64 years later, World War II veteran takes flight in B-24
Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008 - 06:29 PM Updated: 09:21 PM
By Lance Griffin
Floyd McKemie stood behind the gun turret of the old World War II B-24 Liberator Wednesday, and stared out the window.
It had been almost 64 years since McKemie stood behind a machine gun just like this one, on a plane just like this one. He was a waist gunner on a bombing run to Berlin when an enemy fighter filled the plane with bullets. McKemie was the only one who could see the damage first-hand and knew the plane was in trouble when he saw bullet holes in the wing and gasoline spewing away from the plane. Moments later, McKemie saw the same enemy plane run into the wing of the B-24, bounce off and flip over. The enemy plane started to tailspin and the B-24 began to descend at a steep angle.
Members of the 10-men crew began to bail out. McKemie believes he was the eighth man out. As he jumped out of the window, a cord on his uniform got caught on his machine gun. At the last second, McKemie’s fellow waist gunner unhitched the cord, or McKemie would have gone down with the plane.
McKemie parachuted to the ground just a few miles from Berlin and was almost immediately captured by German forces. He spent the next 14 months as a prisoner of war before being liberated by Gen. George Patton’s Third Army.
When McKemie’s son, David, heard about the Wings of Freedom Tour coming to Dothan and the opportunity to fly in an authentic World War II B-24, he called the tour’s organizers.
Wednesday, McKemie was preparing for his first ride in a B-24 since getting shot down.
The painful memories of his last B-24 flight didn’t deter McKemie’s enthusiasm over the upcoming ride.
“I have my nightmares, I certainly do,” said McKemie, 85, who lives in Dothan. “But this is something I’m thoroughly going to enjoy.”
He stepped away from the machine gun and walked into the bomb bay, up toward the cockpit. McKemie, who was the assistant engineer for his B-24 crew, said he could recall much of the wiring plan for the plane. In fact, he could recall the function of just about every button, knob and lever. He squeezed through tight spaces, looked out every window and told stories about the war and the bomb runs on Berlin.
Soon, it was time to takeoff. The plane would fly from Dothan to Montgomery, where relatives would be on hand to bring him back home.
During the pre-flight conference with the pilot, McKemie had only one request.
“I’ve gone up and down on the B-24 about 100 times,” McKemie said. “But I always had things I had to be doing at takeoff, so I never got to experience a takeoff from the cockpit.
“Would it be possible for me to sit up in the cockpit?” he asked.
“No problem,” the pilot said.
McKemie grinned, waved and stepped into the B-24 bomb bay, then made his way to the cockpit.
64 years later, World War II veteran takes flight in B-24 - local_news | The Dothan Eagle
64 years later, World War II veteran takes flight in B-24
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman
Re: 64 years later, World War II veteran takes flight in B-24
