I understood that each plane cost about $45,000
which seemed like a lot then, but is nothing compared to the price of
a plane today. We had our own crew which consisted of a crew chief
armorer and mechanics. They were proud of their plane and kept it in
excellent condition. They would wash the plane with gasoline and then
wax and polish it so there would be less air resistance and it could
go a couple of miles an hour faster. My crew chief was Alvin Wolfe
from Buffalo New York. Each squadron had their own identification
number and mine was A9-R which was on the side of the plane in large
letters. This was the only way we could identify the squadrons that we
might get mixed up with over Germany.
I should mention here that Ullo was always playing cribbage, and he
and Snyder would often be playing on the wing of a plane right up to
takeoff time. Neill Ullo and I had been to London and decided to take
piano lessons. What a time and situation to start something like that!
We walked all around the little back streets of London until we found
an old man who gave lessons. We made a down payment and set a date for
our first lesson, but due to what was to happen to us, we never made
it back again.
Our first mission was on February 25, 1944. After breakfast (if you
were not too nervous to eat) we would report to the Ready Room which
was similar to a school classroom with chairs, a platform up front,
and a large map showing England and Germany was covered with a drape
and we would sit there buzzing with talk and nervous about where we
might be going.
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