quote:

Originally posted by Nipper:
Wow! Thank you for the opportunity. Only on SF.

My Uncle Eddie is in the second row center. B24 named "Take Off Time" in WW II based in Manduria, Italy. Shot down Feb 14, 1944 on a combat mission in Nazi held northern Italy. Captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW in a Nazi camp on the Baltic coast.

Some curious facts I discovered after his death in 2007:

- Manduria is located 12 miles from where I was stationed (Brindisi) 1n the early 1960's. I served in the U.S.A.F Security Service and we had an intelligence collection site located there.

- After the war he continued with the U.S. Army Air Force and then the U.S. Air Force. Uncle Eddie then joined the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) after he retired from the U.S. Air Force. Consequently, he was one of our "customers" for intelligence we were collecting at the Brindisi site. Always wondered if he worked with anything I sent upstream.

As we know, freedom is not free. Thanks to all who served. Happy Fourth to all.

Eddie second row center:
[IMG:left] [/IMG]

"Take Off Time" Nose Art:
[IMG:left] [/IMG]