Inside "Nine-O-Nine"

[Cazzie]

Mr. Nate Wiley is just two months away from his 96th birthday. He was a ball turret gunner aboard B-17Gs for 35 missions over Germany in 1944 and 45, 27 of those missions flown in a B-17G named "Suicide Susan". On the return from the 37th mission, "Suicide Susan" took a direct FLAK hit in the nose killing the bombardier and separating the nose of the plane from the fuselage. the upper metal of the front was blown back by the wind and completely covered the windshield, there was no way for the pilot or co-pilot to see. But "Suicide Susan" made it back to his base in England and with the co-pilot directing the pilot on visual from the top turret, landed safely losing only the bombardier. At age 95, Mr. Wiley climbed into that B-17 like he was in his 20s, I'm telling you mates, tears were welling in my eyes. That old man walk through that plane telling everyone about it. God sent me an angel today. With that in mind, here's Mr. Nate Wiley, a big salute from all my SOH mates, this old man is what the greatest generation was all about. :salute:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/natewiley_2_natural.jpg

And now, While moving through the plane with Mr. Wiley, I set up my camera on the tripod (no easy feat in a B-17) and snapped some HDR images that I processed using some rather creative lighting voodoo involving Photomatix Pro and Photoshop. Note: these have not been cropped for widescreen desktops, because I wanted the full frame shot.

The bombardier's station:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/b17_bombsta2_creative.jpg

I rather liked the way the panel came out. I save the original HDR Image, so that I could play some more with it.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/b17_pit_creative.jpg

The bomb bay looking toward the rear:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/b17_bombbay_creative.jpg

The side gunners' stations looking forward toward the radio compartment:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/b17_sideguncomp2_creative.jpg

The same side gunners' stations looking to the rear toward the rear landing gear:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/b17_sideguncomp_creative.jpg

I would love to ride my bike this afternoon, but must head out in about an hour and help set up for a Metro Cross-Country HS meet. Will be there until 6:30 to 7:00 this PM. This is our annual big event, probably be 20 to 25 HSs involved. I will be one tired monkey, when I get home. And dang it, I have to miss my Cards game!

[Panther_99FS]

:medals::medals::medals:...

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Great job on the images Caz!

As for Nate Wiley well he was from the greatest generation. I've had occasional talks with people from that generation and I have my own ideas about why they were the the greatest generation. To put it simply their character's were formed during the great depression. They learned what it means to suffer they learned what it means to share. They learned to set aside petty selfishness and learned the meaning of the word service.

At my fathers first funeral (don't ask it is complicated) I met the bombardier on the next plane (a B29) scheduled to drop 3 nuclear bombs on Japan. He was one of the greatest generation and his clear eyed vision spoke directly to me. It was a pleasure speaking with him and he knew that I grew up in rural Montana at a time when we were taught that things beyond selfish greed mattered. That spirit is gone perhaps never to be regained until new generations "rediscover" it and develop the wisdom to understand that everything old is - truly is - new again.

-Ed-

[stansdds]

Ed, you pretty well nailed it. I'd also like to say that it is an awesome experience to listen to the precious few who remain of America's greatest generation. Soon, they will all be gone and we will have only memories of them. It is so important to know and understand history as those who do not know history are doomed to repeat history's mistakes.

[Cazzie]

Nailed it Ed. My dad was among those great men, his two brothers also. Their life was further complicated as their father passed away at age 28, when my father (the eldest) of five children, was 8 years old. He died from respiratory sickness brought on by being gassed in WW I. The Depression hit one year later and my father, being the oldest, had to quit school at age 13 and go to work for pennies on a dollar roofing. It was there he was taken under wing by Mr. Bob Akins, a black man who was 25 at the time. My father always looked at Uncle Bob (what my brother and I called him and I mean that not in the Uncle Tom sort of way) as his surrogate father and my father taught his two children to not be prejudice like most of our lot at the time. I only saw my father break down twice in my life, when his younger brother committed suicide in 1961 and when Uncle Bob passed away in 1975. He and my father worked, hunted, and fished together all their life. He thought the world of that man. My father was one of the few white men in WW II that was unprejudiced by that time. To him there was no color barrier, just poor people. My father never liked the super rich, a trait he passed on to yours truly. I could wax political too, but that is not in order here.

As a side note, Mr. Nate Wiley's brother, Mr. Morris Wiley, was a good friend and hunting buddy of my dad and Uncle Bob. Mr. Morris Wiley would have been 92 this year, the same age as my father would have been. He passed away in 1994, my father in 1990. I had no idea Mr. Nate Wiley was Morris Wiley's brother until I met Mr. Wiley on this day and we struck up a conversation. I found he was from Yanceyville and still lived there, so I threw out Mr. Morris Wiley's name and you would have thought we had known each other all our life, He knew my father too. I stayed at the airport way too long, but two people shared some tears and some laughter on that day. Make that three people, I think Mr. Wiley's niece-in-law did most of the crying.

Caz

How come we cannot edit our posts? I meant "on the 27th mission above".

[jmig]

Caz and Ed, what a wonderful thread. I loved the pictures. The HDR gives them a sort of steam punk look, which, I think fits in perfectly with the airplane. They are very artistic Caz.

[Panther_99FS]

Hey All,
They learned what it means to suffer they learned what it means to share. They learned to set aside petty selfishness and learned the meaning of the word service.

-Ed-

No debate from me here....:salute: