[Idyllchat] WW II - saying "Thank You"

[Florence Goldfarb]

Thank you, Bill, for a wonderful tale about a true hero.  I also want to let
you know how much I admire what you did for Al.

On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 7:25 PM, Bill Kover <ShutterbugBill at verizon.net>wrote:

>  This is my contribution to the conversation about World War II.
> The nicest people I know are from that generation.  They all have such a
> great sense of humor and a great outlook on life...probably because of what
> they experienced, and the real knowledge of how lucky we all are.  Bill
> Kover
> U.S. Air Force veteran, Vietnam era
>   Saying thank you to a member of the "Greatest Generation".
>
> 1944 | European Theater, World War II
>
>  The following story was originally written on Veteran's Day 2007.
>
>
>
> With Veteran's Day upon us, I feel compelled to share a story with you.
> It's about a man named Al. He was just one of the multitude of young men who
> served our country during World War II. His branch of service was the Army
> Air Corps. He applied for flight training to be a pilot, but "washed out"
> (those were his words). So volunteering for Gunnery School, he became a
> machine gunner on a B-17 bomber, handling of all things twin 50 caliber
> machine guns. Depending on the mission, he manned either the top turret or
> right waist gunner position.
>
>  <http://www.pbase.com/dcm74133/b17>
>
> His job was to shoot down any enemy aircraft threatening the bombing
> mission. Back then you had to survive 30 missions before you could go home.
> Al was one of the lucky ones. His required 30 missions were completed.
>
> However, fate was not done with him yet. One of the B-17's was scheduled to
> make a bombing run. But the nose gunner was sick and could not go. So Al
> volunteered to take his place. However the weather turned bad and the run
> was postponed. By the time conditions were good for flying, the nose gunner
> had recovered and demanded to join his crew. Al said that he had been at the
> flight briefing and should be the one to go. To settle the matter, they went
> to the "old man" (the pilot of the plane). Al could tell that the pilot
> really wanted his own crew member along on the mission. To settle the
> matter, Al suggested that they flip a silver dollar coin.
>
> As fate would have it, Al lost. The nose gunner rejoined the crew and flew
> the mission. The plane was shot down. There were 10 crew members on that
> plane, 7 of which were killed. Three managed to bail out. Al thinks that the
> nose gunner was one of those who bailed out (recent update...he was killed).
>
> I met Al when he and his wife joined our SWIM, Inc. water therapy group.
> His wife had a stroke years ago. The water therapy was something she needed.
> In the photo below, Al is in the group standing poolside, fourth from the
> left. Al's a volunteer, which is fitting.
> Al and his wife can't come to SWIM as often anymore because of his wife's
> fragile health. However, we saw them at our swim session Friday, and he told
> our new members about his lucky silver dollar. He still keeps that coin with
> him in his pocket. Several years ago we learned that Al and his flight crew
> had earned the French Croix de Guerre.<http://cgi.ebay.com/French-Croix-de-Guerre-WWI-medal-France_W0QQitemZ110182369577QQihZ001QQcategoryZ28268QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem>While some of the crew received the medal, Al had already left for home
> before getting his. Years later, he applied to the French Consulate for the
> medal. At first they said he would receive it, only to deny him his medal
> due to a statute of limitations. Recognition of courage in the defense of
> your country or any other allied nation should not have a statute of
> limitations. So in 2003 Eleanor and I decided to have our own award
> ceremony. We prepared a certificate and purchased the French Croix de Guerre
> from a company called Medals of America. The certificate included a
> photograph of of the medal, and listed his other awards: The *Distinguished
> Flying Cross*, the *Air Medal* with three oak leaf clusters and the *European-African-Middle
> Eastern Campaign Medal* with three bronze stars. The certificate included
> the following statement: "Therefore we feel it only fitting and proper that
> an appropriate gift from us, though unofficial, should reflect our
> gratitude. On behalf of the generation born during World War II, Bill and
> Eleanor would like to sincerely thank Al and his crew, as well as the rest
> of the "Greatest Generation" for risking their lives to preserve our
> freedom. As a token of our appreciation, we are presenting Staff Sargent
> Albert Sam Sevi with the medal he earned, but never received, the *French
> Croix de Guerre*." Al's wife, Margaret, was at a Rehabilitation Center at
> the time. So we made the presentation while Al was visiting his wife.
>
>
>
> Al doesn't have to wear a cape or have supernatural powers to qualify as a
> hero. To Eleanor and I "Hero, The Real Thing" is a person named Al Sevi.
>
>
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