by Senior Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Greg Knott, 33°

Col. Richard B. Bushing and Greg Knott

Since retirement, I have been pursuing a hobby and perhaps more in aviation photography.  I have attended numerous airshows, visited air museums, stopped in small towns looking at the military aircraft they have on display in front of the American Legion Post and more.

My travels have taken me across the US, including a recent trip to Arizona.   I made my way to Tucson and visited the Pima Air and Space Museum.  This museum is adjacent to Davis-Mothan AFB, home of the 309th Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309 AMARG)B and the museum has been the recipient of many of the retired aircraft that come to their final home in aircraft boneyard at Davis-Mothan.   

The museum now has a collection of over 400 aircraft, with most of them in great condition.    These aircraft range from pre WWII aircraft to modern recently retired aircraft.   Most of the planes were flown to the museum for their final flight.  The Arizona desert is a great place to keep planes, when they are outside for display. 

On the grounds of Pima Air and Space is a smaller museum, the 390th Memorial Museum.   This museum pays tribute to the crews who flew in B-17 bombers during WW II.  A fully restored B-17 is prominently featured in the building and the exhibits tell the stories of those who flew aboard the B-17 and the ground crews who supported them.

The particular day I was visiting, the museum had an author, Col. Richard B. Bushing there to talk about his book “My Wars”.  Col. Bushing had a 32 career as an aviator in the United States Air Force, first serving as a B-17 pilot during WWII and finishing his career flying an F-4 in Vietnam.

Col. Bushing told the stories of the B-17 crews.  He recounted the heavy losses they sustained as they flew from bases in England, flying over the English Channel with missions in Germany and elsewhere, to bomb amongst other targets, factories that were vital to the German war efforts.    Most of the time, the B-17 did not have fighter escorts, as the escort planes did not have sufficient range to stay with the B-17.  This changed later in the war as the P-51 Mustang came into service and it had sufficient range to escort the B-17.   The famed Tuskegee Airmen were amongst the crews who flew the P-51 and served as escorts.

The Germans knew the B-17s were on the way, as their radar could pick them up as they left England.  The Americans primarily bombed during the day, as US Army Air Force leadership thought that was the most effective method.   The crew flew at altitudes of up to 29,000 feet and faced heavy flak from the Germans below.   The B-17s had to fly in tight formations to help their rate of survival and to be most effective.  

B-17 losses were often heavy.  Each B-17 had a 10 man crew and when a plane was shot down, the crew’s only hope was to bail out of the plane and hope to evade capture by German forces on the ground.  

Crews were under extreme duress.  The B-17 is an unpressurized plane, which meant that above 10,000 feet, crews had to wear an oxygen mask.   This was in addition to heavy jackets and clothing to keep them from freezing to death.  The air temperature could drop to -50 degrees below zero.   All the while the plane had to be flown, the radio manned, the bomb site scoped in for accuracy, 50mm guns to be manned and reloaded. 

If a crew member was able to fly and complete 25 missions, they would have completed their service and rotated back home.  Crews only had a 25% chance of completing their 25th mission.  Hundreds of crew members were lost after being shot down and hundreds more were taken as prisoners of war after being captured by the Germans.

The bravery of these crews is easy to forget today, as we are now 80 years after the close of WWII.  Yet the events of the current day are still influenced by those brave service personnel from decades ago.   Col. Bushing at 102 years of age is one of the very last of the surviving B-17 crew members.   He has made it his life’s mission to tell the stories of these brave men, in hopes of keeping their story alive and help ensure the sacrifices they made are not forgotten.

I want to thank Col. Bushing for his service and all those who flew, manned and crewed the B-17s to help ensure our freedom.

~GJK

Greg Knott is the Senior Contributor to the Midnight Freemasons and a member of the craft since 2007.