Mustang owner reunited after 60 yrs with it's owner. P51 Mustang that is.

dlindemann

Dave Lindemann

Lifetime Supporter
Eric - Thank you so much for posting this! My father was in WWII on the US Nashville - not as glamorous as a fighter pilot perhaps - but important nonetheless. He is gone now but it warms my heart to see that people appreciate what our parents or grandparents did for all of us. My wife and I are going on vacation to Hawaii for a couple of weeks - the thing I am looking forward to the most is visiting the war memorial so that I may pay tribute to the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live the lives we are able to live today.

Best regards,
Dave L
 
Jim Craik

Jim Craik

Lifetime Supporter
Dave,

The USS Nashville was a big time fighting ship! Light Cruiser.

They were there from the beginning, went on the Doolittle Raid, ran with the fast carriers, fought in the Aleutians and even shelled my old home Wake Island!

I think she was very glamorous.
 
K

Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks

too nice story!!

Think the P-51 is a part of the american flag, as well as the F.86 and the F.4.

It is incredible how many pilots are still alive, it is also true they had the "tour of duty".Not the same for the fellows in the other side,Germans, british and italian.

Such period have really incredible tales.
From the "bad" ones (it is incredible to me cause I only have friends in germany today..) I also remember the too ncie story of a FW-190 pilot living with his family and the airplane in the german forest.
He didnt fly for hitler (luftwaffe always have been a problem for him, remember Adolf galland history..), he few only because was the thing he had to do,loving the FLY more than everything else in his life.
And he is still alive too ;)
 
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D

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
A debt of gratitude from here. Such emotive scenes throughout.

My dad at twenty years old. He is ninety one this year.
 

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Charlie Farley

Charlie Farley

Supporter
Great story. Wonderful to think he got to fly the little baby again.

Ok, i hold my hands up. I don't always agree with all US foreign policies,
but during my work, nearly every week, whilst driving through the East Anglian countryside, i stop off for a few minutes at the memorials that are dotted everywhere around here. This part of the country was swamped with American airfields. Only last week, i stopped off at an old airfield from which there were 2 squadrons of Republic P-47 Thunderbolts operating.
When you get back into the car, the radio goes off, and your thoughts are your own. They truly were a great generation.
Attached is a photo of my Dad's plane.
 

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M

Mesa

Awesome.
My Grandpa was a navy cook of all things and was in Pearl harbor when Japan attacked. If you ever met the man he had the disposition of a hard charging marine, how the navy thought he would make a good cook we never knew - he never was much of a cook :)

I grew to appreciate and understand him more and more with each passing year.
He was a great guy and a part of a great generation.
 
D

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Jim - I think it was a Typhoon. In a nutshell - Used for high speed low/ level interception and D-Day Normandy landings. Developed into the Tempest and after hostilities ceased in Europe, I arrived and we went to live in Egypt. Then it was the Palestine conflict. He never really spoke about any of it unless it was to another guy of the same period - of which there were still plenty around in the 50's and 60's.
He did quite a lot of aerobatics in the 1950s in Meteors and later Hunters as a QFI and formation display pilot and shot the first RAF Thors at Vandenberg AFB.
 
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S

Simon

"He is ninety one this year"

David,

How fantastic! I hope your dad knows how much we all appreciate what his generation did for us back then.
I attend the local service at the Hornchurch war memorial every remembrance day and am always saddened by how few people attend. Hornchurch played a big part in the air defence of the country and there are tens of thousands of people living here. It's such a shame they can't take a few minutes just once a year to say "thank you"
But I appreciate what they did and will forever be grateful. Give him a pat on the back from me next time you see him.
:thumbsup:
Simon
 
M

Jack

simonjrwinter said:
"he is ninety one this year"

david,

how fantastic! I hope your dad knows how much we all appreciate what his generation did for us back then.
I attend the local service at the hornchurch war memorial every remembrance day and am always saddened by how few people attend. Hornchurch played a big part in the air defence of the country and there are tens of thousands of people living here. It's such a shame they can't take a few minutes just once a year to say "thank you"
but i appreciate what they did and will forever be grateful. Give him a pat on the back from me next time you see him.
:thumbsup:
Simon
Click to expand...

ditto david! Appreciated..
 
5

Eric Johnson

dlindemann said:
Eric - Thank you so much for posting this! My father was in WWII on the US Nashville - not as glamorous as a fighter pilot perhaps - but important nonetheless. He is gone now but it warms my heart to see that people appreciate what our parents or grandparents did for all of us. My wife and I are going on vacation to Hawaii for a couple of weeks - the thing I am looking forward to the most is visiting the war memorial so that I may pay tribute to the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live the lives we are able to live today.

Best regards,
Dave L
Click to expand...

Dave,

You're welcome. It is a very heartwarming film and I agree that is was great to see people including youngsters lining up to meet and get autographs from these guys.

About Hawaii,
As a former resident, I have gone to Pearl Harbor numerous times, most often to show vacationing friends and relatives the battleship Arizona memorial. Every time, especially when I would go alone, the impact of what happened there would affect me immensely. It is a powerful place. I'm certain you will feel the same and feel a great pride knowing your father was part of this "Greatest Generation".



Have a good trip!
 
D

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Well, he is now in a nursing home in Devon and the seemingly inevitable dementia followed by alzheimers has left him totaly silent, chair bound, and not recognizing
anybody. The movie Grey Eagles that we are discussing here is that much more fantastic to me , in that such guys are still 'in this world' and capable of flying their wartime chariots of fire.
 
M

Mesa

I completely agree -
Standing on the Missouri while looking over the Arizona is a powerfully moving experience. I will never grow tired of listening to men who served and share their memories (such as the volunteers at the various memorials). I always consider it that I am lucky to have met them and an honor to say thank you.

I spent a 10 hour day, the only day I was ever in Berlin absorbing every bit of WWII / Cold War history I could get to. That night I was greeted by an American who ran the Hard Rock I stumbled into. He came out to tell me that just a minute ago we dropped the first bomb after 9/11 in the war on terror. I was struck by how many American flags (temporary tattoos) I saw on shoulders walking through Berlin that day.

An interesting day in a life - connected by history.
 
Jim Craik

Jim Craik

Lifetime Supporter
Mesa,

Going to the old areas where WWII was fought I find very moving.

A few years ago, my wife and I were to spent a few days in Normandy, on our way to Spa for the Belgian GP. Our first museum stop was at the Pegusus Bridge. This is a very well done museum with lots of displays, the old Bridge, assault gliders, stories and Pictures.

It was incredably moving and very sad. I feel a little awkward saying this but as we walked to our car with tears in our eyes, I told Frances "I don't want to do this anymore, it's just too sad". We then drove along the coast for a few miles and went back to our hotel.

I had really been looking forward to going to Normandy, got and read books......
I was then and am now very suprised at my reaction:(
 
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