My actual memories of the accident are very few and not nearly as dramatic as some that the other guys went through.
I enlisted with my older brother on 10/22/42, six days after my 18th birthday, sent to Ft. Sam Houston for induction, to Ellington Field for basic, to Keesler Field for AM Scholl, to Laredo Gunnery School, finishing 8/31/43. Then to Salt Lake City, Boise, Wendover Field, and finally arriving at Tonopah on 11/4/43.
Our crew of 10 was formed and we began bombing training on B-24’s. Shortly thereafter we got our plane that we would take overseas. It was just off the Ford Willow Run assembly line, being one of the first with a nose turret.
We were scheduled for some night training and getting more acquainted with our new plane the night of 11/16/43. One of our gunners was sick that night and did not fly. I remember we did our usual walk around inspection of the exterior and interior of the plane. We then taxied to the end of the runway where we did the engine run-up power checks, radio, etc. just prior to takeoff. We began our attempt to fly, with me in my regular place standing between the pilots, checking the instrument readings. The rest of the crew was on the floor behind me which was also standard procedure. At about 8:20pm we began rolling down the runway and began our ascent. The last thing I remember was our rate of climb indicator showed we were going down. I don’t remember how fast we were going or how high we had climbed. I was told later that we got to about 500 feet before crashing at the end of the runway. The medics found me unconscious near a part of the tail section. The eight others were dead.
I awoke three days later to the sight of my mother who had come from Houston. I spent the next four months getting well and was discharged from the hospital on 3/29/44 to do light restricted duty at my squadron. I was about to be put back on full duty when the war ended and I was discharged on 11/25/45.
