Everybody loves Heroes and my son is no exception. If you ask him about heroes he'll launch into a monolog about Spiderman. Even though I haven't been able to find any skeletons in his closet, I'm not really a Spiderman fan. So I took it upon myself to tell Aiden the story of real hero....his Great Grandfather. If you remember, my Grandfather is Sage's (middle) namesake and was a World War II veteran. To make the story come to life for Aiden I had the opportunity to take him to see World War II Bombers this past weekend. I was really excited because there is only one fully restored and flying B-24 Liberator in the United States and it was going to be on display. A B-24 is what my Grandfather flew his 27 missions in as the Gunner in the Ball Turret. As cool as it is to look at and as heroic as it is to think about, it gives me chills and I cannot even come close to imagining the anxiety and fear one would have as you get into the ball, shut and lock the door, sit in fetal position with a .50 caliber machine gun in each hand, leave your parachute behind because there is no room, and begin to shoot the enemy who is likely shooting back at you.
I was trying to tell Aiden the story in a way that a 4 year old could understand. I found myself almost in tears as I told the story something like this:
Great Grandpa was a real Hero, not just pretend. He fought the enemy so that other people could be free and wouldn't have to be treated horribly by evil men. He was like Moses. He worked hard to set people free. Even though Great Grandpa was really, really scared he did what he knew was right. That is what it means to be brave. God was on Great Grandpa's side and he protected him when the bad guys tried to kill him. Great Grandpa went up in this airplane 27 times...that's almost as many Birthday's as Mama has had. Everytime he knew he could die, but he kept fighting because he knew it was the right thing to do. Great Grandpa saw at least 49 of his friends die, and that made him scared too, but he trusted that God had a good plan and would keep him safe. What a great Hero your Great Grandpa was. He would have loved you so much! You need to ask God to teach you how to be a great man like your Great Grandpa.
As we toured the Airplane 3 times I found myself sounding just like my Dad as I said, "Aiden, remember this moment. This is big stuff! Remember what this airplane looks like. This is part of History and it's important for you to know." My Dad said those words on every single family vacation we took. :)
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| In the B-24 the Ball Turret (you can see part of it right by the boys) was actually pulled up into the fuselage during take off and landing because it hung to low. In the B-24 that was on display the Ball Turret was not hanging below the plane for this reason so we couldn't see the whole thing or get the full effect. To the best of my knowledge the Ball Turret lowers somehow after take off. I think. |
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| I was hoping there would be someone more knowledgeable than me on the airplane to give us a tour. There wasn't. So I had to do my best (which isn't saying much) to navigate the plane for Aiden. Here he is on the Cat Walk. There are Bombs hanging on either side of him and the Bomb Bay doors are open like they would be when the plane was over the Target and it was time to release the bombs. |
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There she is...the death wagon that she was...in all her glory.
I really like to imagine God's Angels surrounding and protecting this plane called "Witchcraft."
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| This Ball Turret is actually on a B-17, however it is almost identical to one on a B-24. On the B-17 the Ball can stay down for take off so it was on display here. It let Aiden see how the Ball would be under the plane on a B-24. |
The stories that come out of History never cease to amaze me. We met a man who's father was stationed in England and was the mechanic for B-24's. I know he swelled with pride as he told his story. While on the plane the man asked Aiden, "Did you know there was a man that sat in that Ball?" We swelled with pride when we got to reply, "Yes! We knew one of the men that sat in that ball...our Grandpa! He was a real Hero!"
The stories that come out of History never cease to amaze me. We met a man who's father was stationed in England and was the mechanic for B-24's. I know he swelled with pride as he told his story. While on the plane the man asked Aiden, "Did you know there was a man that sat in that Ball?" We swelled with pride when we got to reply, "Yes! We knew one of the men that sat in that ball...our Grandpa! He was a real Hero!"
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