I’ve noticed that many of the scenes showing fighter escorts were Red Tails. I have wondered if a connection would be made.But I gotta hunch this week they're going spend a lot of time on the Red Tails, the Tuskegee Airmen.
I’ve noticed that many of the scenes showing fighter escorts were Red Tails. I have wondered if a connection would be made.
My barber was a B17 pilot and my childhood neighbor was in Dresden during the bombing. She and dad used to converse in German. Dad was held over following the Battle of the Bulge and VE Day because he could translate.
Great series.
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Good to know! Can't remember where I left off. Wife just left for work and won't be home till Sunday morning so I'll be able to find time!Well, its all aired now, you bingers can begin binging
And Episode 9 ..................... wow ! They saved the best for last.
Sure did . Hate to see it end . These things are always pretty good , but the characters make them great .They saved the best for last.
Sure did . Hate to see it end . These things are always pretty good , but the characters make them great .
Exactly . Not to mention the friends you lost . Things you went through . Live everyday for your close buddies , and they do the same for you . Then flip the switch ,,, as you were boys , go on home . I bet the relief was intense in the moment , maybe even hard to believe . Then the reality sets in .I can't imagine living with the threat of death every day ......... and then its over. Had to be extremely exhilarating.
I agree , and the Korean war vets were lost in between .The Vietnam vets had a tougher time adjusting than the WW II generation.
I have met Gabby Gabreski, one of his sons was my squadron commander years ago and he would come in and talk with us. Awesome man.As I said earlier, we've only get three episodes left and we're in October 43. We've still got the transition to Doolittle, Big Week in Feb 44, daylight bombing of Berlin every day in the first week of March 44, and then the huge subject of D-Day. Then the transition of targeting from defeating the Luftwaffe to oil/fuel facilities and transportation like marshalling yards, and the 1,000 + bomber streams almost every other day. There's also controversial areas like Dresden.
But I gotta hunch this week they're going spend a lot of time on the Red Tails, the Tuskegee Airmen. They were in 9th AF operating out Italy and the 9th did some escort duty for the 8th, but they were a very very small part of the 8th AF story.
I suspect we will get an outsized view of the Red Tails. They've had an entire movie made about them. They get featured constantly. I wonder how many people know who the " Blue Nosed Bastards " were ? Or who is Hub Zemke ? How about Gabby Gabreski ? I think us older folks probably know Chuck Yeager, but his story needs to be told . There's just not enough time left.
Yes, the military was wrongly segregated. Yes, our entire society and our govt was wrongly segregated. But during the war was not a time to tackle a social issue like integration. It was hard enough ordering men to their deaths and they did not need the extra dynamic. Truman took on the issue in 1948 when he ordered the military integrated.
There's just so much more of the air war over Europe in WW II that could be told.
Hope I'm wrong, the series has been good so far.