Posted on 08/20/2016 1:45:06 PM PDT by Kaslin
On Saturday August 6, I was privileged to attend the unveiling of the memorial to American airmen who fought in World War II at the Wings Over the Rockies aviation museum in Denver, Colorado. Created by Major Frederic Arnold (ret.), an artist who flew P-38 Lightnings in the Mediterranean theater of the war, the monumental sculpture depicts a pre-flight briefing, with the squadron leader at the mapboard explaining the mission plan, while the men of the squadron and the pale ghosts of their fallen comrades listen on.
American airmen suffered a horrific casualty rate during World War II, with over 88,000 being killed in action. Of the 14 men in Arnold’s squadron, 12 were killed in six months of combat. Arnold and the other survivors vowed to memorialize their fallen comrades. Now 94, Arnold has finally fulfilled that vow.
Here are some views of the sculpture.
At the front, we see the squadron leader explaining the mission.
Here we see the pilots listening, both the living pilots in bronze khaki, and the pale ghosts of their fallen friends. Halfway through the tour, nearly half of the original squadron has already joined the spirits.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
One of the facts that shocks most people is that the 8th Air Force during WWII over Germany lost more men (26,000) than the Marines lost in WWII(19,000).
That’s just the 8th Air Force; there were many other air force units and they lost massive amount as well.
There are plenty rough and ready warriors in our military today. They are fighting enemies from without and within. You may want to thank God there are some decent people left before you disparage all of them.
Reading comprehension is your friend.
My point is that back then (WW2) the average Joe went to war and that was the way it was.
Now there are many “men” who would never consider military service.
How you arrived at “you disparage all of them” from my post, I don’t know.
My son did 5 years in the Corps starting in 2009.
There is a rumor in the Polish-Lithuanian community that after he was liberated by the Russians he doubled the population of Western Poland.
I can’t swear to this, being a Yankee born and bred, but it could be true, He will be 95 next year.
My dad served in the Army Airforce in the China-Burma-India Campaign. he was a C-46 Hump Pilot.
He was a “Silent Birdman.”
He came home raised a family and enjoyed life. Also had a brother in a combat engineering unit in Europe. A sister was a WAC but stayed stateside. A brother in law was in a engineering unit in the 9th Air Force and his unit built the first dirt air strip behind Omaha Beach for P47s. Another BiL was in the Navy in the South Pacific and they all came home to marry and raise families.
There was no Air Force until 1947. It was the Army Air Corps. They had all air assets and over 2 million men.
You think you knew something but you didn’t. Everyone knows it is the Army Air Corps; however, the AAF was segment into Air Forces such as the 8th Air Force.
Well, I guess you didn’t know as much as you thought you did.
You cannot handle truth as it was still a combat arm of the Army during WWII. My uncle always said he was Army Air Corps.
I don't know what makes you so stupid but it really works. Are you retarded? I don't want to pick on a retard.
You really are a smart ass.
Thanks & Thanks.
You’re right - he is smart.
The Eighth Air Force was the official designation a unit of the Army Air Forces, which were a unit of the US Army.
Thanks. My uncles grave in Simsbury, CT says Army Air Forces and below that TSGT. He could have been buried anywhere as he had been head of marketing for Stanley Works for 20 years and then President of Judd Drapery. He was proudest of his service.
True, it was the Army Air Corps, then the Army Air Force, then the Air Force.
I’m not sure what year it went from the AAC to the AAF, but as you said the Air Force became it’s own branch in 1947.
Now pajama boys simper and prance across the land.
I hope our country can come back someday but I’m not holding my breath.
I know what you mean -- the armed forces have been wussified and turned into a giant social experiment, it seems. But at the same time I think there are still plenty of young people that are patriotic enough to answer the call if needed.
There is no doubt, the men and women that served in WWII deserve to be called the "greatest generation". That was probably the last war in which we were united as a nation, and the last war that we absolutely had to win unconditionally.
Unfortunately the war we're in now is with an enemy that's been fighting us for 1,400 years, and we still don't have a government that's willing to call this enemy by it's name. Currently we're in a period in which the uncivilized enemy is winning, taking more territory and purging our kind within their new borders. It will be very difficult to take these lands back from those people -- the Jihadis.
B-24 Liberator My Dad was shot down behind German lines in Yugoslavia Feb 7, 1945 and walked 95 miles in 21 days to be evacuated by the British. Chances of coming back to base was 50/50
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