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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞; 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞.

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"You've never flown in a plane before?" "Never. I took a boat over here in '43 and then, well, I never had a reason to fly."

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The Pacific & Scenery (part II)

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[Source: The American Air Museum]

Above, 100th Bomber Group Major John C. "Bucky" Egan wearing the fez he acquired in North Africa August 1943 on the Regensburg-Schweinfurt shuttle mission; below, as reenacted in 'Masters of the Air', 2024.

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Masters of the Air vs real life 100th Air Group counterparts, part 1/?

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Bombers b-17 from the part of the American 94th bomber group while returning from a combat sortie; Oxford; England; April 4, 1945.

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Copied From the Facebook Group - The Giant killer

Recent Social Media posts with the picture of, “The Naked Gunner” have kept this WW II legend going 75 plus years later. But the true story behind it is amazing.

The identity of the crewman, dubbed the “Naked Gunner”, has never been established, but that hasn’t stopped interest pouring in, even decades later.

The photograph itself seems incongruous with the surroundings, the situation even. The naked gunner stands flexed, water dripping off his body as he mans his battle station on a Consolidated PBY Catalina.

The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II.

The Naked Gunner photo was captured by Horace Bristol. Bristol was one of six photographers recruited to serve in the U.S. Naval Aviation Photographic unit under the command of famed Captain Edward J. Steichen, the photo (understandably) made waves stateside, appearing on the front page of the Dayton Journal-Herald among others. The image however, belies the heroic act that had just unfolded.

One day prior, on February 19, 1944, while flying fighter cover in a Corsair over the Japanese stronghold of Rabaul, a young First Lieutenant Robert A. Schaeffer was shot down by a Zero after a 20mm shell blew out his controls.

“I had not the slightest idea where I was, with all the confusion,” Schaeffer would later write in his own account. “After getting in my little boat I saw that I was in the middle of Rabaul harbor looking at the end of the Jap runway. My position wasn’t good. Then I heard a big splash in the water about 100 yards away and then another, about 50 yards away. The bastards were shooting at me.”

After some 25 hours in the water and suffering from serious burns, exhaustion, and exposure, the first lieutenant was semiconscious and near death.

In a 2002 article from Black & White magazine, Bristol recalled the rescue of Schaeffer: “The man who was shot down was temporarily blinded, so one of our crew stripped off his clothes and jumped in to bring him aboard. He couldn’t have swum very well wearing his boots and clothes.

As soon as we could, we took off. We weren’t waiting around for anybody to put on formal clothes. We were being shot at and wanted to get the hell out of there. The naked man got back into his position at his gun in the blister of the plane.”

The identity of the crewman, dubbed the “Naked Gunner”, has never been established, but that hasn’t stopped appreciation from pouring in, even 78 years on.

The Giant Killer book & page honors these incredible war heroes making sure their stories of valor and sacrifice are never forgotten. The book which features the incredible life of the smallest soldier, Green Beret Captain Richard Flaherty (101st Airborne & 3rd SF Group 46th Co.) and several of the other heroes featured on this page is available on Amazon & Walmart. God Bless our Vets!

Story by Claire Bennet

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They got horses.

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A bit of #Caturday history: Salty, mascot of the San Diego Coast Guard Air Station. In 1945, she was the first cat to participate in an air rescue mission when she and her kitten stowed away on a plane just before it took off to rescue a pilot who had gone down at sea.

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Winnix moments that make me feral part 14/?

Took me quite a few watches to spot these two leaning against a tree together while the chaplain speaks.

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A German Me262 captured at the Kuno 1 Waldwerke (Forrest works) factory - Cham-Michelsdorf, northern Bavaria, April 1945. It is believed that the factory was producing up to five 262’s a day from late April 1944

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Poop Deck Pappy, 44th Bomb Group

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welcome back, bill.

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Roe was the best medic we ever had. He was born to be a medic. You could always depend on him. You hollered, ‘Medic!’ he was right there come hell or high water.

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MASTERS OF THE AIR (2024) part five, dir. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck

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Sketch + GIF

Taglist: @merriell-allesandro-shelton @jump-wings @ahsokatanoss @mads-weasley @scarecrowmax @iceman-kazansky @midgetlover6 @liptonwashere @stolemyspoons @kafka-ohdear @footprintsinthesxnd @jmothh @vera-keller

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MASTERS OF THE AIR (2024) BAND OF BROTHERS (2001)