Prayers and Concerns
4th Gear Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,174
From: SC
My Father-in-Law passed away last night. He was 94 years old. When WWII started he left Georgia Tech to become a B-17 pilot. He was was shot down over France and evaded capture. He had quite a story about his adventures in France. He even has parts of the plane he was flying and even part of his parachute. He will be missed . . . .
4th Gear Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,174
From: SC
Thanks for the messages. Jim and his wife made several trips back to France. He met the doctor who took care of his burns, in Paris. He also told Jim about the French Underground and how they were concerned about him. He was flying a plane that was in place of his regular plane (had mechanical problems), when the French Underground checked with England about Jim they gave them his plane name and not the one he flew on his last mission. They got it straightened out. He also met the a Frenchman whose father was the owner of the fishing boat he hid on to make his escape to England. This man was also on the boat and joined the Free French to fight the Germans. He had so many experiences . . . Alice and I went to France and did get to see where he hid when first shot down, the apartment in Paris. We also met the doctor and the son of the boat owner. We even brought back a shoe horn owned by a nun. This shoe horn was made from part of Jim's B-17, the man who made it took the metal before the Germans came and got the plane from the beet field near a small French village. We met the man who made it too.
P.S., Jim received his parachute harness that was found in the attic of a Frenchman. Had is last name on it, it also had the small chute that came out first to deploy the chute. The chute itself was used to make a wedding dress and underwear.
P.S., Jim received his parachute harness that was found in the attic of a Frenchman. Had is last name on it, it also had the small chute that came out first to deploy the chute. The chute itself was used to make a wedding dress and underwear.
Thread Starter
6th Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 5,287
From: South Carolina, Axle swap anyone?
Found out last week that one of our dogs has a mast cell tumor. It's getting removed this Friday. We're hoping that the lab will determine that it's not aggressive. It's been a depressing week, especially since she's only 6.