Wings of Tru Love

Book excerpt: Wings of Tru Love author Kenneth C Drinnon joined theUnited States Army Air Force in 1943 and served in theEuropean Theater as a B17 ball-turret gunner with the 8thAir Force, 487th Heavy Bomb Group, and 838th Squadron.He fl ew thirty-four aerial combat missions form October 22,1944 to February 28, 1945 over Nazi, Germany and attainedthe rank of Staff Sergeant before being discharged in 1945.There were several notable bombing missions, includingthe synthetic oil refi neries at Merseberg, Germany andseveral against transportation facilities in support of theArmy ground forces during the Battle of the Bulge, butthe one most remembered by aviators of the 487th BombGroup was December 24, 1944 when General FrederickW. Castle was killed while leading a two thousand planebomber mission for the Eight Air Force and piloting thelead plane of the 487th Bomb Group. Both the 487th BombGroup and the Luftwaffe suffered many casualties duringan aerial gun battle.