 | B17| Stories Discuss B17 in the World War II - Aviation forums; Hi Jhor.
Im curious about you being a Jewish pilot. I havent met or known of more than a handfull ... |
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11-26-2006, 05:25 PM
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#106 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 8,312
| Hi Jhor.
Im curious about you being a Jewish pilot. I havent met or known of more than a handfull that served in that capacity in WW2
The only other one I met was when i was dating an old girlfriend of mine, who's dad was in B24 pilot training when the war ended.
1) Did you encounter any antisemitism during your training or tours?
2) Did the Army and AirForce give Jewish servicemen the option to fight in the Pacific so as to not have to worry about capture by the nazi's?
3)How many other Jewish airmen did you serve with? Were there enough around so the holy days werent a solo affair?
Thanks in advance!
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"Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"
Last edited by syscom3 : 11-26-2006 at 09:59 PM.
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11-26-2006, 09:44 PM
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#107 | | IP/Mech THE GREAT GAZOO
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 13,235
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11-26-2006, 10:01 PM
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#108 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 8,312
| No I didnt. And thanks for that link!!!! I learned something new tonight!
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"Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?" | |
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11-27-2006, 11:44 AM
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#109 | | aka Dickcheese
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Washington State
Posts: 10,480
Country: | Quote:
Originally Posted by jhor9  Matt,
About halfway through my tour, I checked out my copilot, he was flying left seat and I was in the right seat with nothing to do. Our "large" formation was qbout 35-40 planes. My plane was on the extreme right side, This incident took about 5-6 seconds. I saw an enemy fighter coming at me from 4 o'clock
I could see 20mm shells coming closer and closer. I had to do something. I remembered the flare gun with a shell in it just overhead and a litttle to the left, I reached up and tried to pull it down to shoot at him,In the heat of excitement I forgot that it was screwed in a half a turn.. Fortunately the fighter missed me, as he passed under my wing tip, I saw him waving at me , he thought that I was waving at him.
When I got back to base I related the incident to the S2 officer, he sent the item to hometown papers, several weeks later I received clippings from my folks
"Nazi pilot and Jewish pilot, gladiators at war, salute each other in the heat of combat" | Great story!! Thanks.
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11-30-2006, 03:16 PM
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#110 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida
Posts: 77
| Quote:
Originally Posted by syscom3 Hi Jhor.
Im curious about you being a Jewish pilot. I havent met or known of more than a handfull that served in that capacity in WW2
The only other one I met was when i was dating an old girlfriend of mine, who's dad was in B24 pilot training when the war ended.
1) Did you encounter any antisemitism during your training or tours?
2) Did the Army and AirForce give Jewish servicemen the option to fight in the Pacific so as to not have to worry about capture by the nazi's?
3)How many other Jewish airmen did you serve with? Were there enough around so the holy days werent a solo affair?
Thanks in advance! | 1.I never experienced any overt antisemitism
2. Never had any option
3. I had a j\Jewish waist gunner. I knew of a goodly number of Jewish navigators, also a pilot in my sqdn who was KIA. I don't understand the latter part of #3 | |
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11-30-2006, 04:51 PM
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#111 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 1,506
Country: | Great story. One minute that Nazi Pilot is shooting shells at you, then seeing you're a seemingly friendly fellow he decides to wave hello.
How hard was it to see the pilot's features or other details on an enemy plane passing your Bomber at the high speeds you were both going? It seems like it would be quite blurry! I guess they tried to find people with good eyesight in the Airforce. How about your fighter escorts?
From WWII books, a lot of other Flight Veterans also talk of seeing things that would pass almost in the blink of an eye.
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"His motor's conked out!"
"What's the differance, they're all Nazis!"
"Luke, shut up!"
"Fear the hook!"
"Oh.....I wanna fly."
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"What you doing? Oh Nooooo!"
Last edited by Soundbreaker Welch? : 11-30-2006 at 04:55 PM.
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12-02-2006, 07:47 PM
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#112 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida
Posts: 77
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Soundbreaker Welch? Great story. One minute that Nazi Pilot is shooting shells at you, then seeing you're a seemingly friendly fellow he decides to wave hello.
How hard was it to see the pilot's features or other details on an enemy plane passing your Bomber at the high speeds you were both going? It seems like it would be quite blurry! I guess they tried to find people with good eyesight in the Airforce. How about your fighter escorts?
From WWII books, a lot of other Flight Veterans also talk of seeing things that would pass almost in the blink of an eye. | Remember, we were both going in the same direction, so the relative speed wasn't that great.When he passed he was pretty close, he went within and below my wing, I was able to see his head wearing his O2 mask, it was probaly a split second view.
After that incident I realized why the AAF issued us brown underwear.
On that mission we didn't have any escort. I had quite a number of missions where we went unescorted
At my flight physical the most stringent part was the eye exam.
Last edited by jhor9 : 12-02-2006 at 07:52 PM.
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12-03-2006, 05:36 AM
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#113 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 1,506
Country: | Now I understand a little better. I thought he was coming horizontal to your fuselage.
I need to learn those time positions better at any rate!
It can still seem amazing at times to hear from somebody like you who lived through, and survived WWII. God bless you men for getting rid of those twin evils and who gave, along with all our men and women, the US one of it's greatests achievements of Patriotism and Teamwork.
Ok, ok, maybe I went a little too grand.............but those are the feelings I get from hearing about those days.
__________________
"His motor's conked out!"
"What's the differance, they're all Nazis!"
"Luke, shut up!"
"Fear the hook!"
"Oh.....I wanna fly."
"You mean the kind that go under water and fly up the stairs?"
"What you doing? Oh Nooooo!"
Last edited by Soundbreaker Welch? : 12-03-2006 at 05:43 AM.
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