World War II vets share wartime stories with Charleston Airmen

  • Published
  • By Trisha Gallaway
  • 437th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFNS) --  A new generation of Airmen came face-to-face with the "Greatest Generation" when a group of World War II veterans from the 493rd Fighter Squadron visited Charleston Air Force Base June 29.

Airmen from the 16th Airlift Squadron hosted the group along with Lt. Col. Michael King, the 493rd FS commander from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, as they toured the base.

Tom Brokaw described the generation these veterans belong to in his book titled, the "Greatest Generation." "When the United States entered World War II, the U.S. government turned to ordinary Americans and asked of them extraordinary service, sacrifice and heroics." 

"We are very pleased and very proud to host each of you today," said Lt. Col. Christopher Mann, the 16th AS commander to the veterans.

The veterans shared some of their wartime stories with Charleston AFB Airmen.

David Preus, a P-47 pilot, said he joined the service when he was a freshman at Yale because he wanted to be a part of what was going on. The story he shared was something he experienced soon after receiving his wings.

"I got up in the air and it was great," he said. "I was nipping the clouds and having a good time. I decided to see how fast I could make the plane go, so I did what is called a split 's' and headed toward the ground. By the time I hit 500 I decided it was time to pull out; the trouble is the stick wouldn't move. I literally had an experience that I saw in a movie called 'Test Pilot.' Finally, I used both hands on the stick and pulled it out right at ground level."

Mr. Preus said that was an experience he has yet to forget.

"You do some stupid things when you are young," he said.

Leo Greenfield, another P-47 pilot reflected on the ground crews who maintained the aircraft during the war.

"One of the things I could never forget, in all the years since I have been separated from the armed forces is how wonderful the ground crews were," Mr. Greenfield said. "Before, when you came out to your airplane they helped you get in, although we were young, active men, they helped us in every regard and they couldn't wait for us to bring their birds back to them. When you brought back a bird damaged and in bad shape, they got very aggravated with you that you let their airplane get all shot up by the people on the ground."

Mr. Greenfield's wife, Barbara, in a recent e-mail said, "My husband owes his life to the ground crew who patched up the many holes he brought back in his beloved jug after each mission."

She said he also owed a debt of gratitude to Sgt. Rex Lind, the man who packed her husband's parachute the day his plane was shot down over Germany. Luckily, Mr. Greenfield was able to fly his plane over enemy lines into Holland before he had to parachute out.

"I got shot down on my 10th mission," Mr. Greenfield said. "I went back and flew 28 more."

He also remembered the Airmen he flew with during World War II.

"You can't believe and you can't forget how wonderful each [person] was," said Mr. Greenfield. "Every man did his job. When you went out in a formation, that formation stuck together no matter what happened and what it did. You might have gotten shot down, and fell out of formation, but never-the-less, everybody did what they were supposed to do."

During the war, Alfred Long served as a member of the ground crew maintaining the P-47s.

"Us ground crew never had a day off," he said.

Mr. Long recounted a story from the day the German's strafed the airfield he was working at on New Year's Day.

"I was on the wing of a plane and I was talking to the pilot [about the incoming aircraft]," Mr. Long said. "When they finally hit the field and started strafing the field, I said, 'follow me, I know where a foxhole is.' I jumped off that wing and jumped into the foxhole and there was already a man lying on the ground, I had jumped in on top of him. I'm going, 'What the hell?'"

When the airstrike was over Mr. Long said he started looking for the pilot he had been talking to, he later found the pilot hiding beneath a pile of empty five-gallon oil cans.

While the veterans shared some of their more memorable stories, it was Mr. Preus who reminded everyone that it wasn't always fun.

"I just want to mention, while I thoroughly enjoyed my experience, I was scared to death all the time," he said. "I don't know about the other guys, but there was kind of the feeling that if you kept doing what we were doing, it was gonna get you, and by George it did for several of the guys."