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Bill Corry

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Mr. Corry discusses his return to Bremerton after the war with Japan had ended. (3:14)

Bill Couch

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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. (5:59)

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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. (6:51)

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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. (4:10)

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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. (5:18)

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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. (9:40)

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On a bombing mission, you could experience terror and ecstasy in the same day. The ecstasy was if you made it back. B-17 bombardier Bill Couch relates the story of his seventh and final mission, one which was shaky from the beginning. Part 1 of 3. (8:29)

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They couldn't keep up with the formation. With flak damage affecting the engines, the pilot had to drop out. B-17 bombardier Bill Couch managed to hit a German fighter with the .50 cal machine gun he had up in the nose but that didn't do anything to keep the big plane aloft. They lost one engine, then another. Could they keep two going? Part 2 of 3. (8:19)

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The procedure when you ditch in the ocean is for all the crew except the pilots to sit in a line from tallest to shortest to prepare for impact. As the tallest man in the plane, Bill Couch got the worst of it when the plane hit the water. After a night floating in two life rafts, the crew wondered, who would be the first to respond to their SOS? Part 3 of 3. (6:09)

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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. (9:01)