Air Force Wives of World War Two

Bob and Patsy Ann Cozens, from their Christmas card last year. Two of my favorite people. (Photo courtesy Bob and Pat Cozens)

I am going to retrieve my photo of Patsy Ann Cozens shortly. It's on the other computer. But here is Bob's plane, named after Pat. (Photo from 95th BG website)

Geri and Fred Delbern, 1943. (Photo courtesy Geri Marshall)

Geri today. (Photo courtesy Geri Marshall)

Geri and Fred Delbern on their wedding day, 1942. (Photo courtesy Geri Marshall)

Robert and Bettylou Capen on their wedding day, 1943, Sheppard Field, Texas, shortly before Bob shipped to England to fly 34 missions on a B-17 as a ball turret gunner. (Photo courtesy of Bettylou Capen)

The 95th Bomb Group's commitment to telling the entire story of the Group during its existence included a last-minute addition of a chapter about the wives of the men who flew. These brave women endured frequent moves during training, and then a long period of 'sweating out the missions' as their spouses flew dangerous combat missions over Europe. I have had the honor of interviewing three of these ladies in the past few months for the book--Bettylou Capen, wife of ball turret gunner Bob Capen; Patsy Ann Cozens, wife of pilot Bob Cozens; and Geri Marshall, widow of pilot Fred Delbern.

Though I don't want to give away any spoilers from the upcoming book, I did want to share some photos of these incredible ladies. In researching and writing this chapter, I found that they are true heroes as much as their husbands.

Bob Capen and Bob Cozens returned from the war. Fred Delbern did not. He was killed on a mission in 1943, making sure all of his men had bailed out of his stricken B-17 'Lonesome Polecat II' before the aircraft crashed into the North Sea a few hundred yards offshore of Texel Island. When the plane hit the water, Delbern was the only living man aboard. His copilot, Donald Neff, had been killed and sat in the seat next to him. It must have been a lonely end for this brave man. Sadly, though Geri had written to Fred every day, he had not received a single letter when the Lonesome Polecat II made her final flight.

B-17 'Sentimental Journey' Walkaround, June 5, 2009

This photo was taken by my friend Roger Gottlob as the 'Sentimental Journey' flew over his house in Ammon, Idaho a few days ago. I had no photos of my own of the plane in flight, so I was very happy to get this one. Rog also took the photos below on June 7. The bottom photo shows his grandson.

My photos follow.

The Sentimental Journey arrived in Idaho Falls this morning. Of course I went to see it. Here are my pictures. This is one of the very few flying B-17s left in the world. One is struck by just how tight and cramped it is inside. Imagine flying at 25,000 feet, at fifty below zero, on oxygen, with bulky flying clothes, on the bomb run, while watching flak burst around you and fighting off German fighters. Can't do it? Me, neither. God, I admire those men that flew the heavies. I'm proud to know them.

.50 cal. waist gun

Looking aft from top turret gunner's position.

Majestic bird. Tail gunner position.

Top turret visible in front of tail.

Radio Operator's Compartment

Navigator's Table

Navigator's position (L) and Bombardier's position (C) in nose.

"Leonard's Office", also "Maurice's Office". Two dear friends who risked it all over Europe so we could be free.

Bombardier's position, chin turret, pilot and copilot position above.

Bob Cozen's office (pilot's position) Not to mention all the other great pilots I've known, like Gale House, Dewayne Bennett, Lefty Nairn, Grif Mumford, Bob Morgan, Lyle Shafer, James Geary and too many more to mention....

Gimbel for ball turret (at bottom). Where my dear friend Bob Capen rode out his missions, as well as Les Poitras's grandpa Leslie Moore.

Lovely lines...

Ball turret gimbel, from waist position, looking foreward through bomb bay towards flight deck.

Cockpit. "Fighters, twelve o'clock high!!"

What was it Like in the Ball Turret?

This is from my friend Les, whose grandpa was a ball turret gunner in the 95th:

"For my grandfather:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvuChgh4fGg


…that is without the E/A and flak!

-Les"

95th Bomb Group Reunion, Tucson, Arizona

Today there was unlimited visibility in the American West, allowing one to see all the way to the horizon. Above is the Grand Canyon from 32,000 feet.

I took this on a one-hour break on Saturday, just a short distance outside of Tucson.

A proud 95th vet, who was also a Prisoner of War, also makes a statement for peace with his bumper sticker at right: "War is NOT the Answer". I never did find out whose car this was.

Technical wizard Art Watson figured out a solution to a troubling issue with the B-17s superchargers. As a result, he was awarded the Legion of Merit.

B-17 Pilot 'Lucky' McGinty proudly wears his flight jacket.

Charlie Gallagher models his A-2 jacket.

My dear friend Bob Capen, who was in my first book, checks out his old "office"--the ball turret, for our mutual friend Brad Petrella, Jr., whose dad Brad Petralla was in the 95th.

95th Bomb Group pilot and fellow writer John Walter checks out the living quarters at the 390th BG Museum at the Pima Air Museum. "Ah, the memories!"

Just got back tonight and then had to work till now getting ready for another week of teaching day and night school. Am I ready? No. Hopefully, I learned a thing or two about "winging it" from all the tremendous WWII vets I met and interviewed at the Reunion in Tucson the past few days. It was a wonderful experience and I'm posting just a couple photos tonight. A full report will follow as time permits.

These men only confirm what I already knew--they ARE the Greatest Generation. God bless them all! Without them and thousands like them, we would not be free.

Ball Turret Gunners---- A Breed Apart

This is from my personal collection. It's an ad from a magazine during World War Two advertising Nash-Kelvinator and their role in the manufacturing of ball turrets. This is my favorite shot of the ball turret.

The ball turret gunners were a breed apart. Suspended in their pot-metal cacoon on the underside of the B-17 and B-24 bomber, these men had to deal with three of man's main fears---heights, enclosed spaces, and death---while at the same time defending their ship from intense enemy attack.

An Army Air Corps schematic of the Sperry Ball Turret.

I have been impressed by these men since I first interviewed two of them for my book. Frank Coleman and Bob Capen were both ball turret gunners in the 95th Bomb Group. I spent hours interviewing Frank and Bob sent me several hours of taped memories. These became the basis of my chapter 'Ball Turret Gunner' in my book, Untold Valor.

The caption on this photo says this is a gunner from the 95th. However, he looks a lot like Clifford Puckett, the ball turret gunner on 390th Bomb Group's 'Betty Boop/Pistol Packin' Mama' and I'm willing to bet it is.

By necessity small in stature, these men were long on courage. When I met Frank and his wife in Salt Lake some years back, I was impressed with how much his experience had impacted him as a human being. He still suffered from hours at fifty below zero, curled up in the ball turret of a B-17, often unable even to relieve himself for hours at a time. Frank anguished about the people the bombers killed on the ground in Germany. A strong Mormon, he came home from every mission, and the first thing he did was go to a nearby farm where he could be alone and pray. He would ask God's forgiveness for what he'd had to do, knowing at the same time that somebody had to do it to keep facism at bay.

The American poet Randall Jarrell wrote a sobering poem about ball turret gunners. Here it is:

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,

And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.

Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,

I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.

When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

No glamor here, just sudden death and the end of dreams for one young gunner.

The following is from the Commemorative Air Force website:

"Flying Fortress crew members considered the ball turret the worst crew position on the aircraft. The confining sphere fastened to the underside of the aircraft required an agile occupant immune to claustrophobia and brave enough to be without a parachute close by.
The turret revolved a full 360 degrees, providing an extraordinary vantage point and covering the aircraft against attackers from below. Ironically, thought of as being the most dangerous position in a B-17, it turned out to be one of the safest-as far as suffering battle wounds. The gunner, curled up in the ball in a fetal position with his back against the armor plated door, had less of his body exposed to enemy fire than the other crew members.

The turret was stowed with the guns facing rearward for takeoff and landing. Once the aircraft was airborne, the turret would have to be cranked by hand to position the guns straight down, revolving the hatch inside the airplane. The ball gunner would then enter the turret, fasten his safety strap, turn on the power and operate the turret from inside.
The ball turret gunner would be hunched, legs bent, with his feet in stirrups on each side of the 13 inch diameter armored glass panel. His face was about 30 inches from this panel, and suspended in between was the optical display of the computing gunsight. A pedal under his left foot adjusted the red sight on this display and when a target framed within, the range was correct. While sighting, he would be looking directly between his knees. Two handles projected rearward above the sight and controlled movement of the turret. At the end of each handle was the firing button for both guns."

Finally, I salute my friend Les Poitras's grandpa, Leslie Moore, who also served as a ball turret gunner in the 100th Bomb Group.

Lest we ever forget the sacrifices of these brave men.

If you'd like to read a website by one of these true heroes, I recommend Andy Anzanos' website at this location: http://www.andyanzanos.com/. And while you're at it, order Andy's SIGNED biography about his experiences as a ball turret gunner in the 390th Bomb Group. Check it out. You will not be disappointed!

390th Ball Turret gunner Andy Anzanos holds a copy of his book about his experiences. You can order it, signed and inscribed by this living legend, at the address above.