| WWII bomber veterans land at Anoka County-Blaine Airport |
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| Wednesday, 22 July 2009 | ||
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Life Editor Three World War II combat veterans were welcomed by cheers and applause after their recent landing in a historic B-17 at the Anoka County-Blaine Airport. Don Murray, Chicago, Ill., Robert Dickson, Morro Bay, Calif., and Don Freer, Warren, Ohio, shared a number of their wartime aerial experiences prior to flying again July 17.
The 91st Bomb Group Memorial Association members and their families visited the Twin Cities area for a four-day reunion event July 16 to 19. Concurrently, U.S. Eighth Air Force Historical Society’s Minnesota chapter hosted a “Wings of Freedom” stop at the Golden Wings Museum, 8797 Airport Road. The Collings Foundation’s B-17G is named after a 91st Bomb Group, 323rd Squadron plane which completed 140 European missions without an abort or loss. The 91st suffered the greatest number of losses of any World War II heavy bomber group. The 91st is also noted as the unit in which the Memphis Belle flew. In May 1943, that plane became the first U.S. heavy bomber to complete 25 missions. The plane’s story was featured in a 1944 documentary and a more recent 1990 film fictionalization. Murray was a navigator on a B-17F called the Miss Minookie when the plane was shot down Feb. 21, 1944, on a bombing mission over Osnabruck, Germany. He was wounded and unconscious when the bail-out call was made, so his co-pilot attached a static line to his parachute and threw him out of the plane. Dickson, a B-17 pilot, was shot down Dec. 1, 1943. Freer was shot down over Berlin in December 1944 as he piloted his 26th combat mission of the war. All three veterans were held as prisoners of war at Stalag Luft I near Barth, Germany, by the Baltic Sea. The aviators were liberated by advancing Russian forces in May 1945. Both of Freer’s legs were injured after he bailed out of the bomber. He left the B-17 head first. Freer said the plane was shot down 30 miles north of Berlin. Freer recalled seeing an American P-51 fighter and two German Focke-Wulf 190 fighters after he bailed out and made his descent from around 20,000 feet. “The P-51 followed the plane as it spiraled down,” Freer said. “The German planes were about 500 feet away from me. I landed in a group of pine trees.” Freer said he was unconscious for a short time before farmers found him. He was moved by the Germans and spent the remainder of the war at Stalag Luft I. “The Russians liberated us,” Freer said. “Planes from the 91st Bomb Group flew us to Rheims, France, then it was on to Camp Lucky Strike in Le Harve.” The U.S. 8th Air Force flew into Barth and rescued the POWs in a massive airlift called “Operation Revival.” The Russians had liberated the camp May 1. Approximately 9,000 prisoners of war were flown out. American POWs were flown to France, were processed and waited for a liberty ship to return home. Freer said prior to his recent flight the last time he had flown in a B-17 was at the end of the war, after he had been liberated by the Russians from Stalag Luft I. The B-17G that stopped at the Anoka County- Blaine Airport last weekend was joined by the Collings Foundations’ B-24J Liberator bomber and P-51C Mustang. Tim Hennagir is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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