My Dad Was A Hero, WWII Options

[EdwardBlume]

I want to share a cool thing with you my friends on the 914 world site. As many of you know, I am restoring Dads car.. a '74 2.0.. my Dad bought it when I was 6. It was his midlife crisis car, and I was his midlife crisis kid.... as he had me at 53.

Today in the mail I received a book written by the historian of the 31st Bombardment Squadron of WWII. I'm grateful for her work and dedication, as so many heroes history have gone undocumented and are lost... but thanks to her some are not lost... particularly now.. my Dads.

My Dad never talked about the war, so little was said, I wasn't even sure he was there... let alone where, what, or when. However, when he died, we found the picture below.

Years later, in the middle of the night, I woke up thinking about my Dad. I walked out into our kitchen (Jeff Bowlsby's old house) and saw the picture of my Dad and his crew. Unexpectedly, an internet search led me to his exact same B24! but strangely it had a different crew. That's where it ended though, no one had heard of my Dad or his crew.... despite the picture.

I left my information hoping for anything. You see, I don't have my Dad's military record either, as a fire at the government storage facility where it was kept, was destroyed decades ago.

The book author / historian contacted me from seeing the website. She asked for rights to the picture and any details. I agreed, but I had no details.

More years later, out of nowhere, she called me excited wanting to introduce me to a man I had never heard of.. turns out, he was the pilot of my Dad's crew. Somehow she recognized my Dad's name from our brief exchange. I agreed to talk with him by phone. We chatted as best we could, and he outlined the story in the book I just read. He called my Dad "the best damn navigator in the whole war.." but I didn't really understand the full story.. until I read it just now tonight.

In the book, the pilot of my Dad's B24 tells the story their survival... an experience which rendered him unable to fly for 3 days after.... when faced with the end of their lives, they did their jobs, including my Dad.

After reading it, it all hit me, he WAS a hero... so many were and are, but now I know, and its in print, he was there and he barely made it through.

He was my hero too. Long before tonight. I hope as my days pass, I can live up to his example.

So when you see my Dad's car around, look past me, look past a car, and know that a hero, my hero "enjoyed it like a little go cart"... and live your life to the fullest too...

Thanks so much to all of you out there who have had a hand in helping me restore my 914 (you know who you are). Thanks to this site... and thanks to my family and friends for putting up with this pathetic addiction, so that I could preserve my Dads spirit. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[Mary Shortridge]

Rob:
I am so pleased to read about your restored car being your dad's. I can relate a bit to the joy these cars can bring as we drive them in honor of a loved one.
I was involved for a few years with the b24/b29 squadron of the Commemorative Air Force. I would encourage you to look up their schedule, and if they are ever nearby check out 'Ol 927, formerly known as Diamond Lil. These guys would LOVE to hear about your dad. And take the car, and get that photo op of it parked next to the b24!
Their website: http://www.cafb29b24.org/a/B-24.htm

[Millerwelds]

I think you should duplicate the planes art and name on the car.

[Tom_T]

I think you should duplicate the planes art and name on the car.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

I'll bet you could get a graphics shop up there to reproduce a B&W, Color or colorized version of it as a decal you could put in the window (rear behind the headrests works well without blocking vision), so you don't mess up your paint job! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

You could start a new trend - "914 Nose Art" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

PS - so the above was actually written yesterday but the world-outage prevented me from posting it until today, after which I read your "more about Dad" post.

Rob - I've to say that your Dad sounds like a real character who would've been a real hoot to know! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ... although I was torn between giggles & tears as I read through it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

He's a bit of a cross between my Dad & his youngest brother Merrill, & my Dad was a Korean War Vet you passed away a couple of months before I found 914world (Dec. 08), but I was the eldest so at the opposite end. My wife's Dad was a WWII Vet too, & Ops Officer (non-pilot support) for a PBY Squadron stationed in Iceland amongst other postings on ASW patrols. He probably told me more stories from WWII - not about it, if you get my drift - than did my Dad about his escapades.

My Dad & Uncle Merrill taught me about cars, had a broken down 18' cabin cruiser together that they went fishing on, & for the last several decades of his life Merrill had a beat up RV he lived in & drove somewhere else when he got tired of that place!

I too was switched from a lefty in Kindergarten, but didn't retail the ambidextrous skills (now a dork with the left), I've never had cable nor satellite - in fact there's now foil on the rabbit ears awaiting me to crawl up in the attic to install a dtv antenna, only plant fruit bearing trees, had a similar talk with my daughter & son about sex & drugs & life, & a few others are similar. So I can relate!

BTW - I love places like Nipomo, even if they have grown a bit since our youths. San Diego was small when I lived there 6th grade on in the 60's, so things change, but hopefully we can still find kernals of what was in those old places, or in others like they used to be.

Thanx for sharing, & glad to hear you got the lizard out of the engine tins - she should run much cooler now! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Cheers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
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