The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-1945 by Stephen E. Ambrose

Author:Stephen E. Ambrose
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: World War II, Political, 20th century, Modern, Commercial, General, United States, Aviation, Transportation, Biography & Autobiography, Military, History
ISBN: 9780743217521
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2001-02-15T01:34:55+00:00

Whether in the officers club or the airmen’s club for enlisted men, the newcomers would sit quietly and listen to the talk of the veterans who had just returned from a mission. McGovern listened hard and thereby picked up tips on flying a B-24 in combat. The talk was about what had happened, how the plane performed, what the German flak was like, and other details. Always they discussed how many parachutes they had counted coming from a plane going down, but not about who had made it out of the doomed craft and who had not. They assumed that a parachute meant the man had landed safely, but they had no idea whether he had escaped and was on his way back to Italy or had been made a POW or had been killed on the ground. Shostack’s name never came up. Sgt. Mel TenHaken, a radio operator in the 455th Bomb Group, remembered the talk as both enlightening and frightening. It was unlike the talk one usually heard from young men after an examination or a football or basketball game. “There was no pride of individual accomplishment here, or boasting about comparative achievements.” Further, “There was no jesting about those [like TenHaken, McGovern, and the other recent arrivals] who hadn’t been up yet because everyone knew that would happen tomorrow or a day after.” Ten-Haken also noted that “there was no overt elation by those who had completed thirty-four missions,” because everyone remembered “the one who got his on his thirty-fifth.” No one talked to impress. Experiences were shared only because better understanding of techniques and tactics would improve the odds for survival.36 Sergeant TenHaken had arrived at Cerignola with two other crews. One of those crews was the first to go on a mission. It was a long one. Their plane returned safely, but with holes caused by flak in its wings and fuselage. That evening, after they had finished their postmission interrogation, they were withdrawn and did not want to talk. “They felt it might be better if we discussed feelings later, maybe after we had all completed some combat missions.” As for TenHaken and his crew, “We wondered if they’d ever again have the optimistic, cheerful, normal personalities we had known.”

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