My grandfather has told us the story many times of how their pilot got them back safely from many a tough mission, but this one must be the toughest. Their usual bird was being repaired (he doesn't remember why, though) so they would have to take the "clunker" - a spare bird that no one ever wanted to use.

Sometime during the mission the outboard engine on one side sputtered to a halt, so it was feathered, slowly causing the clunker to fall from formation. About half-way back, the second engine on the same side quit. As he recalls, "We really started to fall behind after the first engine, but now we had to find a field to land at, fast!" They began heading to a friendly field nearby when the third engine failed. Fearing the worst, the pilot gave the order to bail out. The tail gunner, eager to try his 'chute, was the only one to jump, the others choosing to ride out the fate of the bird with the pilot. Now, anyone with a knowledge of planes knows that flying with one engine on one side is a chore in itself, but landing a plane that way is another story. As the plane made its final approach, no one expected the next moments. The instant the plane touched down, the fourth and final engine sputtered to a stop. The plane, rolling without power, using the entire strip to stop. If there was ever a time for a sigh of releif, it was now.

T/Sgt. Charles W. (Bill) Norris

Read the Poem Coming Home on a Wing and a Prayer

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