Subject: Col. Tibbets on the B-26 Marauder
From: nt (Krztalizer)
Date: 6/8/04 7:43 AM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

one thing
about being in B-26's, when anybody heard you were in them, they looked a
you
with awe and pity as though you were a very brave man but not long for this
world..They got a look about them that said,:"better you than me".

I think I have seen a similar look on people's faces, Art. Our experiences
were not similar, but our aircraft's reputation sure were. We proved them
all
wrong, didn't we? Given the chance, I would suit up today for another
opportunity to prove them wrong and I'd bet a mug that you wouldn't pass on
one
last chance to ride Willie across a stretch of clear blue sky, with England
in
front of you.

v/r
Gordon
PS, during all the D-Day coverage, with hours of vintage newsreels, I noticed
tons of B-26s, including quite a few 344th birds passing by the camera ship.
I
don't know if the included bomb carpet footage showed your work, but they
sure
made a mess out of the bridges they showed.


We were nicknamed the "Bridge Busters". I hit so many bridges I lost count.
When a bridge positively absolutely had to be taken out immediately, they
called the 344th.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer