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Today I volunteered again at Auburn on our real full scale
B-17 "Aluminum Overcast". I'll share a story with you guys ...
A very elderly lady came up to me as I was assisting people on and off the B-17 at the rear crew door just behind the right waist gun. She asked if she could go behind the airplane by the tailgunner position. I said "Sure!". She went around to the back and stood there for what seemed like maybe 15 minutes, putting her hands on the side of the tailgunners compartment then came back around to me and had tears in her eyes and thanked me for letting her go there. Her brother who would have been 86 this week, died in a B-17 (he was a tailgunner) when it was shot down over Europe and until today it was the first chance she'd ever had to get this close to a B-17, but today, it was as if she somehow "connected" with her brother who died fighting for our freedom.
But she also thanked me and asked me to extend her thanks to our entire B-17 group for helping to keep the history alive. She was with a small group of other ladies and she told me that they very much appreciated the service we were providing by showing this airplane to the general public.
All I can say guys is it had a tremendous impact on me. This airplane is just more than fun and games, it's a living memorial to those who gave their lives for our freedom. Just about an hour later, a man came by and thanked me again in the same way, his Dad was a B-17 pilot who was shot down over Europe and he, his crew and the airplane were never found.
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