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I flew in that liberator (B-24J "Dragon and his Tail") when my Grandfather died in 2001. He had helped with the restoration. He died July 31, 2001, exactly 57 years to the day after being shot down piloting a B-24J over Ludwigshaven. It would take me an hour to type out all the cool stuff he told me (Stalag Luft III, Jimmy Stewart, 50 Urns of those shot after the Great Escape from Luft III, etc etc etc) but nothing rivaled that plane. He would talk about it constantly as if it was part of the crew or "alive" (having trouble articulating here...). Anyway, when he died I flew in the B-24 from Quonsett in RI to somewhere in Connecticut. It was absolutely amazing. One of the best hours of my life. Can't believe those guys would fly those planes for 10 hours or so through flak and fighters. I miss him a lot! I am now hopelessly addicted to the history channel and military channel WWII documentaries.
joe
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