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 Post subject: WWII vet gets his wish
PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:22 pm 
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Found thiss and thought you all might like it.
john


NH WWII pilot gets wish for final B-24 flight
By NORMA LOVE Associated Press Writer
Published: Friday, September 25, 2009 at 11:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, September 25, 2009 at 11:01 a.m.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - World War II pilot Bernerd Harding feels he has finally completed his mission - 65 years after his B-24, nicknamed Georgette, was shot down over Germany.

Harding, now 90, flew Friday from Laconia to Manchester aboard the Witchcraft - the last B-24 still flying.

The last time Harding flew a B-24, he was a 25-year-old first lieutenant piloting a bombing run to Bernburgh, Germany. On the way back, fighters crippled his plane, forcing him and his crew to bail out. Harding spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.

Harding said he felt his mission - his 14th - was incomplete without one more landing.

Harding is just back from Germany where he searched unsuccessfully for the pilot's wings he buried in a cellar after his capture.

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:46 pm 
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Isn't Ol 927 still flying? Witchcraft the ONLY B-24 flying? Trust the media....but verify!!! :wink:

Cool story though.

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:42 pm 
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Wait until Gary sees this :?

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 5:37 pm 
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It looks like the multiple "nice" requests from the CAF at various levels to the Collings Foundation still continues to be ignored.

Rich, Jim, guys with Collings on here - can you guys please pound some sense into your PR people? I as an aviation enthusiast am saddened to see that the Collings Foundation PR people are unwilling to work with the CAF to tell the truth in their advertising (which, last time I checked was required by LAW) and correctly state that the aircraft is the only B-24J still flying and one of only 2 B-24s still flying.

It is a black mark on the Collings Foundation to me with all of the great work they've done as a whole to be so steadfast in their incorrect stance that 'Witchcraft' is the "only" B-24 flying.

[Edit/Addendum] - It was mentioned in PM that the "Press Releases" state B-24J. Unfortunately, I watched no less than 2 local TV stories during the last CF stop in North Texas were CF members and volunteers state "only B-24 flying" without the "J" on the end. The Press Releases are RARELY what the local media uses; they use interviews with the people on the ground. If they're not being careful to use "J" or just state that the aircraft is one of 2 B-24's still flying and that it's the only of its model (like most of the Ol' 927 volunteers do), then the media will continue to "misreport" the facts.


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:59 pm 
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Collings Foundation: "the last B-24 still flying"

Rep. Joe Wilson: "you lie"

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:15 pm 
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If Kermit would get his example flying, or another one gets pieced together somehow and put back in the air, wouldn't that be the best way to solve the problem? :D

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:07 pm 
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Thanks for posting the article, John.

I'm glad that Mr Harding was able to complete his fourteenth mission as he desired, regardless of the subsequent posts about bragging rights.

Scott


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:55 pm 
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i followed this from the getgo. glad some closure came none the less. no wings found, but still a taste of nostalgia for the old gentleman!! :D

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:34 pm 
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Why the need to take a great story like this one, fulfulling a WWII vet's wish, and instead of discussing the greatness of this act, the posters go back to the same old peeing contest about how many B-24's are still flying. I am going to bet the gent who got his wish fulfilled wasn't really concerned about that when he was taking his ride. Maybe fellow posters should follow his lead.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:40 pm 
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ktst97 wrote:
Collings Foundation: "the last B-24 still flying"

Rep. Joe Wilson: "you lie"


So what?

Who cares?

Yawn...


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 1:35 am 
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Is there any chance that Kermit Week's B-24 will ever fly again?


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