Remembering My Father

My father was in the Army Air Corps in World War II. He was based in Italy and flew mostly reconnaissance, but his P-51 was armed for air attacks if necessary. I read some in a little notebook he kept. It saddened him to see other planes crash and burn after a dangerous mission. He lost many friends during his stay there. He would rarely talk about the war.

 Early in 1945, he went on his 42nd mission. If he had flown one more mission, he would have been promoted to a captain. He saw a train and went lower to strafe it. Unfortunately, an enemy fighter pilot saw him and shot his "Lady Helen" fighter plane down. His plane was too low when it was hit for my father's parachute to fully open, so he landed harder than he should have. He was in much pain. He told us he wasn't sure where he was shot down, but he thinks he was over Chechoslovakia. He was mistreated by the local people and turned over to the enemy soldiers. They took him to a German prison camp where his injuries were basically not treated. He later developed ankylosing spondylitis which is a form of spinal arthritis which fuses the spine that was triggered by those injuries. He said some of the German guards were nice, but others definitely weren't. It was very cold in the prison camp; and that the food was moldy and there was'nt much of it. After about 3 months, he and a friend decided to escape. They dug under the fence and traveled at night, hiding in barns in the daytime. When they got to France, they were surprised to see people dancing in the street, drinking wine and kissing and hugging each other. The war was over! My father "found" a motorcycle and rode back to Itay to rejoin his unit. He was glad to be safe, but sad that the little spitz dog he had had as a pet was gone.

 I miss my father very much. He died in 1974 due to an ulcer he developed after falling and breaking his neck in 1970. He spent 4 years as a quadriplegic because of his fused spine.