"David Kazdan" wrote in message
et...
Maybe people here are interested--I'm a physician (anesthesiologist) for
the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and part of the privilege of such a
post is getting to hear the veterans' stories. One of my patients is now
101, he was an enlisted-man pilot during WWII. Of all dreadful jobs, he
was an artillery spotter, flying L4-As (he says Piper Cubs, I assume he
means in military designation) at about 50', radioing back "hit" reports
to the artillery crews. I can't imagine many of his comrades survived the
war. He returned to school after, took a master's degree in education,
had a forty year career as a professor of education at University of
Akron.

He's in pretty good shape other than being blind, and lives in a VA
nursing home. I had him in for a small surgery on a Friday afternoon
about a year ago, and he was slow recovering from his anesthetic, so I had
him admitted overnight. He accepted this but was slightly irritated, as
Saturdays were his day to hold court at the nursing home and he didn't
want to miss it. Seems all the other residents and their families circle
around him then to hear his stories and perhaps tell their own. I can
only imagine the scenes.

The geriatrics department had a party for him for his 100th birthday, he
gave a speech and sang a few songs. The American Legion presented colors,
and several dignitaries from the Department of Veterans' Affairs attended
and spoke. It's been fun getting to know him over the past several years.

I'm not posting his name because I don't have an easy way of asking him
permission to do so. I can inquire at the nursing home if readers here
are interested.

Thanks, Bill, for posting the plaque photos.

David


I'm another Bill, but thank you, very much, for looking out for the "old
soldiers." The story is very much true. If you see the film, "The Longest
Day," Henry Fonda plays an intelligence person who gets a ride on an
artillery spotter plane to hunt for attacking German tanks. They are in the
vicinity when he asks the pilot to cut the engine so he can hear the
unmistakable sound of the tank treads. He hears them, and then the pilot
re-starts the engine, at tree level. I was told that the story was true and
I do not doubt it as I flew as a spotter in the 1960s in an L-19 "Birddog"
(made by Cessna) the follow-on to the L-4 (and later) series aircraft made
by Piper and their civilian name was Piper Cubs. The object was to fly as
low and slow as possible, to avoid anti-aircraft fire, while maintaining a
stable platform for the observer (it was usually two people, the pilot and
the observer.) At the time of WWII he was in the US Army, and even though
the 1948 act made a separate USAF, the artillery spotter planes remained
with the US Army, in the field artillery. In Vietnam I was the operations
officer (advisor) for a province and we had both Army and USAF L-19s
spotting for airstrikes, and artillery strikes, respectively. At that time
we kept them above 1500 feet to avoid small arms fire, there being no Viet
Cong airplanes or serious air defense. But they were true to their code and
never hesitated to dive right in on some suspected position - and I am sorry
to say that we lost one USAF FAC that way. It is a very strange person that
can operate that close to the ground, looking this way and that, while
marking a map, calling on the radio, and estimating changes in trajectories
for artillery that is not seen. He has my respect. You have to see the
movie.


Bill wrote:
Enlisted Stories Bronze Memorial Markers from the Parade Field at
Lackland
Air Force Base San Antonio, TX. on a nice warm San Antonio February Day.
Mr. Bill