A scene in the 1949 movie "Twelve O'Clock High" had a certain Nietzsche quality about it that World War II veterans and even those who remained stateside could relate to. The general overseeing a bomber base in England was warning a new commanding officer that leading his B-17 crew would be hard.
"I've gotta ask you to take nice kids and fly them until they can't take any more, and then put 'em back in and fly 'em some more. We've got to try to find out what a maximum effort is. How much a man can take and get it all."
To me, this exemplified the character of all World War II combat troops. It was a tough, frantic and courageous time when the country's men and women, already steeled by an economic depression, answered the call to serve with few questions asked.
The nation's struggling businesses survived by adapting. So they were prepared to retool and churn out armament as fast as they could. Ingenuity was more in demand than smooth operating machines. There was little time to lose.
One armament in particular seemed to symbolize the courage and sacrifice required at that time -- the B-17, a bomber principally used in Europe.
As a child, it fascinated me. I saw one on the ground in Arizona and was shocked at both its size and yet how rickety it was. "Did people actually fly in these things?" I asked my father. He just smiled.
The B-17 or "the Flying Fortress" took on mythic proportions of strength and tenacity symbolizing the kind of air assault that was needed to war against the advancing Axis Powers. Despite the speed and versatility of the German Messerschmidt 109 fighter and the toughness of the Focke-Wulf 190, the B-17 survived numerous attacks and limped back home to be patched up and sent back into the air. There was no heat in those behemoths. No sound suppressors. No pressure equalizers. It was the bomber crew working as a team against the elements, enemy fighter pilots and the flak from anti-aircraft guns.
Today we are losing a number of our WWII veterans daily and with that loss comes our opportunity to retrieve a true eyewitness account from the best that our nation can produce. To get a flavor of those times, the Liberty Foundation, dedicated to preserving the memory of such sacrifices, will offering flights on the Liberty Belle, a B-17 in St. Paul this weekend. The trip is pricey at $430 for a half-hour flight but the foundation says it costs $1 million a year to keep the Belle flight worthy.
If you're interested, flights and the stories that go with them will be at the Signature Flight Support FBO, 515 Eaton Street. The flights for the public will be available on June 13-14. Anyone seeking info can call (918)-340-0243 or visit www.libertyfoundation.org.
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