Every time I face a difficult situation, I think about my father jumping out of a burning plane over Yugoslavia on April 2, 1944. He told me once that his first thoughts were, “I’m thousands of miles away from home, and I don’t know a soul.” But then that was my father ─ a real character. William Richard “Dick” Terrell was captain of a B-24 bomber, leading a crew* of ten back to their base in Cerignola-Stornara, Italy, from a successful mission bombing a ball-bearing plant in Steyr, Austria. The crew was part of the 744th Squadron, 456th Bomb Group, 701st Wing of 15th Air Force.
Sometimes when I’m in an airplane or even in a car driving down the highway, I like to imagine that I can hear the roar of all those airplanes that day in the sky, flying in a tightly defined formation and filling the air from horizon to horizon.
According to my father’s bombardier, Claude W. “Red” McCrocklin, who was the last surviving member of his crew, “A major World War II bombing mission in Europe was an awesome sight. It would involve anywhere from 500 to 1,000 planes. Can you imagine what it would be like to see that many planes in the air at one time? The world will never again see such a sight. Just to get that many planes off the ground and into formation was quite an achievement. I will try to describe it to you: A World War II bomber Squadron consisted of six or more planes with a minimum of six Squadrons to a Group, and three Groups in a Wing. There were then several wings to an Air Force. All of these planes would line up on the runways and take off at 20-second intervals, then fly around until they got into formation in groups of 36 planes. When they finally got together the air force would be strung out for miles in an irregular ‘stacked up and down’ formation.”
My family stayed in touch with Red, who was a wonderful historian and archaeologist. I am grateful that he documented his World War II experiences (such as the description above) in a book, Combat and Capture, the content of which can also be read on the web at: http://www.merkki.com/mccrocklinclaude.htm (Other POW stories at http://www.merkki.com/index.htm ) Red filled in many of the blanks that we all had about my father’s experience. Both Red and my father and most members of the crew parachuted out of their plane as it was shot down that day by the Germans. Several were saved by partisan, but most were captured and eventually transported to a prisoner of war camp till the end of the war.
I started this blog because, as a child, I hung on every word my father said about his experience. He was a hero. He didn’t say much so each time so when he did say something, it seemed important. One time he talked about the men in the prison camp making whiskey from potato peelings. The Krauts (probably not the most politically correct term for Germans), he said, loved that the prisoners would get drunk and beat each other up. Of course, I translated this story into the fact that my father knew how to make a still (he didn’t) and asked him to help me make one for a science fair project. He quickly nixed the idea, but ended up making a copper distilling pipe for our do-it-yourself perfume project.
The more I’ve learned about my parents’ war experience, the more I’ve realized how hard those times were. We have no idea how hard. They were the greatest generation, and they did what they had to do. We have it so easy now because of them. Through this blog, I hope to pass these lessons on to my children and grandchildren, my nieces and nephews and other family. I’m sure thousands of baby boomers could tell similar stories.
*Photo (courtesy of Red McCrocklin) was taken at Charleston AFB in December 1943: 1st (l. to r.) Flight Officer Seymor Stutzel, navigator; Lt. William R. Terrell (Doesn’t he look like he’s ready to fly?), pilot; Lt. Phillip L. Crum, co-pilot; Flight Officer Claude W. McCrocklin, bombardier; 2nd row standing (l. to r.) Sgt. Charles W. Doerring, nose gunner; Sgt. Palmer P. Lerum, tail gunner; Sgt. Dennis D. King, top turret gunner; Sgt. Herman Lipkin, radio operator/left waist gunner; Sgt. Chester H. Eide, Jr., ball turret gunner; Sgt. Warren Stuckey, right waist gunner.
