By Joan Hallmark
J.W. Northam was inducted into the U.S. Army air corps in 1942, and
after extensive training was sent to Molesworth air base in England.
As a waist gunner on a b-17 bomber, or "flying fortress", Northam flew
thirty two bombing missions out of England., primarily over Germany and Poland.
Allthough every flight was filled with danger, Northam says the only
time he was really scared was getting ready for his very first mission.
It's not that Northam didn't realize the danger of the missions, after
all the air was thick with flak over the targets, and his plane would
often return to home base full of holes.
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