Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[oopy38]

My good friend Earl Wilson died Wednesday 2-24-2010 in Pensacola, FL. I met Earl years ago in Selma. He was an avid gun collector specializing in U.S. Springfield rifles. In talking with him over the years I learned he was a WWII vet. As his story goes, after finishing basic training, he was sent to the Consolidated B-24 engine mechanic school. Upon graduation, he was imediately assigned to a Boeing B-17 (had completely different engines)squadron as a top turret gunner. As luck had it, he was sent to Rio to an Air-Sea Rescue unit. The B-17 was stripped of guns and crew, just pilot, co-pilot, and Earl, whose main job was to drop the boat carried under the belly of the plane if they found anyone to rescue. They never saw anyone to rescue, wore summer uniforms year round, and went out nightly with beautiful Brazillian women. His comment to me was: "Garnett, War is hell, but someone had to do the job!" Once I toured a B-17 and mentioned to him that I was a little uneasy walking through the bomb bay on the little cat walk, with the doors open and the concrete below. His reply was: "You should try it at 20,000 feet with a parachute and oxygen bottle strapped on!" He was a good man and I will always remember him!