unpunk01
Airman
Some of you may have read in my intro that I am really into hot rods and WWII planes. When two of my passions collided I began to model my 1932 Dodge truck after a B-17. More specifically, I chose to model my truck after a plane that had some real accomplishments but might not have received notarity. After searching and searching for the perfect plane and crew, I came across the Sweet 17 (91st BG / 323rd sq. / Bassingborne, Eng). I was fortunate enough to speak with the tailgunner (Bert Mullins - Cypress, TX) and he explained to me that there were only two of them left...Bert and the Pilot (Alex Thomas - St. Louis, MO). After a great talk with Bert, I called Alex and had an equally great talk with him! These guys were the BEST. Provided all kinds of info and some excellent stories!
Unfortunately, about two weeks after speaking with Bert, he passed away. It's funny how you can speak to someone once...and still feel the sadness of their loss. Well, to make a long story short, in a round about way this website really made Alex happy yesterday. When looking through the posts, I found the only color picture know to be in existance of the Sweet 17...and in formation, too! I got the e-mail back from Alex saying that he remembered them shooting color photos of the planes in formation but he had never seen them. He was REALLY happy to see those photos!
I'm probably preachin' to the choir but if you know any of these WWII vets...take a few minutes and listen to their stories! If you would like to know if a Me109 was more fierce than a Spitfire....ask them! They know...FIRST HAND! If they are anything like Bert, Alex or my grandfather...they would love to talk about it with someone who is interested! I'll get off my soapbox and give up the pics. Enjoy, fellas!
PS - The widow of the flight engineer sent me a copy of his fight diary. On the left page of every entry is a newspaper clipping of every bomb run and on the right page is all the flight data. Alt., city, target, flight time, take off time, armorment, air temp, etc. VERY VERY COOL THING TO HAVE!
As far as Alex could remember, that was Bert, Alex and the boys in the second natural metal plane from the left.
Unfortunately, about two weeks after speaking with Bert, he passed away. It's funny how you can speak to someone once...and still feel the sadness of their loss. Well, to make a long story short, in a round about way this website really made Alex happy yesterday. When looking through the posts, I found the only color picture know to be in existance of the Sweet 17...and in formation, too! I got the e-mail back from Alex saying that he remembered them shooting color photos of the planes in formation but he had never seen them. He was REALLY happy to see those photos!
I'm probably preachin' to the choir but if you know any of these WWII vets...take a few minutes and listen to their stories! If you would like to know if a Me109 was more fierce than a Spitfire....ask them! They know...FIRST HAND! If they are anything like Bert, Alex or my grandfather...they would love to talk about it with someone who is interested! I'll get off my soapbox and give up the pics. Enjoy, fellas!
PS - The widow of the flight engineer sent me a copy of his fight diary. On the left page of every entry is a newspaper clipping of every bomb run and on the right page is all the flight data. Alt., city, target, flight time, take off time, armorment, air temp, etc. VERY VERY COOL THING TO HAVE!
As far as Alex could remember, that was Bert, Alex and the boys in the second natural metal plane from the left.
