COMBAT STORIES FROM World War II

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Showing : WWII Videos

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  As the advancing Russians were getting closer, the POW's at Stalag Luft III were forced to travel from occupied Poland into Germany. Before that, there had been an ill fated mass escape that was immortalized in the movie, The Great Escape. Bill Couch was one of those POW's and he gives his perspective on all that as the war was winding down. Part 3 of 3.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  It happened right in front of him. On his very first mission, B-24 radio operator Burt Vardeman saw a plane up ahead in the formation explode from a direct hit by a flak shell. I'm never going to get home, he thought.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Veronica Lake's films about aviators had a lot to do with it, that and the draft. Bill Couch thought his survival chances would be better in the air so he went for the Air Corps but, once he was in training, he realized there were a lot of ways to die up there.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  Drafted out of high school in 1943, Burt Vardeman went to basic with the Army Air Corps. He scored high on radio aptitude and trained as a radio operator on a B-24 crew. Flying out of Italy, he had a close call when one engine after another failed on the return flight. The order came from the pilot, prepare to bail out!

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  B.E. Vaughan - Navy +9 Total Videos

  USS O'Brien (DD-725)

  After a nerve-wracking mission to bomb Tokyo and a typhoon, B.E. Vaughan and the destroyer O'Brien suffered a second kamikaze attack which killed all three of his hometown pals who served with him on board. Then, began the grim task of collecting the personal belongings of the dead and preparing them for burial at sea.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  The mission to Bremerhaven was rough. From his seat up in the nose, bombardier Bill Couch saw other B-17's going down with parachutes streaming out, some on fire. When German fighters were attacking, the leading edge of their wings seemed to have sparklers and he came to dread that sight.

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  Ed Harrell - Marines +12 Total Videos

  USS Indianapolis

  Ed Harrell describes in detail the sinking of the USS Indianapolis from Japanese torpedoes, which left nearly 900 Sailors and Marines in shark-infested Pacific waters. Part 1 of 4.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  Burt Vardeman describes the flak faced by the B-24 crew on nearly every mission. Even without a direct hit the shrapnel could kill a man or bring down a plane, as it did to his bomber.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Bill Couch was heading into Germany but this time it wasn't on a bombing run. The newly captured B-17 bombardier was going to Dulag Luft, a collection and interrogation camp for POW's. His interrogator knew as much as he did about his unit and their operations. Well, not much point in questioning me, is there?

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  LtGen Lawrence Snowden - Marines +16 Total Videos

  23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division

  The first operation for the 4th Division was the landing on Roi-Namur. Lawrence Snowden remembers that, though it was an easy victory, valuable combat experience and important lessons were imparted on the Marines.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  The target was a Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg. That made it a labor of love for the B-17 crews. Bill Couch recalls that, once their fighter escort had to turn back, it was a running gun battle all the way to the target. There was heavy flak, too, and their engines took some damage. They lost one, then another. How long could they stay up? Part 1 of 3.

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  Don Scott - Army Air Corps +8 Total Videos

  560th Squadron, 388th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Two engines were out, a third smoking, and they were were losing airspeed and altitude, but they were flying level and pointed home. Then time ran out for the B-17 and Don Scott had to slip down the hatch into the slipstream. Part 2 of 3.

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  Clyde Burnette - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  713th Squadron, 448th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was their third mission over Berlin and they were heading home. Four German fighters pounced on the B-24 and it was engulfed in flame and going down. Clyde Burnette fought for consciousness as the other crew in the back of the plane bailed out. He woke in free fall with no idea how he had made it out, and soon he was in German custody. Everyone made it out of the plane except George "Danny" Daneau, the nose turret gunner, who went down with the aircraft.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  After they had to ditch their B-17 in the ocean between Naples and Sicily, it was the Germans who got to them first. Bill Couch and the rest of the crew were now POW's. They were sent to Stalag Luft III, a huge camp in occupied Poland. It was no country club but at least they weren't abused by the guards. The SS and the Gestapo, though, you wanted to steer clear when they were around. Part 2 of 3.

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  Harper Brame - Navy +6 Total Videos

  USS Besugo (SS-321)

  Growing up in rural Virginia, Harper Brame was a member of a hardworking family. He recalls some of the people he grew up with and a doctor who treated his broken femur.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  For you, the war is over. That's what Bill Couch heard from the first German to speak when he and the rest of the B-17 crew were taken into custody. First they were held at a naval base where the piano playing radio operator entertained their captors. Then they were taken to Naples where an Italian mob posed an unexpected menace.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  After VE Day, Burt Vardeman returned stateside and was told he would be training for the Pacific after some leave. He got his leave, as well as a stay at a plush Miami hotel to recuperate. When it finally was all over, he and the entire nation returned to their own private lives. They had done it and they had done it all together.

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  Harper Brame - Navy +6 Total Videos

  USS Besugo (SS-321)

  Harper Brame had some cousins who served during the second World War, but the rest of his family was involved in the war effort back home. He describes his family’s military history that goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  The first mission was a milk run, no flak and no enemy fighters. B-17 bombardier Bill Couch was glad for that, but the mission failed to achieve the objective. The German sub pens on the French coast had something that protected them from aerial bombing.

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  Jack Wall - Navy +6 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  The men were packed in like sardines on the troop ship and Jack Wall was glad when it got to New Caledonia. He was a Navy Corpsman and Pharmacist's Mate and served in the hospital there before he went aboard ship to participate in the upcoming invasions.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was a drab place but at least Bill Couch was among his own. Stalag Luft III was in occupied Poland and life at the huge camp proved to be bearable. There was athletic equipment, a library, and an orchestra. He even developed a taste for the infamous German black bread.

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  Jack Wall - Navy +6 Total Videos

  USS Pinkney (APH-2)

  His ship was in dry dock in New Zealand when Jack Wall missed the last boat that would get him back in time from his liberty. Would he be able to sneak on board? Several guys were already busted that night.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  Burt Vardeman was a B-24 crewman who had a great deal of respect for the soldiers and sailors he felt had a rougher time than he did. He expected to go to the Pacific after VE Day but he got some good news while recuperating in Miami.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was Christmas in 1944 and the prisoners at Stalag Luft III wondered if they would see the next Christmas at home. A lot of uncertainty was added when the Germans forced them out on the road in a march southward into Germany. Bill Couch describes that trip and their short stay at the next Stalag.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  Would it be Europe or the Pacific? When Burt Vardeman's crew was sent to Virginia, they knew it would be Europe. They crossed the Atlantic on a Liberty ship and went ashore in Italy. They would be flying their bombing missions from there.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  The weather had to be clear for the mass bombing technique used by the Allies. B-17 bombardier Bill Couch recalls several missions that had to be scrubbed because the target wasn't visible. If you were lucky, you had an alternate target you could hit. If German fighters came at you, you had to man a .50 cal machine gun.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  Burt Vardeman was at his waist gun when one of the fighter escorts flew close enough to see the pilot's face. Was that a black pilot? He really got an eye opening experience when his plane developed engine trouble and had to crash land at what turned out to be the base of the Tuskegee Airmen.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  There were many escape attempts at Stalag Luft III. In fact, one ill fated mass escape was immortalized in the movie, The Great Escape. Bill Couch recalls his experiences as a prisoner at that camp and relates what happened in the aftermath of that incident.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  Everyone hated it, especially the pilot. Sometimes, when a mission was scrubbed, the planes had to return to base with a full bomb load. Burt Vardeman remembers one of these missions which nearly ended in disaster despite an almost perfect landing.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Wake up time was 3:30 AM. This tended to make bombardier Bill Couch rather grouchy. No time for that. There was a briefing, there was breakfast and the gear had to be loaded onto the plane, including the bombsight.