history of our country.

Respectfully submitted,
A. Willard "Hap" Reese