As we neared Berlin, you could see the cloud of flak
that we were going to be flying into.
We lost two engines in that flak attack.
And as we were losing altitude, I said to the pilot,
"I suggest we get out of the airplane right now."
By the Fall of 1942, the United States' war drive was in full swing,
and 21 year old Richard Kinder was determined to do his part by joining the Army Air Corps.
Upon completing basic training, Richard became a navigator for a B-17 flying fortress
and was sent to Rapid City, South Dakota to join his squadron.
Arriving at Rapid City, I met my crew in the 303rd Bomb Group, 358th Bomb Squadron.
And the next day happened to be my 22nd birthday.
And I decided, "Well guys, there's a dance going on down the street.
Let's go."
We walked in and I spotted a girl.
Gene.
And I said, "Dick, you're gonna marry that girl someday."
And I walked up and asked her to dance and we danced for three hours.
Over the next few weeks, knowing he would soon be deployed to war,
Richard spent every moment he could spare with Gene.
And I dated her every day that I could get off that air base.
Left her with a pair of miniature wings and said, "I'll be back."
And went off to war.
Shortly after that, we started flying missions.
Our first mission was the day after D-Day.
We made ten sorties into France, knocking out railroad bridges
and other means of transportation for the German armored corps to hit our boys on the beach.
We also flew three missions to Germany.
The first two were against submarine pens on the German coast.
And then, on the 21st of June, we were flying our thirteenth mission.
We made a run on Berlin.
More airplanes than you could shake a stick at were in the air that day, going towards Berlin.
Both, bombers and fighters.
As we neared Berlin, you could see the black cloud of flak we were gonna be flying into.
And as we hit that flak cloud,
the two airplanes just in front of us were blown up.
We lost two engines in that flak attack, but we finished our bomb run,
turned around and headed for home, losing altitude on the way.
Probably within about 30 miles, or so, of the coast,
all of a sudden we, got hit by flak again.
We lost out hydraulic systems and our wheels fell down.
And I said to the pilot, "This airplane is going to land in the Baltic.
And it's not gonna land on water very well with the wheels down.
So, I suggest we get out of the airplane right now.
Otherwise, we're dead airmen."
We started bailing out.
When Richard touched down, the rest of his crew was nowhere in sight.
He was alone in enemy territory.
I managed to evade overnight, and wound up on the coast.
And it wasn't a very smart move on my part, cause it turned out to be
two guards and an eighty pound German Shepherd walking the beach.
And they turned the dog loose.
And when you weigh about 135 lbs, I suggest that you not argue with 80 lbs of German Shepherd.
It's not conducive to a long life.
Now a prisoner of war, Richard was sent to Frankfurt, Germany
to undergo interrogation concerning his latest bombing mission.
Upon arrival, he was delighted to find that most of his crew had survived.
Only the pilot was unaccounted for.
And they were all alive and well.
A couple had been wounded slightly.
I learned later from the bombardier that he came down in the middle of the flak guns.
Finally sent down to the interrogation center in Frankfurt, Germany,
and gave them name, rank, and serial number for two days,
while they showed me pictures of the bomb run.
And we did a really good job.
Over the following months, Richard and his crew would be moved time and again
to various prison camps across Germany.
Meanwhile, back home in South Dakota,
Gene was just receiving word that Richard had been shot down.
By the early Spring of 1945, the war was quickly closing in on Germany from all sides.
Increasing numbers of German forces were eager to accept the terms of peace,
while others fought on with all the more ferocity.
Richard saw the extremism of this contrast up close
when a Waffen-SS officer and his regiment arrived at the prison camp,
demanding that the camp's residing German commandant
provide them with soldiers for a mission.
We had a visit from an SS troop.
And they were going to set up a roadblock somewhere,
and they asked the commandant to provide
two or three hundred men from his prison compliment to support them.
And he refused to do it.
So they took about 200 of his guys, herded them into a barracks,
blocked all the windows and doors and stuff,
and set fire to it.
And then they left without bothering any P.O.W.'s,
but,
boy.
It was a big threat as far as the Germans were concerned.
And that's when we took over the camp entirely.
Basically the commandant said, "You guys have got it."
About two days later, Patton's 14th Armored arrived at camp.
Finally and officially liberated, Richard and his crew were together one last time
before heading back to the States.
But this time, it was the entire crew.
The day before we left, our pilot showed up.
They had finally gotten him out of Stalag Luft 1, which was in Northen Germany.
So I got to meet all the crew members on the ground, in Europe.
And then we left, to the United States.
After thirteen bombing missions, and ten months in German captivity,
Richard's enthusiasm for returning to his home country
was overshadowed by his excitement to hear a voice he had not heard for over a year.
They let us have a half a day in New York City.
And I got in the telephone line at the first telephone that I could find.
And I called Rapid City, South Dakota.
And I said, "Gene, are you still available?"
And she said, "Yes, I'm still here."
"I'm coming, just as fast as I can."
On the 26th of June, we got married.
And that's the World War Two story.