We stood in line. Two men ahead of me went into the - Navy. It was my turn. (I didn't want the Navy.) The Sergeant declared, "I've got my Navy quota; you are now in the Army Air Force." (1 was elated.) "You are assigned to Miami Beach for Basic Training." 

Out from behind a curtain stepped an officer singing the New Air Corps song. "Off we go into the wild blue yonder riding high into the sun ... etc."   Before we walked out of there, we were singing it with him. 
When I got out of there, I realized my first introduction to Army public relations. The Army Air Corps had everything! 

On my way to Miami Beach I pondered over this episode. Our song leader was A-I. I thought I would liked to have sung in his church choir, where most of the members did not read music. 
(T'was Only Yesterday) 

My grandfather was a gunsmith. I spent several summers in my teens trying out guns and pistols for him after he had finished his specialty of putting on new sights. 

My target was a Coca Cola bottle cap at 30 feet in the distance. When I could hit it, or come very close, I would take it back and report if the sight needed adjusting. Anyone with a John Breber,(JB), sight produced meat on the table. 

This early experience served me well in basic training. When a number of us lined up and looked at our man sized target, 20 feet away, I wondered where on earth I should hit it. I happened to be the first in a line of 20 of us, each with our own target. After the sergeant demonstrated how to load, he said, "Fire at will". I decided to aim for the head. I emptied the clip and shredded the head. Much to my embarrassment, the sergeant then remarked in a loud voice, "We have a Daniel Boone with us! My score was a 490 out of 500. Not perfect, but good enough. 
(T'was Only Yesterday)

We were assigned to bomb German Headquarters. The location was about 40 miles east of the Rhine River, hidden in a large patch of woods. Crossing the Rhine - As our B-17 group formation crossed over the Rhine River from west to east, I could see hundreds and hundreds of small assault boats. Wave after wave paddled toward the German shore like a scene from a movie.

As we left the Rhine River behind us, heading east, the flak increased. As we approached our target, it became so intense we could smell the cordite acid smoke coming through the cracks in the plexiglass nose of the plane. All at once I heard a loud ripping noise just behind me. A jagged hole had appeared within six inches of my back. Smoke filled the plexiglass nose compartment of the B-17. I had my flak helmet and flak apron on and I was sitting on two additional flak aprons. The B-17 was jumping every time flak would come close. The toggler dropped his bombs on the lead plane's smoke bombs - a signal for everyone to toggle his bombs.' 

When we returned to base I saw that the jagged hole that had appeared behind me, was only two feet from where the pilot sat just above me. It was a miracle that our squadron sustained no casualties! 
(T'was Only Yesterday)

German tactics were to spearhead tank attacks and split through Allied lines at Bastogne, an important American base. The 30Sth, among other groups, were to seek and destroy the German attack bomb Tiger Panzer Tanks. A foot of snow covered the ground. Our altitude was at 8,000-10,000 feet, (a suicidal altitude). We spotted tank tracks leading into a large wooded area. They were hiding from us. We had missed the opportunity to drop bombs on the tank: targets, so we did a 360 degree turn back to the IP point and did it right. We used General LeMay's box style area bombing. We toggled our bombs! The ground erupted like numerous small volcanos as tank: after tank exploded. The entire action was over in 10 to 20 seconds. This, to my knowledge, may have been the first time the 8th Air Force was used as a tactical maneuver. 
(T'was Only Yesterday) 

Over several years Hitler had built underground factories to house the V -2 rockets he was sending to London. Our Inission was to disrupt these installations as much as possible. Just before "bombs away", a V-2 rocket appeared on the starboard side of our plane. The rocket was a beautiful sight, rising vertically not more that 200 yards away, on its deadly flight path to London where it would explode and render a half of a block of buildings to rubble. 

If Hitler had started manufacturing these V - 2 rockets, he could have destroyed most of London. He could have prolonged the war another six months. 
(T'was Only Yesterday) 

The German Air Force had begun to develop fighter jets (ME 262) - a twin engine jet which was very powerful, much faster than our P-51s. Our mission was to destroy as many jet airfields and installations as possible. 

Our tail gunner spotted through his field glasses three jets that were taking off in tandem. Our squadron dropped its bombs on the main runway getting the two rear jets, but allowing the first one to get off. He came up towards us at a 60 degree angle in a continuous barrel roll. All of his 20 mm. cannons were spraying the sky while firing through our squadron and miraculously missing every one of our B17 s, as we continued to climb through the flak.

A flight of P-51s was flying cover for us 5000 feet above our altitude. They dropped their wing tanks, swarmed on our attacker and drove him into the ground. This action took place in possibly 10 -20 seconds of combat. 
(T'was Only Yesterday) 

While 1,200 bombers were about to drop bombs on Berlin, two B-17s alone in the sky were dropping little packets of Christmas tree tinsel, to confuse German radar. The radio operator dropped them in the slipstream as a deterent to the German radar of bombers. Our two brand new B-17s flew a course at 28,000 to 30,000 feet and circled Berlin. Our high altitude was the only safety net we had. At 60 degrees below zero, the oxygen masks froze every few seconds when we exhaled. We crushed out the ice! Sometimes, our heated suits, held together at the wrists, came apart. Frost bite, especially on the ears was a worry!

About 5,000 feet below, we spotted some ME109s trying to get to us. They would fall back each time their altitude limit had been reached in the thin atmosphere. We just thumbed our noses at them! The radio operator finally finished getting rid of his 400 pound bad of 'tinsel', as we made a 30 mile circle around Berlin. The return trip was uneventful. We maintained aour altitude most of the way back to the 305th base. The 9 hour flight exhausted the crew. Some of the crew had taken oranges with them. Did you ever try and peel a frozen orange? Peeling a frozen orange at 10,000 feet was impossible.
(T'was Only Yesterday)

Some 7500 Gennan fighters were a fanatic, stubborn lot. Surrounded and cut off, they held out during the war in underground reinforced concrete bunkers. French battle wagons and installations had arranged in a semi-circle and had bombarded them for days - to no avail. The 8th Air Force brass evidently had indicated that enough was enough, and had ordered eleven hundred B-17s to bomb the  Bas_____  !

We had a green crew. I was assigned the "milk run" as flight engineer. 1100 of us flew south through the center of France each loaded with twelve 500 pound bombs. What a sight! From my flight engineer's position in the upper local of the B-17, I could see behind us wave after wave of squadrons. We toggled our bombs in LeMay style, covering a few square miles that looked like the face of the moon. Our effort was still to no avail! They did not surrender!

Evidently, the next day Air Force brass decided to repeat the mission. Again, 1100 B-17s did their thing. Only then did the Germans cry uncle! 
(T'was Only Yesterday) 

We were flying 99 brand new B-17's in Indian file to Hecklevik, Iceland, a huge American base located along the Goose River. We were wondering what to do on our 48 hour layover near the little village of Hecklevik. The crew went to a small fishing village. Boats were tied up along the side of the wharf. I looked at the crystal clear water and saw schools of flounder just off the dock. We went back to the Red Cross Quarters and asked for fishing lines, which they readily supplied. 

Back at the wharf we wondered what to use for bait. There were scraps of fish on the dock which we decided to try as bait. We dropped our lines. The fish immediately took our bait! Now that we had caught them, we needed to find a galvanized tub in which to put them. Again, the Red Cross Girls helped us out and supplied the tub. We filled it up and had the biggest fish fry ever! The girls brought out strawberry ice cream to complete the feast.

What a day! We hadn't had ice cream in three years! 
(T'was Only Yesterday)