'That day there were so many planes in the air you couldn't see the sky'
“Silent Heroes Among Us, Final Flights of the Mighty Eighth,” edited by James Clements
Produced by a grant from The Golden Tornado Foundation, the book was a student project from 1995 to 1997, under the direction of history instructor Stephen Heasley, computer coordinator William Ellis and illustrator John Gumpper.
This is an excerpt, written by Laurie Kristufek, from a segment on John Cotter, a tail gunner with the 445th and 489th Bombardment Groups, 703rd Squadron.
“D-Day was something else altogether. We had no idea what was really involved there, even in the briefing room. That day there were so many planes in the air you couldn’t see the sky — so many ships too, you know, to make the invasion. You could hardly see the water, there were so many ships. With D-Day you only had to fly from England across the Channel, a very short run so I flew three missions. That was the only time you would fly over one mission in one day. Missions that day were only two or two-and-one-half hours.
“As soon as you came back they gave you whiskey to relieve the stress — you know — some guys couldn’t handle it. It was to calm the nerves. The stress was quite pronounced.”
“Silent Heroes” is being sold by the Butler County Historical Society for $25.
