LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One of America's most famous airplanes of World War II landed at Bowman Field Thursday morning. It spent the day flying WWII veterans over Louisville, to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. That's when Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, on June 6, 1944, turning the tide of freedom.
The cost of D-Day was high. Of the 160,000 troops who took part, more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded. But their sacrifice paved the way for the war's end a year later.
Eighty years later, 18 World War II veterans climbed into a B-25 and took flight over Bowman Field.
Sgt. Lee Smith, a 99-year-old Air Force veteran trained in radar, was one of the first to arrive.
"Yup, that's a noisy one," he said, over the loud rumble of the B-25 circling the tarmac. "I was on B-17s. I've always wanted to ride on one and now I get the chance after 80 years."
"This plane was made about the same time these guys went to war," Michael Montgomery, a photographer with Honor Flight Bluegrass, said.
The plane's similar to the aircraft that flew in the Doolittle Raid in Tokyo, notable for being the only operation in which U.S. Army Air Forces bombers were launched from an aircraft carrier into combat.
"We owe these guys everything. If it hadn't been for what they did in WWII, it's no telling where we'd be right now," Montgomery said. "This is it. I can't imagine being any place else right now."
"These veterans truly turned the tide of the war and a mere 11 months later, the Germans surrendered on May 8, 1945," Jeff Thoke, the chairman of Honor Flight Bluegrass, said. "Of the 16 million men and women who served, there are only 100,000 left. They truly saved the world and sometimes we forget that."
Thursday's flight was manned by Commemorative Air Force Minnesota Wing and sponsored by the Kentucky Veteran's Program Trust Fund, making it free to fly for every veteran.
"We have a 101-year-old pilot from Corbin, Kentucky, Paul Jones. He's going up with a 100-year-old from Nashville," Montgomery said.
It wasn't the easiest getting into the bomber, but every one of them made it into a seat. Each flight took six veterans at a time for about 30 minutes before arriving back at Bowman to a crowd of supporters.
"A couple have been a little lightheaded. But I think that's a first time, likely in 80 years they've pulled any Gs," Montgomery smiled. "I can guarantee you, when those guys left the runway out there, they were 18 to 20 years old again. You could see it on their faces. The age just melts away."
The flight was "too short" for some but worth the wait.
"I'm glad I lived this long now. At one time, I thought, why am I living so long? Now, I know why," Smith said.
Does it get any better than this?
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