In Their Own Words
Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 02:47PM
Staff Sgt. Jess Gomez
U.S Army Air Corps
WWII
Left Waist Gunner
POW for 14 months
8th Air Force, 458th Bombardment Group, 753rd Bomb Squadron
Air Defensive, Europe, Normandy, North Africa, Rhineland, Ardennes - Alsace
A POW for 14 Months
The mission - bomb Berlin. One thousand aircraft were en route. But one prop on their plane wasn’t working. After dropping their bombs, they were heading back when they came under heavy enemy attack. Flack ripped through the plane like butter, hitting Jess in his wrist and knee. Flames engulfed the plane.
Jess had no training in parachuting, but he remembered seeing a poster in the cafeteria at boot camp in California that said “Count to 10. . .”
In Their Own Words briefly describes a specific historical story told during an APHA interview that is used as short stories for the media.
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