Pilots held their slots for up to 11 hours in tight formation filling the sky from horizon to horizon.
The slightest lapse in judgment would cause an explosive collision and fiery death for the crews.
Bombardier killed instantly, pilot flew this ship home from Cologne to the 398th at Nuthampstead, October 15, 1944. Our crew on the same mission that day, lost 2 engines and suffered severe flak damage, but of course nothing like this.
Our crew and Mah Ideel in December 1944, 8th Air Force, 91st Bomb Group, Bassingbourn, England. Same guys as in photo above, but we seem to have lost two of the crew along the way, and we're not smiling as in Louisiana. The more than slightly bewildered guy (lower right) is our hero, Sam Halpert. Welden Brubaker (lower left) was the best pilot in the whole damn 8th Air Force, and we were all aware of the many times that only his skill and judgment saved our collective ass.
Henry Jensen (lower second from right) bombardier, was my room-mate through the whole 35, and his friendship pulled me through many a dark day. This is a good place to thank each guy for their gutsy, valorous deeds. A damn fine crew
March 1944
Aviation Cadet
Sam Halpert
Selman Field
Louisiana
October 1944
Same guy 7 months later. Sam Halpert in London on a 3 day pass after 15 of his 35 missions. The weird look in his right eye is probably occupational stress, commonly known as flak eye. Or maybe
it's just the 3 day pass.
And here's the same guy in March 1998. The photo of this rowdy old reprobate appeared in the Miami Herald after publication of his book, A Real Good War (Anchor/Doubleday), the best novel written about the air war of WWII.
Hey, if not for false modesty, I'd have no modesty at all, and dig that old beat up Air Force A2 leather jacket dug up from the mothballs
May, 1944 ---This smiling bunch of happy boys is our crew training in Louisiana. Gunners standing (l. to r.) Lou Shweda (top turret), Luther Hutton (radio), Ray Kuenzler (waist), Albert Nosse (ball turret), Tom Kincade (waist), Rod DeMine (tail).
Kneeling (l. to r.) Welden Brubaker (pilot), Bob Crandall (copilot)*, Sam Halpert (navigator), Henry Jensen (bombardier)
*replaced by Bill Uphoff
The F word
8th Air Force crews often used
the F word. Flak Fire Fog Frost
Fear Flame Fatigue FockeWulfs and this above all,
the Five Fickle Fingers of Fate
91st Bomb Group's Wee Willie going down
Sam Halpert assumes full blame for design, production, and writing this award winning can of worms from Gator Country - Gainesville, FL
Life Member of the Lucky Bastards Club, an exclusive club with no rules, no officers no meetings. We paid our dues by com- pleting a tour of 35 missions with the 8th.
"Sam Halpert's spellbinding novel of men in aerial combat will be compared to Twelve O'Clock High, The War Lover and Memphis Belle. It will not suffer from the comparison"
Henry Jensen (left) bombardier, and Sam Halpert, navigator, feeling no pain after 35 missions and their ticket home. Both are informally attired in the fashionable bulky costume of multiple layers of clothing so much in favor with their peers. Note the outline of the popular escape kit just above their right boot.
Click here for hard cover edition of book with your own message signed by the author, veteran of 35 missions in B-17 from Sep9/44 Ludwigshafen to Feb3/45 Berlin.
SAM HALPERT to 91st Bomb Group Ring January 7, 2002
A question was posted on the Ring last week regarding information about Earl Sheen. Nobody seemed to recall too much about him other than he was in the 324th Squadron of our Group and came from Idaho. I feel guilty about not being able tp contribute anything more, for I believe he saved my life. Yes, we're all tired of war stories by now, but perhaps I may be forgiven for this one, if only as a tribute to Earl Sheen wherever he may be. I met him just once, and that was inside the nose of a 17 on the cold pre-dawn morning of February 3, 1945. We were on our way to Berlin, my 35th mission. He was the toggelier, and I the navigator on the #2 ship, alongside the squadron lead ship leading the entire wing that day. All went well until over target at bombs away. A burst of flak demolished the lead ship, breaking it in half at the waist. Then we lost the #3 ship. We were the only ship left in the lead element. I didn't know that the hose between my mask and the oxygen regulator had been punctured by flak. When I failed to reply to a call from the pilot, Sheen turned around and saw me slumped on the floor. 30 seconds without oxygen at our altitude and you are gone. I'll never know how long I was out, but he managed to revive me by hooking me up to one of those walk around oxygen bottles. We didn't talk much about it afterward. It had been a rough mission. After we landed, Sheen disappeared to take care of his guns. I didn't feel
too much like celebrating the completion of my tour that night. We all had been close to the guys who had gone down that day, and the base was quiet as a church on Tuesday. The next afternoon, I left Bassingbourn. From time to time over the next 50 years, a bee would buzz through my mind and I'd drift back for a moment to that day and the quiet guy who had saved me, but it was always just a moment. Last week someone inquired about him in the Ring, and it echoed a signal in my mind. Ding dong. I dug up some old files and checked the loading list for my last mission, Berlin, 3Feb45 and there was his name. So a long belated thanks from the bottom of my heart to you, Bomb TG Sgt Sheen, Earl J 39919847, old buddy wherever you may be.
Subject : Re: Date :Tue, 8 Jan 2002 17:35:57 -0800
Hi Sam.-- Earl Sheen died 17 May 1997. I located and talked to his son. He said his dad did not tell the family much about what he did. In fact the son knew only that his dad had been in the Army Air Corps and had flown in the "big bombers." He said he knew nothing of the
3 Feb mission. He said he would be interested in hearing anything you might want to tell him. Too bad we are five years too late. Take care. Lowell
B-24 Liberator Without detracting from the B-17, it should be made part of the enduring record that the B-24 was an outstanding success in the air war over Germany and from Ploesti to the Pacific
This site and all underlined links are B-17 and B-24 information slapped together by World War 2, 8th Air Force, navigator SAM HALPERT 35 missions from 9Sept44 (Ludwigshafen) to 3Feb45 (Berlin) with the 91st Bomb Group, 324th Squadron, (home of the Memphis Belle)If you seek pictures and information about crews and what it took to fly missions to those targets, you have landed in the right place. I can't pretend to know it all, but I'm backed up by a few wise old buddies. Get the right stuff from good guys who were up there in the blue doing their damndest under some rather trying circumstances. Of course this is by definition a limited offer.They say our ranks are diminishing rapidly, so get the right stuff, while we're still warm.
P.S. to Tom Brokaw We are not the Greatest Generation. You missed it by one. Our dads, now that's who I'd call the greatest generation, but thanks for the compliment.
Not exactly how they show it in the movies. Weary crews were trucked into Interrogation after 7 to 10 hour missions enduring below zero Freezing, Fog, Flame, Flak, Focke-Wulf Fighters and the Five Fickle Fingers of Fate. Shots of whiskey at interrogation helped jog memory of the mission.
I am sorry. This section is reserved for officers
Again, not exactly the way they show it in Hollywood. This is the face of crews after a mission. No smiles here. Look at their eyes. These guys are exhausted. It may take a few hours to recuperate. After all, there's always another mission tomorrow, but those who survive the tour will never forget, nor be able to ever describe their emotion at this moment.
No prescribed uniforms here. Each man wearing his choice of clothing for comfort and warmth. 50 and 60 degrees below zero at 25000 feet. The B-17, not pressurized, had no truly adequate heating system. Below zero degree temperatures were soon ignored when the flak came up.
These are but a few of the large collection of lead crew photos on the fine website of the 303rd Bomb Group
Fatal mid air collisions over England were all too frequent when bombers assembled and took their slots in the vast bomber stream. In the overcast early morning of August 12, 1944, a 398th Bomb Group B-17 from Nuthampstead collided with a 392nd Bomb Group B-24 from Wendling. Above is crash site of the un-namedB-24 just outside of Cheshunt.
The B-17 named Tomahawk Warrior crashed near Lude Farm, Loudwater
