The Late Andy Rooney in a B-17

We all probably know that Rooney flew two missions on a B-17 during World War II. He was based in England and flew over over the English Channel into the first mission into Germany.
     It was in a wing of 500 B-17s that struck Wilemshaven, a location that manufactured ball bearings. As most men know, those components are vital to making engines.
     A B-17 has two decks in the nose: the top deck is the cockpit where the pilot sits in an almost cocoon like left-seat. On his right is a rather wide panel of buttons, lights, dials and switches wedged between he and the co-pilot on the right side of the compartment, also wedged in to the other side of the small space. In between them stands the flight engineer who doubles as the top turret gunner.
    In the lower deck, right under the three men are the navigator, sitting on his office chair, at his desk,and in front of him, in the nose is the bombardier/machine gunner.
    Andy Rooney was only 24 when he was assigned as a reporter for Stars and Stripes newspaper to doa story about Ameicas first strike into Germany's heart land. As he described it, he was not very nervous - right up until the navigator keeled over blue in the face from lack of oxygen.
    Rooney was in modern parlance, just short of a peace activist, admitting in his book that he had flirted with Socialism back in his day. And, when you read his book, "My War," one can easily discern his political leaning. He was photographed for the cover standing in front of a load of 1000 pound bombs in Class A uniform, holding a rose. We got the message, Andy.
    He hated most of the Generals, particularly General Patton, claiming credit for being one of the "nagging " reporters who always chased him for negative comments.
    In the cramped lower deck of the navigator/bombarder's quarters, Rooney was strapped into a tight spot on the right bulkhead between one of the yellow oxygen tanks and an aft  bulkhead at the end of the small compartment.
    About 45 minutes before the IP, they were jumped by all the enemy fighters in the world and the shooting started. The navigator collapsed. Rooney called up to the 20 year old pilot asking instructions. The pilot told him what to do and he did it, his oxygen mask iced up. Andy cleared it, got him back on his feet, breathing, and shooting both .50 caliber machine guns in minutes.
    The mission was successful, the pilot said that Andy probably saved the airplane and Rooney got a medal for it. He was geniunely embarassed about it.
     Rooney flew another mission out of another English base which he described as uneventful. To get a true picture of Andy Rooney, I recommend picking up a copy of his book, My War. It will turn around your mental picture of the man.
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What a B-17 Pilot told me one afternoon

...he trudged in off the desert floor into the museum, hot and dusty, his 50 mission crush cap worn from years of use, but, out of the closet, he put it on for his visit to the B-17 Museum.
   "I was 19 when I did my first of 28 missions, " he told me. Out of England, called East Anglia at the time, he was part of the 8th Air Force that bombed the German Reich back into the stone ages in 1944 and 45.
   " Gosh," he said, " it was awful." At 89, still using 'gosh,' I thought, what a character - 28 missions stacked with blood, gunfire, explosions, flak and death, this guy, at his age, still says, GOSH like a Montana farm boy, but still standing straight with a boyish smile on his face, he had no regrets.
   "I flew in the middle of the pack, " he added, " in the left seat (command pilot) and most of the 8 hours in the air, I got a severe case of eye strain and vertigo."
   He had to keep his eye on the airplane 70 feet above him right under his nose, in those days, it was "put your wing in my window," they flew so close, so tight, they often bumped into each other. The idea was with 12 machine guns pointed in every direction, the enemy wouldn't dare make a direct attack on the flock of B-17's - too many machine guns.
   "About 30% of the time, the ME 109's killed the pilot and co-pilot in a head on run, shooting right at us. Thank God, they never hit me, " he said. In those cases, the top turret gunner came down and flew the mission, he was the third pilot on board. "Lucky thing," my visiting pilot buddy added, " my top turret was crappy at landing."
   In 28 missions, my B-17 pilot visitor of the day, flew 16 different  B-17s, most crashed and burned on return to their bases in East Anglia. One, the "Dorothy Dee," was so shot up, when he landed at Jimmy Stewart's base (the actor who was sound asleep at the time), he said he could swear the crew was whistling they were so happy to have made it.
   When he left the plane, the ground crew chief told him to turn around and check out his 17. When he did, his jaw dropped. It took him a half hour to count OVER 700 bullet holes. The miracle was not one of the 10 man crew was even scratched.
   The crew wasn't whistling,...the airplane was. The scraped the plane and the boys were bused back to their own base.
   None of the 10 crewmen were over 20.
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