Backlash over Air Force Uniforms.

Yes this uniform debacle makes no sense.
I have zero doubt the Airmen this honors would have anything but pride to be recognized.
 
Bought a walkway brick in honor of my dad at the Nimitz and WW2 museums. IMHO, You should too, if applicable. It's a small token of our appreciation.
:usflag:
 
I would also recommend the WWII Museum in NOLA, but allow multiple days. One of my biggest surprises there was a video if a survivor of multiple battles in the Pacific. Guy was from Texas. Any of y'all ever run across a guy named Ray Akin?

Yes the father of Marty and grandfather of Drew Brees
 
UTSUgrad said:
I'm personally grateful for Doolittle's raiders. My dad was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor (Army, at Wheeler Field) and served 3 tours in the Pacific. He and his brother (Navy) were on Tinian Island when the Enola Gay stopped by on her way to Japan. He never said much about his wartime experience. I began to understand it, thanks to Tom Brokaw's reporting and writing about the Greatest Generation. Good to know that today's AFA kids are taught history. Thanks to all of you (and your parents) who served.
:hookem2:
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I wonder if your dad met my dad on Tinian. My dad would never say what he did there.
 
SabreHorn said:
I would also recommend the WWII Museum in NOLA, but allow multiple days.
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A friend of mine lives in Louisiana and raves about the WWII Museum. It's on my list.

Again, not a war-lover, but we need to understand how we arrived here and see those events though those who experienced them first-hand.
 
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uta,

One of the displays that hit me the hardest is a mockup of a submarine. You watch a brief video to educate you about the boat and its action up to that point. Then you are given the duplicate ID of a sailor on that boat complete with his photo. You are assigned to a battle station. After the battle, you are told if the person you are "playing" survived or not. When I found out my guy perished in the battle, it was a really weird feeling - he was young, someone's son, husband, friend.
 
Naval air museum in Pensacola is also 5 stars. A must see if your in the area. Plus USS Alabama battleship close by in Mobile worth a visit.
 
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George Bailey said:
Off-topic a bit, but the next time you're in Fredericksburg stop by the Admiral Nimitz Museum. There is a Doolittle mock-up in there. Pay special attention to the 'guns' on Doolittle's planes. Cool stuff.
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They also have the “bat bomb” which was a sonar guided bomb. My grandfather was a navy pilot in the war (and a UT grad) and Ihe flew a Pb4y-2 which dropped this experimental bomb. Other than that I know very little about his experiences. Like Worsterman’s uncle he never talked and took the rest to his grave in 2005.

Hard to imagine he was just 19 or 20 at the time. Or how there was a generation of guys like him that adapted to being students after their experiences. He was a hard man to please but he also knew hot to have fun and had life by the horns. He bled burnt orange and Sadly he died right before the 2005 championship

I wish I could remember half the jokes he told at the expense of the aggy corps turds. My older brother went to Anm and he likes to tease him but I think that genuinely bothered him.
 
I recommend Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History about Japan and the Pacific war. It’s called Supernova in the East. A series of podcasts; long, but my favorite history type media I have ever listened to.
 
uta
You are right not to be a war lover. Those who have been in a war hate war far more than anyone else.
Again you are right that maybe learning what led to war can prevent another .
Honoring those who fought is a small way to thank them.
 
everette said:
I wonder if your dad met my dad on Tinian. My dad would never say what he did there.
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It's certainly possible. My dad was an Army mess sergeant, probably met many men. His brother was a Navy electrician. .Everything was censored because of the planned invasion of Japan. Much of that planning is still classified, IIRC.

Recommend Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific" as a good read about personal wartime experiences. The book won a Pulitzer and some of the characters were the inspiration for the musical "South Pacific," but the book and musical are very different.
:usflag::bevo:
 
UTSUgrad said:
It's certainly possible. My dad was an Army mess sergeant, probably met many men. His brother was a Navy electrician. .Everything was censored because of the planned invasion of Japan. Much of that planning is still classified, IIRC.

Recommend Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific" as a good read about personal wartime experiences. The book won a Pulitzer and some of the characters were the inspiration for the musical "South Pacific," but the book and musical are very different.
:usflag::bevo:
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My dad worked in intelligence and did a lot of photo reconnaissance, so I can only imagine his role. He did not fly over Japan either one of those two days.
 
WorsterMan said:
B-29 recons or something else?

Or do you know?
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I'm guessing photo recon, but can't be sure. He would never say what he did, but I know he took aerial photos of various places in Europe after the war. He eventually became a spook. I figured out why we were in Germany when I was on subs later on.
 
everette said:
I'm guessing photo recon, but can't be sure. He would never say what he did, but I know he took aerial photos of various places in Europe after the war. He eventually became a spook. I figured out why we were in Germany when I was on subs later on.
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There were no B-29's in Europe during the war - they were only based in the Pacific theatre. If he did photo recon in Europe it was likely a P-38 - that aircraft was well suited for that as it had good speed. P-38's also did recon in the Pacific but their range was somewhat limited and would not have been suitable for long missions to Japan.
 
In Europe, the B-24 had longer range and could carry a larger bomb load than the B-17. This is one of the reasons it was selected to fly from North Africa to hit the oil fields in Romania. Unfortunately, suffered heavy losses.

The P-38 was known by the Germans as the fork-tailed devil due to its design and lethality. The unarmed version made for a great and fast photo recon aircraft.

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utahorn said:
In Europe, the B-24 had longer range and could carry a larger bomb load than the B-17. This is one of the reasons it was selected to fly from North Africa to hit the oil fields in Romania. Unfortunately, suffered heavy losses.

The P-38 was known by the Germans as the fork-tailed devil due to its design. The unarmed version made for a great and fast photo recon aircraft.

upload_2023-10-26_13-37-3.png
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My uncle flew B-24 out of Italy for bombing raids over refineries in Poland and Austria. Unfortunately the plane was always either over enemy territory, the mountains of Yugoslavia, or the cold Adriatic Sea during the winter of 1944-45. Many planes lost on the return leg to Italy if they survived the initial flak attack during the bombing run due to damage or maintenance failures.
 
Thanks MC. I added that book to my Amazon Wishlist. Right now, I have a stack of books at my house (Business, IT, History, Art) almost as tall as I am. Going to be a busy Winter.
 
I am learning so much from this thread.
Wouldn't be surprised many across the country are also now interested in the planes and men that so bravely fought.

Glad and proud USAFA will continue to wear the Doolittle commemorative unis.
 
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