@ufobob mahalo for leading me to the video. I'm having my son listening as well along with my husband. Both our families have military backgrounds. My American Italian grandfather John would share his stories ww2 often. I miss my grandfather.
Thank you for taking time to watch this video along with your husband and son. More importantly, I am happy to know that your grandfather shared his WWII experiences with you. Hearing and remembering eyewitness accounts of history is a treasure. God bless you and your family.
Thanks. Glad you liked it. Finding and integrating the images was a daunting task. And, unfortunately, I couldn't find every image I was looking for, but I got about 95%, so I am happy.
What a great interview. My Father was a Flight Engineer / Second Pilot in B-24s in the British RAF during WW2. They operated out of Reykjavik in Iceland. On one mission, they were carrying depth charges - a new invention, out over the North Atlantic. There was thick fog and suddenly the Pilot saw another plane heading straight for them - head on. Luckily, the Pilot managed to bring the plane up a bit, but the other plane struck the bottom of their plane, gashing it from front to back, with their propellor. Damaged severely, and full of depth charges, which they couldn't jettison, partly because they couldn't see what was below them, and partly because if they had opened the bomb bay doors, the plane would have split in half and crashed. The other plane sadly did crash and everyone on board was lost. My Dads plane somehow got back to TAIN in Scotland, and the Pilot miraculously managed to land it, fully laden. I have my Dads Flying Log here and for that date, 8 March 1945, it casually says 'Convoy Escort, diverted to Tain - collision' !. My Dad NEVER told us about this, it only came to light when the Pilot organised a reunion, and the Story was told in the Daily Mail. I am so proud of my Dad, sadly no longer here, and treasure all the RAF things I have of his. These sorts of stories often go untold, as many survivors of the War just wanted to 'get on' with life and try to block out the horrors of what they did and saw. BLESS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM !
Thank you for sharing your father’s WW2 experience. It’s an amazing story. And what most people today don’t realize is how young people, like your father and my uncle, were when they fought in WW2; I don’t know about your father, but my uncle was only 21 years old when he was flying combat missions in the Pacific Theater.
I seriously rank bomber crews of WWII to be the same level of bravery as the Western Front infantrymen of WWI. How they had the guts to go on B-17s and B-24s and Lancasters and Mosquitoes made out of aluminum foil skins (you could punch a hole in those bombers with a screwdriver after only 1 stab!!!) and even made out of WOOD in some airplanes is incredible. They had no pressurized interior at 25,000+ feet and were freezing their butts off also. It is almost like a fantasy novel but it actually happened! That 1943 Ploesti oil raid was crazy. Low level bombing raids on oil refineries and that means the B-24 in front of you will bomb targets that will explode right when your plane flies behind that initial B-24!!! It is sad how B-24s are so disrespected. I think they were much better than B-17s. B-17s were truly one-trick ponies (they were TERRIBLE anti-shipping bombers) yet they get all the PR glory. B-24s were also the planes chosen for Snooper missions in the Pacific (low altitude radar guided night bombing raids of Japanese ships) and Carpetbagger missions in Europe (fly in spies and supplies on black ops missions to Resistance groups in Occupied Europe). B-17 never did these missions and if they did we would have seen dozens of movies and TV series of them doing these missions already.
My grandfather flew B-24s and bombed Nazis from Africa to Germany. He served 4 tours and was awarded many medals but one in particular was called the “Lucky Bastard” award. The greatest generation
I agree with you; those like your grandfather were part of the greatest generation. Until now, I wasn't aware of the "Lucky Bastard" award. Looks like I need to do some more research. Anyway, thanks for sharing.
I lived on Kwajalein in '68/'69 and have seen old pictures of the B-24s parked along the runway there during the war. Av-buff all my life. Thanks for posting this.
AN EXCEPTIONAL WORK, VERN! As we are all so painfully aware in this, our present day and age, a vast amount of important "living history" is leaving us on an almost-daily basis. That any of these "personal-experiencers" at all still remain to tell their own stories, so many years there-after, already borders on the near-miraculous! That is why what you have created here has such far-reaching societal and historic importance. Your presentation - stellar choice of photographic materials, their just-right insertion & pacing, the selection of the music, along with its' complimentary volume-balance against Mr. Hodson's verbal recounting of the historical events, in which he was a direct participant - creates an almost-perfect "choreography" of the work's assembled elements. This offering is so well executed and presented, that I could very easily see it being featured as an installment on a Television venue like "The History Channel", or the "National Geographic" network. Congratulations, Vern, on a project well-done... And, to both you and your Uncle, Mr. Al Hodson... May God bless and keep you! "EXCELSIOR!!", William F. "Bill" Blake PROJECT BCS - BILL BLAKE SPFX Phelan, California
Yes, it was paramount that his story be told and shared with others - young and old. And thank you for your keen awareness of what it took to put this presentation together.
Great interview my friend a love learning about our history. We all need to take a time to thank all veterans for serving this country Thank you UFO Bob.
In his book "The Wild Blue," Stephen Ambrose featured, B-24 pilot George McGovern, the future Senator and presidential candidate. McGovern's exceptional flying ability and courage won him the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Enjoyed the content immensely. Quite an interesting story. I recognized my cousin as one of the two waist gunners at 23:01. I thought only the family had a copy of this picture, which was taken by the Navigator. Do you recall where you found it? Just curious to find if there are more where that came from.
It is gratifying that you found the story interesting and enjoyable. As for the photo of your cousin, I don’t recall the specific website that hosted that image. I tried looking for the image online a moment ago, but couldn’t find it. However, I am certain that I still have that image on file, and I would be happy to send you a copy should you want it. P.S. I was just released from the VA hospital yesterday. I did a livestream from my room several days ago; you may find it of interest. Day 2 in the Hospital ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v1NrQS6eXOM.html
