BOB'S STORY

Bob's Story

Paul, Bob and I were in a repple depple in the English midlands (Hanley, Stoke
on Trent) waiting to join the 344th as a replacement crew. We all roomed
together as pilots, copilots and bombardiers did.. One evening I entered the
room to find Bob sobbing and shaking, wracked with tears uncontrollably. Paul
had his arms around Bob trying to comfort him but his sobbing continued
unabated. As I stood there about to ask what had happened, Paul shook his head
as if to say, "don't ask now, wait until later". I stayed waiting, shifting
from foot to foot as Bob's tears poured out and his body shook with grief. Bob
had gotten a letter from the States. The girl he was engaged to had been
tragically killed in a skiing accident, and Bob was torn with grief. As time
passed we joined the 344th and flew our missions. Bob was a fine copilot. When
we all went to town and met woman Bob never got involved with any of them. He
was always a very quiet fellow, but somehow was even quieter after that
tragedy. The war ended, we all went home. We kept in touch over the years. As
the years went by Bob never married. His health slowly began to fade. I would
drive up to Boston on business from time to time and Bob and I would always
have dinner together, but it was clear that he wasn't well and getting worse.
He suffered numerous heart attacks and his liver began to fail. He finally
passed away in the 1970's. But I always had the feeling whenever I met thim,
that since that day in England to the day he died 30 years later, Bob never
stopped crying.
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Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer