Synopsis "Flying Nightmare"
This book is about what happened to a young 17 year old when Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. What was he to do, go on to college, get a job, continue with a normal life? No! That would have to wait. Two years later, a newly assigned B-24 bomber needed a name. "Nightmare" was offered up to its crew by me, now its co-pilot, as the name would relative to what was to come. The name did relate to what was to come, but it actually was the result of a nightmare I had after viewing a newscast at the start of World War II. It showed a Japanese soldier tossing a baby up in the air and then with a grin catching it on the way down with his rifle's bayonet. This was intended to incite rage in the population. It did! The rage and disgust could not be exaggerated. It lingered and still does. Nevertheless, Nightmare went on to be assigned to the 459th Bomb Group of the 15th U.S. Airforce. The book includes descriptive diaries of bombing missions over Nazi Germany, Southern France and the WWII occupied Balkans, some as written by crews in our adjoining flight squadrons. Also included are photos of bomb run casualties, some planes engulfed in flames from ruptured gas tanks, some crews escaping in parachutes, some of these on fire, some planes in stages of disintegrating from being hit by exploding anti-aircraft shells. One of these did penetrate our own pilot's compartment wounding me and exploding as it passed through the roof. Halfway through our 50 mission tour of duty, it was realized that our losses, in term of planes shot down, were about 50% of the original assignment of bombers. Some crews were quitting, turning in their "Flight Wings". Those that stayed did so with quiet resolve, comradery, frightened, relying on faith. In the very beginning, of course it was all heroics, a young Army Airforce Lieutenant with pilot wings, and a snappy grey-green uniform. Aerobatics and fighter plane training made us feel invincible. After about six weeks of our bomb group training, the 459th departed Westover Field, Massachusetts for solo routing to stop overs in Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Belem Brazil, Dakar Africa and finally to a home base make-do landing field in Cerignola, Italy. Next came the missions, every other day, sometimes every day. The author is a prime participant, the bomber's co-pilot, twice wounded
