(487th Bomb Group crew poses with their B-24 Sammy’s Niece).

It is a little strange for a Holiday to come on a Saturday, a known Day Off, but that is the calendar. This was the day in 1918 when the fighting came to an end. In the First Big One, anyway. The horror of what occurred over those four years is still palpable.

(This is Grandpa Mike. We never got to meet him, since another War got in the way. He served in the First One driving trains in France).

When Adolph Hitler began his conquest of Europe in 1939, he began to turn that continent into “Festung Europa”… Fortress Europe. The lone hold-out against the Third Reich was the island nation of Great Britain. In the summer of 1940, the Royal Air Force defeated the Luftwaffe in “The Battle of Britain” and Britain survived to become the launching point for the Allied war against the Nazis. Until sufficient forces could be built up to attack Fortress Europe’s walls, the Allies took to the war on wings, for Hitler had built a fortress without a roof.

Early in 1942, the American 8th Air Force began arriving in England to help the British with strategic bombing of Nazi manufacturing, transportation and military targets. The RAF bombed by night, the 8th by day. Thus began one of the greatest conflicts of human history…the air war over Europe.

The Eighth Air Force faced a formidable opponent – the Luftwaffe, with outstanding equipment and training, and more importantly, they were battle-tested. By the end of the war, the air battles that involved thousands of bombers and fighters, claimed over 26,000 American lives. This accounted for 10% of all American deaths during the war. 18,000 airmen were wounded and over 28,000 were shot down and captured.

One of the many groups of the Eighth Air Force sent to England to participate in this enormous struggle was the 487th Bombardment Group (Heavy) They were known as the Gentlemen From Hell. This page is dedicated to the airmen and ground crews of that group, and to all who served. Uncle Dick was one of them, in that unit. Dad was another, over on the Navy side of things. They were just a couple young men caught up in the malevolent chaos of war.

By mid-1944, the 8th Air Force had reached a total strength of more than 200,000 people ( it is estimated that more than 350,000 Americans served in 8th AF during the war in Europe ). At its peak, the 8th could dispatch more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and 1,000 fighters on a single mission. For these reasons , the 8th AF became known as the “Mighty Eighth.”

The Mighty Eighth compiled an impressive record in the war. This achievement carried a high price . Eight AF suffered half of the U.S Army Air Forces’ casualties in World War 2 (47,000-plus casualties with more than 26,000 dead). The Eighth’s personnel also earned 17 Medals of Honor, 220 Distinguished Service Crosses, 850 Silver Stars, 7,000 Purple Hearts and 46,000 Air Medals. Many more uncounted awards were presented to the 8 AF veterans after the war. There were 261 fighter aces and 305 gunner aces in the Eighth in World War 2, and 31 fighter aces had more than 15 or more aircraft kills.

That war was over in 1945, and peace reigned for seventy-odd years with another colder war in progress. There are others in progress now. There is one in Ukraine with the Russians. There is the one-month anniversary of another conflict in the Middle East, and we may see something from the Chinese about the notion of Taiwan as an independent nation or as a not-yet incorporated component of the Chinese global enterprise.

So, there is war again, two in progress and another brewing. More to come on all of that. But the key is to remember and honor those who will serve in them. And if they must be sent, we pray that their courage gets them through it, and they can come home again safely.

(Dad is down at the lower left as a aviation cadet in 1944 down at Pensacola, Florida. He was an aspiring design specialist and decided to practice his craft by jotting pictures of the other young men being trained for the bitter battle over the Japanese Home Islands. It is on solemn days of remembrance like today that we wonder at the nature of both courage and complete chance. Our pal Mac Showers was out on Guam at the forward headquarters with Fleet Admiral Nimitz, and made the recommendations for how to end the carnage.

Dad did not get ordered out forward and instead was released with the blessing of Peace. There was not going to be another until 1950, when those North Koreans would invade the Republic to the south. Talk at dinner tables across the land included apprehension about potential call-ups for those who had worn the uniforms only a few years before. We will see how this one goes, right?)

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