WWII Veteran Returns to Normandy for D-Day! It's not what you think!

[Watchdog]

Quoting from CBS News:

"Anyone looking up along the Hudson River on a recent afternoon could be forgiven for thinking they were merely watching a classic airplane soaring past an iconic backdrop. What they were really witnessing when the World War II-era plane flew past the Statue of Liberty was a major milestone – one stop in an unlikely journey that had every reason to fail."

Read the story of this 75-year-old C-47 named "Miss Montana" by clicking here! It's a great story!

Photographs Copyright 2019 by CBS News

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

It is nice to see stuff taken care off rather than "recycled".

 

[Sistema1927]

My #1 favorite airplane, of all time, is the DC3 in civilian dress and the C47 in military uniform. I hope that they keep flying for the next 100 years.

(My 2nd favorite is the C130.)

 

[Rustyt1953]

The "Gooney Bird" holds a special place for me. Of all my dad's ribbons, the Berlin Airlift was the one he held dearest.

 

[Farmer17]

I was in a parking lot today and heard a loud engine noise and a B-17 and a P-51 Mustang flew overhead pretty low, I heard there was an air show in the area.

 

[Jessie]

My Dad flew one in WWII. I flew long afterwards but still have not flown the plane he piloted during that war.
If I’m lucky I will log a few minutes in one someday and feel what he felt.

 

[ladder13]

The "Gooney Bird" holds a special place for me. Of all my dad's ribbons, the Berlin Airlift was the one he held dearest.

You get a big LIKE

 

[snuffy51]

My Dad was an aircraft mechanic in the Army from 1943 till he got out in 1947 and went to work for C&S Airlines then Delta Airlines in Memphis TN. He used to talk about how good those old real airplanes were.

 

[Frank46]

Rode one of the Navy C47's from Terehone (spelling) Spain to Rota Spain.
Kinda a fun ride. Couldn't hear anything and you had to shout to the guy next to you to get your message across. Still had the jump seats that ran the length on each side of the plane. Kinda roller coaster ride as one minute you'd be going up then going down. Best ride I had in a internal combustion engine powered plane courtesy of the Navy. Frank

 

[hivel37]

In 1957 my hs buddy and I finished basic at Bliss and climbed on a DC-3
and flew to Worcester Mass headed to Ft Devens.
Rough all the way. Stewardess busy passing out barf
bags to a bunch of country kids. A long time ago.

 

[steveno]

when I got to Rhein Main AB in 1970 there was 2 C-47's. I don't know how old they were but judging from the avionics in them (I'm not sure the term avionics applies to something that old) but they were OLD. They flew them back to the states , one made it and one made to Iceland where it broke down. I think they were debating whether it should be fixed or just leave it there for whoever wanted it.

the C-47 was an amazing airplane but for the avionics on them they should only have been flown during daylight hours with road maps. Flying them at night with paratroopers on board and flight crews with very little flight time was a mistake.

 

[kwselke]

I've never had the opportunity to ride on a DC-3 or a C-47. The last time I remember seeing any in use were in the late 1980s early 1990s on scuba dive trips to the Bay Islands of Honduras. It seemed like the pilots of those old planes were always Americans working for foreign airlines. Those guys would do takeoff rolls with an elbow on the window and a big grin on their faces.

My dad told me the most amazing flying he ever saw was by C-47s over Okinawa during April, May, June 1945.

The fleas were so bad on Okinawa during the invasion that anyone returning to the ship from shore was required to strip and be dusted with DDT before being allowed on board. Finally several C-47 were equipped as crop dusters and sprayed DDT at treetop level over the beaches. The sight of seeing those planes do their thing stuck in his mind until the day he died. He wholeheartly approved of C-47s and Mitchell B-25s.

 

[Old TexMex]

I've never had the opportunity to ride on a DC-3 or a C-47. The last time I remember seeing any in use were in the late 1980s early 1990s on scuba dive trips to the Bay Islands of Honduras. It seemed like the pilots of those old planes were always Americans working for foreign airlines. Those guys would do takeoff rolls with an elbow on the window and a big grin on their faces.

I rekon there was a little night work going on around that time too down that way.
There’s a little bar in Costa Rica that has what was left of one in the jungle around 1980.
“Half fast and seldom seen
He don't blip the radar screen
On the deck below the dune
Under the commander's moon...”

 

[shouldazagged]

My #1 favorite airplane, of all time, is the DC3 in civilian dress and the C47 in military uniform. I hope that they keep flying for the next 100 years.

(My 2nd favorite is the C130.)

100% agreement. I think they are the two most important aircraft, militarily and in terms of versatility, in history. The Goony has been used for an astonishing variety of tasks, including as a formidable gunship, and the Herk is rapidly catching up.

I was a passenger on DC3's a few times, as it was the American airliner in my teens.

I'm a bit biased. The C47 is the only plane I've ever (very briefly) actually flown, and our much-decorated Air National Guard wing here in Louisville flies the 130. But both have been enormously important aircraft for a big part of our history.

 

[Watchdog]

100% agreement. I think they are the two most important aircraft, militarily and in terms of versatility, in history. The Goony has been used for an astonishing variety of tasks, including as a formidable gunship, and the Herk is rapidly catching up.

I was a passenger on DC3's a few times, as it was the American airliner in my teens.

I'm a bit biased. The C47 is the only plane I've ever (very briefly) actually flown, and our much-decorated Air National Guard wing here in Louisville flies the 130. But both have been enormously important aircraft for a big part of our history.

The C-47 is one of the most iconic aircraft of WWII, that's for sure. I wouldn't even venture an opinion on where it falls on the icon ladder in relation to the B-17, P-51, B-25, and others in either the European or Pacific theaters.

I do know this, though. The vintage photographs of mass formations of C-47s over Normandie are some of the most soul stirring and awe inspiring images to come out of World War II...or any war.

And just like the old documentary films and photographs of B-17s, the images of C-47s going down in flames with all those brave souls aboard become harder and harder for me to watch as the years go by...which is why you won't see any of those photographs posted here by me.

 

[Sistema1927]

75 years and a couple of days brave men filled up those C47s and gliders behind them. They changed the history of the world along with thousands of their comrades who were boarding ships at that time.

 

[MG34/bar]

When I served with the 101st at Ft. Campbell in the early 1960s I frequently flew out of a small commercial airport near the post on “Ozark Airlines” which was still flying the DC3. I remember that walking from the back to the front of the plane before take-off was a very steep climb. Little old ladies actually got on with their chickens in small cages!

 

[Bob L]

As MG34/bar mentioned about Ozark Airlines, my first flight was in one of their DC-3s flying into a Boy Scout canoe camp in northern Wisconsin. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the DC-3's. Last I knew, there is a company in Oshkosh that is refurbishing DC-3 with Turbo engines to keep them flying. Someplace around the house, I have a book that was autographed by Doolittle when he was attending the first flight of the DC-2 aircraft. They were and still are great planes.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

A seldom mentioned, perhaps little known fact, is that many of the C47's were piloted by enlisted aviators (not officers). The Army Air Corps, USMC, and US Navy all had many enlisted men qualified to fly these aircraft during WW2.

Another interesting fact, just last year Doss Aviation (Pueblo, Colorado contractor providing basic flight instruction for USAF personnel) announced a new class of enlisted aviators. Most are non-commissioned officers with several years of service. All must meet minimum requirements (flight physicals, etc). The US Air Force seems to have come full circle since the 1940's; no need to be commissioned as an officer and gentleman to take control of the stick and throttle!

 

[soFlaNative]

Used for mosquito control down here at least thru the 80's

I saw a different set during the early 70's thundering out of the west, blacked out and a good deal lower than the above where streetlights reflected off the aircraft's belly.