I joined the Group as a co-pilot. After a couple of missions as such, I went to a briefing for a mission and saw my name on one of the tees of a bomber as aircraft commander. I went to talk to the Squadron commander and told him, "Sir I ain't no PIC". He said, "Your are now, or we will have a bomber setting idle, cause you are all we got left". So I did it with a green crew. We done our thing and peeled off to land at home base and I told the crew to assume crash positions. This is where the crew except pilots all get in the radio room and sit backed up against the bulkhead looking aft and cradling each head forward of them. The engineer asked, "What's the problem sir"? I said, "Because I ain't never landed this son of a bitch before". Everything went off okay, and from then on, it was easy.

Once, a few years ago, we had occasion to take CAF "Texas Raiders" to an air show up at Tulsa Oklahoma. Happened that a fellow came up and said that he was an 8th vet. Where? Same place I was. What Squadron? Same as mine. What aircraft? He was an American Indian and a flight engineer on the same aircraft I left when I was rotated home. He told me a distressing tale about when they were waiting for the start engines flare, his pilot went out to the edge of the revetment to take a leak and the ball gunner was installing his guns. For some reason, the guns ran away and put 3 50cals right up the pilot's spine killing him instantly.

Flew a lot of missions in the slot. This was a position just behind the group leader where you were supposed to try to wiggle the nose antenna right under his tail wheel, looking up through the overhead window to maintain position, with a right and left wingman stacked low. This generally required that you were looking directly into the sun a lot of the time, and as a result, I became color blind for a time. But I soon recovered.

When the group leader began a turn, if you were a high or low Squadron leader, you had to slide your unit over in line with him to keep from stalling on the inside of the turn, or falling behind on the outside. Once he established a level course, you then resumed position.

Once our airplane was all busted up from a mission, and a mission was called where we had to fly another airplane. We done our thing and upon return to base, I taxied up to the revetment where we got it, and we had nobody to direct us in which was the crew chief's job. Got tired of waiting and tried to do it myself. Sure enough, I screwed up and when I swung the airplane around, the tail hit a crew chief's stand and a bicycle. Some damage to the tail. Seems the crew chief was all involved in a poker game back in a tent under the trees with his buddies and didn't hear us come in. Anyway, as the squadron goat, I got a cussing' from the CO again, and had to buy the Sarge a new bike.