Container Top
Homes   Jobs   Cars   Shopping
Search

Events Calendar

EVENT SEARCH:

In This Section


Most Read Stories


Blogs:


Pets:
Summit teams up with Rescue Waggin' to save dogs

The Heldenfiles:
Songs for an American Day

Patrick McManamon:
Touching on the Browns, Cavs

Akron Zips:
Opponent outlook: Northern Illinois

Browns Bulletin:
Single-game ticket sales begin July 11

Tribe Matters:
Wedge assured of job through season

Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth test showed marijuana

Kent State Sports:
Men's Basketball Scheduling update

Cleveland Cavaliers:
Updated: Free Agency: Another Gone - Apparently

All Da King's Men:
The Obligatory Palin Post

Blog of Mass Destruction:
Wow….Sarah Palin Resigns Governorship

Akron Law Café:
Abraham Lincoln and the Fourth of July

Varsity Letters:
Highland senior receives honor

See Jane Style:
Picnic Wear

Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?

Let's Talk Real Estate:
Happy 4th of July!

Ohio Travels with Betty:
Tom asks where to stay while visiting the football Hall of Fame.

Sound Check:
Rundgren fans rejoice!: Second night of AWATS at The Civic added

HRLite House:
Morscruethal Behaviors or Just Lip Service?

Akron Gamer:
Hot link: Best of Nintendo at E3

Sound, feel bring back memories of missions
Seat in vintage aircraft lifts vets

World War II pilots act as escorts to air museum

By Bill Lilley
Beacon Journal staff writer

It was a journey 64 years in the making. It had been that long since the Perry Township resident had been a pilot in World War II.

Although Ralph Lynn was only a passenger in the B-24 Liberator Friday afternoon, the memories of piloting it were fresh.

The plane had hummed along at 160 mph as it made its way from Bolton Field in Grove City to the MAPS Air Museum at Akron-Canton Airport.

The B-24, a B-17 Flying Fortress and a P-51C Mustang fighter, all from the Collings Foundation's collection, are on display and available for touring and rides today, Sunday and Monday during the foundation's Wings of Freedom Tour.

The pilot offered 88-year-old Lynn the chance to take the helm as the plane made its way to the Green museum. He declined.

Memories are best savored.


Not relived.

''The pilot was struggling a little bit with some winds,''' said Lynn, who reached the rank of first lieutenant. ''And in my dreams, I know I could still fly it.

''But I came to my senses and knew I had to back away and get back to reality. I'm going to be 89 in October.''

The mind is sharp, the former pilot said, but the eyes and hearing aren't what they used to be.

''This was definitely one of the greatest moments of my life,'' he said.

He was a co-pilot of a B-24 in the Army Air Corps' Eighth Air Force stationed in England. A veteran of 32 bombing missions over Nazi-occupied France and Germany from late 1943 until July 17, 1944, he returned to the States to be a flight instructor in California.

After his stint in the military, Lynn earned a doctorate in English at Northwestern and sold textbooks to high schools for 34 years.

He and two other veterans who were invited by the museum to escort the aircraft to Akron-Canton all earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with clusters in World War II.

Former B-24 pilot Clair Alexander, 84, of Copley Township, was based in Italy and led 36 missions over northern Italy and southern Germany.

Former B-26 pilot Don Block, 84, rode to Akron-Canton in the B-17. The Jackson Township man completed 65 missions and became an engineer for Goodyear Aerospace.

The three veterans had plenty of time to relive the sights and sounds of the past during the 40-minute flight.

''When they turned the four engines on, it was a wonderfully familiar sound,'' Lynn said. ''The noise was deafening, but I didn't mind it because I knew right then I really was living my dream.''

A surprise for Lynn was how small the cockpit seems now.

''Of course, I'm a little bigger and I don't move quite as well as I did 64 years ago,'' Lynn admitted.


Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.

It was a journey 64 years in the making. It had been that long since the Perry Township resident had been a pilot in World War II.

Get the full article here.


Story tools

Email  Email   Print  Print   Save  Save   Reprint  Reprint   Popular  Most Popular   Reprint  Subscribe

Share this story

AddThis Social Bookmark Button
















Most Commented Stories