San Gabriel Mountains Discussion Forum

Bill · Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 216 Location: Wrightwood, CA

This morning at 6:30 a.m. a great man passed away at the age of 87. He was a member of the greatest generation and was co-pilot of a B-17 flying 30 missions over Germany. He became a dentist although his true love was his clarinet which he played every day, until he could no longer. But, for me he was my Dad. God bless you Dad! I love you, Bill

Hikin_Jim · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:26 pm Post subject:

Bill:

I'm so sorry to hear that. May God rest your dad in his arms. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

HJ
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Bill · Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 216 Location: Wrightwood, CA

AlanK · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 3:48 pm Post subject:

Bill, I too am sorry for your bad news. We all owe your dad our thanks. And I'm still stuck back on the B-17 business (dentists and clarinet players deserve kudos too). I have climbed around a couple of them on the ground and the idea of trying to fly one, even in the absence of lots of people trying to destroy your plane, is sobering to say the least.

Mike P · Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 255 Location: Glendora, CA

Bill, your Dad is a hero in my book. My thoughts and prayers are with you, too.
Mike
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Bill · Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 216 Location: Wrightwood, CA

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
I am very proud of his accomplishments and to be his son. He once told me that he and his friends were afraid the war would be over before they had a chance to contribute. I know his experiences gave him a different prospective on life and he never flew again after the war. In fact I am named after his best friend who never returned.
Truly the greatest generation! Cool

Tim · Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:26 am Post subject:

So sorry to hear about your dad, Bill. They definitely were the greatest generation. I have a huge amount of respect for them, what they did and the sacrifices they made.

I hope I'm not hijacking your thread, but a friend of mine is a WWII bomber enthusiast and a few years back he built an electric-powered scale R/C model of the B-17 "A Bit O' Lace." This was one lucky machine. She survived an incredible 83 missions, only to be scrapped at Kingman, Arizona after the war.

I was asked to take pictures of the model before the maiden flight (because you never know if it will come back in one piece) and my friend made a tribute video with footage from that first flight.

Photos: http://epagelb-17.blogspot.com/

lilbitmo · Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Posts: 444 Location: Orange County

Bill it's with the greatest respect that I say thank you to your dad and all the men/women like him that served this country in our time of need. I'm a fanatic reader of WWII history, sorry for your loss. I will say a prayer for you and your family and they really were the greatest generation.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Tim, thanks for sharing those pictures.

Bill · Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 216 Location: Wrightwood, CA

Thanks Tim, for the pictures. That is an awesome restoration! Cool

Thanks again to all for the kind words.