Amazing shot of B-25 just after being hit by flak

[gary1954]

This is a sobering photo, in that the crew aft of the Bomb Bay probably knew they had been hit bad, but not how bad, and probably didn't know that this day, was their last day. I am saddened with every read and photo I see of one of these warbirds going down. I count the men in the plane, not the plane, regardless of the plane, it is the men aboard that is or was the key factor in the mission, the plane was the switch in which the key fit. It did then, as it does now, take courage to fly a tin can into battle, yet today, the combat pilot can virtually fire and forget and still accomplish the mission. This is not to say that the combat pilot of today does not face significant danger approaching target however. The combat pilot of yesterday, flew their ships into the face of flak, and whatever else the enemy could launch upwards to kill them. Courage, raw nerve, guts, which ever applies, God Bless those warriors that are still here, from World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf, and thank God Almighty for those that had slipped the bonds of earth.

[A2C]

Absolutely,

It's very sad to imagine the last moments of a flight. Keep in mind they were very low, so the people in back probably had little time to realize what had their time was up.