When Percy got orders to take his bomber crew and head for North Africa during World War II, he made a quick and daring decision.  Taking off near San Francisco, as soon as they were airborne, he headed their bomber for a bold stunt.

Quick as a wink, that big bomber cruised under the Golden Gate Bridge and soared into the wild blue yonder!  As they made their climb into the sky, a loud blasting of words was coming at them via their radio.  Well….”all hell broke loose!”  Percy and his crew just laughed as they went on their way to war.

From North Africa they flew to England.  After many successful bombing missions over Germany their plane was hit by flack and is coming down.  One man was too wounded to bail out with the others.  Percy successfully crash landed the plane with himself and the wounded man on board.

My husband landed in a tree and quickly scurried out of his parachute harness and shimmied down to the ground where he hid in a wheat field.

They were captured by German civilians, who rounded them all up, then formed two lines and forced the Americans to run between them as they threw rocks at them and hit them with sticks.  The crew members ran that gauntlet with their hands protecting their heads as best they could.

They were kept in prison a few months until the Russian army was getting close. Then they were forced to walk all day and sleep at night on the ground.  Each crew man was given a blanket.  Four men shared a bed by putting one blanket on the ground and three blankets over the four of them.  They took turns sleeping on the outside one night, next night those two slept on the inside. It was winter and cold.

As you can imagine, close to the end of the war, there was a shortage of food in Germany and less for the American POWs.  They lost a lot of body weight.

After being freed by General Patton’s army they sailed to America.  When their ship entered New York Harbor they were greeted by a band and vocalist with the song “Don’t Fence Me In”.

My husband said there was not a dry eye on that ship

This story is in accord with what my husband related to me.  He died in 1970.

In my husband’s honor, I dedicate this story to all our brave service men and women past and present.

(Roy Rogers and Trigger in the Hollywood canteen movie.)