My dad at Arlington. Personally given B-24 bomber by FDR. Made a U.S. citizen by act of Congress for war service. POW. CIA spymaster. FBI Counterintel. UChicago MBA. Lawyer. Volunteered to fly F-105 combat missions in Vietnam at age 56. #VeteransDay2020 
August 1943 AP photo of FDR at Bolling Air Field (Wash DC) awarding four B-24s to four crews of former Yugoslav Royal Air Force fliers adopted by the US Army Air Corps.
My dad, a lieutenant, was the navigator/bombardier on one of the planes. (2/)
My dad, a lieutenant, was the navigator/bombardier on one of the planes. (2/)
Photo of one of the actual B-24s in my dad's squadron taking off from San Pacrazio in Italy in late 1943 -- likely headed for Ploesti oilfields or Bulgarian rail yards.
Only one of the four B-24s survived the war. (3/)
Only one of the four B-24s survived the war. (3/)
My father's B-24 was shot down on his third mission in head-on combat with a Messerschmitt (Bf-109) like this one.
As navigator/bombardier, my father was in the nose during the attack.
Manning the .50 caliber machine gun in the nose, my father shot down the attacking plan. (4/)
As navigator/bombardier, my father was in the nose during the attack.
Manning the .50 caliber machine gun in the nose, my father shot down the attacking plan. (4/)
Dad bailed out of his burning B-24, fracturing vertebrae on the way down.
Injured and caught in trees, he was captured by German soldiers.
He spent the next year as a POW in Bulgaria (2nd from right).
He never saw this photo. I found it serendipitously on the Internet. (5/)
Injured and caught in trees, he was captured by German soldiers.
He spent the next year as a POW in Bulgaria (2nd from right).
He never saw this photo. I found it serendipitously on the Internet. (5/)
Despite their war service, the Truman State Dept. tried to repatriate my dad and other Yugoslav fliers to communist Yugoslavia as per Yalta.
So Sen. William Jenner (R-Ind) introduced a bill to make them citizens.
It was signed into law by Truman on July 30, 1947. (6/6)
So Sen. William Jenner (R-Ind) introduced a bill to make them citizens.
It was signed into law by Truman on July 30, 1947. (6/6)
The Internet is amazing.
In response to this thread, someone I don't know sent me a photo of Yugoslav fliers in Ft. Myers, FL in 1943 for training on B-24s.
He picked out my dad based on my Twitter profile pic.
I had never seen this photo before.
In response to this thread, someone I don't know sent me a photo of Yugoslav fliers in Ft. Myers, FL in 1943 for training on B-24s.
He picked out my dad based on my Twitter profile pic.
I had never seen this photo before.
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