@ii-.m.s.h.-ii5654

2 months ago

I think I understand how my grandpa felt during his youth. He was a World War II veteran who served as a turret gunner in the B-17 bomber when he was just 18 years old. He shared stories with me about his experiences in that flying metal coffin. He recounted how he shot down three enemy planes, despite feeling scared initially. He described seeing black puffs of smoke in the air and one instance where an explosion from the flak sent shrapnel flying dangerously close to his fellow crew member, hitting him on the arm. He expressed his fear of dying in a plane or falling into enemy hands, having heard about the treatment of American prisoners. What frightened him the most was the lack of protection; neither the jackets they wore nor the plane itself offered much defense. He conveyed a sense of helplessness, describing how they all felt like they were in a coffin, simply waiting to meet their fate. Sadly, he heard that some of his friends perished when they didn't make it out of their B-17s alive. The most harrowing aspect he shared was how the enemy's 20mm cannon could rip through the B-17, while they only had 50-caliber machine guns for defense. He recounted stories from his fellow crew members who witnessed enemy planes tearing apart B-17s with their 20mm cannons. They even spoke of instances where crew members were hit by these cannons, resulting in catastrophic injuries, with some literally exploding from the impact.

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