PENN TWP — Earlier this month, a special flight carrying a very special passenger took off from the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport.

World War II veteran Bob Buckler, 97, of Shaler, was given a ride in a biplane that dates back to the time of his own military service.

Buckler was the guest of Dream Flights, a nonprofit group that was formed in 2011. It honors veterans by traveling around the country and giving them rides in a restored Boeing/Stearman biplane trainer used in pilot training during World War II.

Buckler, who was a tail gunner on a B-17 that flew 22 bombing missions over Europe, said, “I sat up front. This fella gave me a nice ride. We did some half loops. He kept checking on me.

“They had to help me in. You had to climb up on the wing,” he said.

Brought his father

Buckler's son, Jack Buckler, of Summit Township, said he learned about the Dream Flight Tour through a veterans organization and brought his father to the airport for the event.

Jack said, “He enjoyed the flight. He said it wasn't as bumpy as flying in the tail of the B-17.”

The elder Buckler said the B-17 was named “Glory Girl” after the Statue of Liberty.

Bob Buckler said “Glory Girl” didn't survive her 22nd mission.

The bomber took serious damage and had to be scrapped on its return.

The 10-member crew was transferred to a new B-17 that only made it through one bombing run in February 1944.

“The last mission was over Poland. We were bombing an aircraft engine factory. It made jet engines. Of course, we didn't know what a jet engine was,” he said.

“We were hit with flak. We were losing gas so fast we weren't going to get back to London,” Buckler said.

Landed in Sweden

The damaged bomber landed in neutral Sweden, and the crew was interned by the Swedes.

The Americans were kept at a resort from February 1944 until December 1944, he said, when the U.S. military attache got them released.

“I was home for Christmas,” he said. “We were told we violated international law by taking refuge in a neutral country and leaving before the end of the conflict.”

Buckler said he volunteered for the Army in the second month of his senior year at Shaler High School.

His friend, George Sell, enlisted at the same time, and they both became B-17 tail gunners.

Buckler said his friend's final mission didn't end as well as his did.

“He was shot down over Germany and ended in a prisoner-of-war camp,” Buckler said. “He was released in April 1945. He was the best man in my wedding.”

According to Wendy Dalessandro, a spokeswoman for Dream Flights, the group relies on donations, sponsorships and grant money to fund the flights, which are provided free of charge to U.S. military veterans living in retirement communities and long-term care facilities.

Since the beginning of August, she said, the group has been running Operation September Freedom to celebrate World War II veterans.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, only an estimated 100,000 are alive in 2021. The youngest will be 95 years old.

Fewer served in WWII

According to Dream Flights, since the launch of the group in 2011, the organization has given free flights to more than 4,200 veterans and seniors. Fewer and fewer of the Dream Flyers are World War II veterans.

“We started the foundation in 2011 with one mission: to give back to those who have given,” said Dream Flights founder and President Darryl Fisher.

He said Dream Flights was formed that year when he was flying a Stearman he had acquired back to Oregon.

Fisher said on the trip back he stopped by a senior-care facility and offered a flight to a World War II veteran friend.

The experience proved so rewarding that Fisher resolved to start the foundation.

Fisher said he and his all-volunteer Dream Flights crews travel the country year-round in fully restored Boeing Stearman two-seater biplanes. Dream Flight recipients strap on headsets and leather helmets and take to the skies.

'Extra special'

Fisher said volunteer pilot Marcus Smith, of Raleigh, N.C., was the one who took Buckler up for his 20-minute ride in the front cockpit of the plane. “It was extra special for Mr. Buckler,” Fisher said. “He was the tailgunner in the B-17 when he was in the service.

“He was really sharp for his age,” Fisher said. “We gave him a quick rundown before the flight.

“He loved it. He really enjoyed it,” Fisher said.

After the flight, Buckler signed the name “Porky” to the tail of the Stearman.

Porky was the nickname for his wife, Imelda, whom he married shortly before he was discharged from the Army Air Corps in October 1945.