Interview with WWII Veteran Ted Kirkpatrick. He had 37 Missions on B-17 bomber aircraft. This was recorded at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton Ohio.
Teddy is a regular visitor to the hangar where we keep and maintain the B-17 “Texas Raiders” and is always a hit when he swings by to check on us. Such an inspiration! He celebrated his birthday a couple years ago by skydiving! So lucky to know him and call him a friend!
Ted Kirkpatrick, the man you are watching in this video, was my father. He passed away on Friday, February 10, 2023, five months shy of his 100th birthday.
Hello Sir! Thank you so much for the comment. We heard about his passing and send our sympathy. He was a great man and we enjoyed chatting with him a few years back!
One of the best interviews I've heard from a WWII B17 crew member. You can feel his emotions as he tells his experiences. So happy this was recorded before this hero leaves us. Thank you!
I don't think anyone seeing this interview (except military folks, which I am not) can imagine the guts and stamina to fly 37 B-17 missions in the MIghty Eighth over nazi territory!! Most guys didn't even get to 30 missions. Every time you get into the plane you must feel like you're not coming back.
Thank you for posting this interview with Mr. Kirkpatrick. I very much enjoyed his story and experiences. My great uncle also flew a B-17 out of the same base in England as Mr. Kirkpatrick, Kimbolton, and was a member of the 379th Bomb Group. In the interview Mr. Kirkpatrick noted that he was based at Kimbolton at the same time my great uncle was there. I am very interested to get in touch with Mr. Kirkpatrick to see if he knew my great uncle. I am wondering if you could facilitate my communication with him. Thank you. Christopher Stevens
His kind are mostly gone now. To see this old vet, who would have been a fresh faced kid when he fought, makes you think. Like my dad, who fought in New Guinea as an Aussie soldier, they would shake their heads at what has become of the country they fought for.
My dad worked in the steel mills during ww2 and could have filed to exempt himself from the draft. He didn't. Don't know if it was because the office wouldn't let him or coworkers frowned on it.
if they would have given drop tanks on the thunderbolts like the pilots asked for, none of this need happen. 2 years they begged for drop tanks, and were told to shut up. by the pentagon. WHY?
my father,,radio op,,48m missions,,was not prone to discuss flying with most everyone as i do not about viet,,just impossible to make it real for anyone not there,,,other air force vets im sure he did ,,,i begged him to tell me things and look over his photos ,,etc as a kid,, we went to a camera store in chicago in the 50s,,big ethnic areas etc,,,,run by a german guy,,,he noticed a baseball hat my father wore, with a 15th Af insignia,,,he asked him did he fly ,,my dad said yes and the other guy said "I was a fighter pilot with the Luftwaffe"..The 15th bombed southern Germany,,Austria,,Rumania etc,,,he asked him when? mid 44-45,,The german lit up,,,,he defended the Ploesti oil fields which my dad bombed 3 times,,," OH MEIN friend etc" so glad you made it!!! I dont rememebr how happy my father was but they did have a conversation for awhile,, the guy flew ME109s so they may have shot at each other a few times,,what a video that would have made,,
