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Met WW2 Veteran at flea market today.


chris3bs
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Met WW2 bomber engineer at flea market today in Murphy, N.C. His name is Albert Smith. He flew in B24 for 13 missions. Bombing missions in Germany from Italy. P51 Redtail Mustangs escorted them. He could not praise them enough and were the nicest men. He served from 1943 - 1945. He also trained on B29s but the war with Japan was over before flying in the Pacific. It was an honor to speak with him.

 

Chris

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I am a little jealous, I would have loved to meet him, and listen to what he had to say. There aren't too many of those vets left. Honor them when you get the chance.

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Awesome. Always an amazing experience considering these guys served 70+ years ago. I've been privileged beyond words to be able to speak to, almost daily, a 4th Infantry Division rifleman who was wounded by shrapnel at the Hurtgen Forest. He celebrated his 99th birthday in August.

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Collector5516

Definitely the best part of the hobby. I work at the Intrepid and have been fortunate to meet a number of men that served during WWII. A few months ago I met and spoke with an Avenger pilot that flew off Intrepid and helped sink the Musashi. He was kind enough to sign my Intrepid Aviators book.

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You never know who you will meet. I guess its fate. I met another veteran but his work was stateside on aircraft carriers during the Korean War/Conflict which was just as important as being in Korea. All of these chance meetings was at the Murphy flea market.

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I saw a man at the grocery store a few weeks back. He was wearing a ball cap with "ww 2 vet" on it with some medal lapel pins including a DFC and a CBI emblem. Walked over and said thanks for your service. His eyes lit up and a big smile. Asked if he was Army Air Corps, and he said yes. He flew the Hump as a radio operator. After a few minutes talking to him, I said I used to work with a man who had also flown over the Hump by the name of Lee L. He said, That's me!

 

I had not seen him in about 30 years, he is now 91. We talked for about an hour.

 

When I got home, my wife thought I had run away with a blonde.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Last weekend, had the privilege to attend the reinturment funeral of MOH recipient Lt Alexander Bonnyman Jr, USMC, whose remains were discovered on Betio Island, Tarawa on May 28, 2015. He was KIA Nov. 22, 1943. A highlight of the weekend was to sit down with 2 Tarawa Marines (90 & 92) who landed with the LT on Nov. 20, 1943. The stories they told and experience of meeting them both were priceless!!

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