I realized a WWII B-24D pilot lived two hours away from me. It was Monday and my mom told me we were driving to that same town to visit family. I quickly went down to the LHS and traded a Monogram C-47 for a B-24D. I built up the wing and painted it neutral gray. I called their house, and to my luck Col. Walter Stewart was their. My dad and I went in and spoke with him. He was a very nice guy and loved to speak with us. Unfortunately, he had dementia. I am glad I got his signiture on the B-24 wing.
Sorry for not so good footage, my sister was filming. There are only two cons from this project:1. There are no Utah Man decals. 2. I have to build another Monogram four engine[+o(]
I have told a couple members this, but not many. I have a list of aces addresses and phone numbers I have compiled. There are about 2 dozen. I want to build models of all of their planes and have them sign under the right wing.
Hope this is on topic [:)]
Thanks for watching, next time I will get a better video.
Bravo for your actions. I have a neighbor who was a B-24 pilot in the European theater & a member of our Senior Golf League was also a B-24 pilot in Italy. They can tell some interesting tales, but you have to draw them out.
Congratulations for your actions. It is very gratifying to do this. I know the feeling as I made two P-47s for pilots I met who were in Laconia for a reunion. I also made a Huey for a Vietnam pilot I met.
Hope you get to complete your project. [Y] I’m building a P-47D for a pilot who was stationed in New Guinea. He’s 87 now and I hope I can finish it for him. He’s an amazing guy and it’s great to sit and talk to him about his time in the service. Talk to as many of these great men as you can. They are disappearing fast.
Yeah I have one of them, not a B-24, in my circle of closest friends.
Don’t go slather on war stories. They have a plus look at the things that meant something positive to them in what was a negative experience. Killed a lot of people, and none of them ever wanted to do that,
They look for you to realize that they did good stuff like their mom’s taught them, like fed people from leftovers at the mess or in churches in areas where the German’s had left.
Agreed. Amazing how the Vets rarely talk about their experiences in battle. My Dad was in Korea and Nam, and other than a couple of short events (plane getting struck by lightening in Korea and him almost getting shot down by AA fire on a night sortie in Nam), I heard little from him, even when asked.
Now that he’s passed, I’m learning more (and, of course have even more questions) from the letters and pictures I’ve found when handling his estate.
Great story and a noble project. I once had the honor to meet Col. Robert K. Morgan, the pilot of the Memphis Belle. I was in Memphis on business and had gone over to Mud Island when the Belle was still there. I was in the gift shop and somebody came in and said “Capt. Morgan is at the Belle!” I immediately bought a print of the Belle and legged it up to the Belle. Sure enough, Col. Morgan was standing there, all by himself, looking at the Belle. I respectfully approached and introduced myself. He was very good about taking time to talk to me about his experiences and graciously autographed the print I had bought. He told me he would be at an airshow at Millington, TN., the next day with two other crew members. I went to the air show the next day and got the autograph of the co-pilot, Jim Verinis, and Cass Nastal, one of the waist gunners. This was not long before Jim Verinis died. Today that print hangs proudly in my office.
A couple years back I met Col(Ret.) R.E. Cole, Col Doolittle’s Co-pilot during the raid on Japan, during a model contest. A very interesting gentleman. I asked him to sign my dio of the Doolittle raid (did not even know he would be there) and he was kind to do so. Even had some nice comments for my model.
Good luck with your project, I hope you can get it done.
That’s a great project! I just finished something similar, I had met Tex Hill of Flying Tigers fame a few years back, and have just built 6 of the planes he flew while in the service from 1939-1945. Having a personal connection to history always helps inspires us to buid to honor those who served.
Good luck with your project, and shwo us the finished pics!
Benny Adamo he was an engineer aboard “bradys Gang” in 449th bomb group on b24s, he died few years back but i knew him , got his wings, bottle and memories his son is my uncles best friend.
his son is my uncles best friend.