By Jennifer Sidle
Dwight Foster, a poor southern boy growing up during the depression in North Caroline, finds himself “just another mouth to feed” as his frustrated and volatile father, a cabinet finisher, struggles to support a wife and their eight children. Dwight escapes his father’s frightening fury by maintaining a quiet existence.
As the old house shakes with anger, Dwight runs into the surrounding woods. He builds toy planes out of tree branches and takes off into the imaginary world of heroes, flying high above the trees, then diving down to shoot a despised school bully, disguised as beetle scurrying away on the forest floor.
Dwight finds solace in his imaginary world and makes few friends through his school years. His family lives on the edge of the wealthy side of town, so he attends a school filled with well-to-do classmates. His dark brown eyes hide behind his black unruly curls, and his oversized hand-me-downs and dirty bare feet become the target of cruel jokes. Some kids mistakenly take Dwight’s quiet demeanor for passivity and find out through black eyes and broken noses that this “Grimy Little Twerp” has a swift right hook. Though most leave him alone, he watches in envy as kids laugh and play together in the schoolyard.
Then in the fall of 1941, while walking through town, a seventeen-year-old Dwight spots a shiny B-24 on display. An Army Air Force recruiter dazzles to a small group of starry-eyed young men. Dwight’s attention is devoted; this is his chance to become the hero he has always dreamt of.
On February 22, 1942, Dwight arrives by bus to Fort Sumter, South Carolina for preliminary evaluations, which include a physical, and many written test to evaluate intelligence.
After the evaluations are complete, Dwight travels to another camp by a crowded train and is forced to catch some shut-eye sitting up.
When they finally arrive to the training camp in St. Petersburg, Florida, they are pleasantly surprised. The new batch of trainees must stay in hotels because there is no room for them at the camp; however, their life in luxury is short lived as the Army Air Corps are quick to “move em in, move em out.” Desperate for replacements for the continuing loss of life, the Army cuts the 30 days of basic training down to 2 weeks.
At Lowery Camp in Denver Colorado, Dwight attends basic air training, learning to shoot machine guns from the ground and from the back of a moving truck. In the plane, he aims at moving targets towed by other planes.
Finally, he attends the last camp in Colorado Springs. He meets his permanent crew. An eclectic mix, from the young Co-Pilot, who can fly a plane in spite of the fact he’s never driven a car, the religious fanatic nose-gunner, to the tough and crass Engineer. But to survive, they must learn to work together and most of all, trust each other. For the first time in his life, Dwight develops deep friendships.
The crew is assigned to the 466th bomb group, and in the middle of the night they are shipped via the Queen Elizabeth, from New York to Scotland. Fear of nearby German ships bordering the East coast, forces 17,000 men to load by flashlight.
The ship travels on a zig zag path to avoid enemy submarines from locking onto their position.
The six day trip becomes a time of relaxation. The men write letters, play cards, and enjoy live entertainment from Glen Miller.
After landing in Scotland, they are bussed to their camp near Norwich England where their training will be put to the test.
During the 1st few raids together, they successfully destroy German oil storages, railroads and marshaling yards without incident.
On their 5th raid, they encounter heavy enemy fire. The plane on their right explodes. The plane to the left is hit. Dwight sees one survivor bail out, but when his chute opens, it is ablaze.
The usually confident pilot begins to panic, and dives out of line. The rest of the crew, desperate to get the plane back into the safety of a formation, frantically argues amongst each other.
The Co-Pilot yells at the Pilot, “We have been told there are going to be 500 German Fighters out there, and if we don’t get in formation we’re dead!”
The Pilot, in a state of shock, does not respond. The Co-Pilot makes the decision to take over. After completing the mission, they fly back in silence.
Once back at camp, Dwight inspects the plane. He slides his hand over the badly damaged body, and places his fist through one of the holes. He begins shaking uncontrollably.
After a just a few missions together, he realizes that the war is no longer about the thrill of battle. He is fighting for his life and the lives of his friends.
He begins having nightmares of walking through plane wreckage with the bodies of his crew members spread throughout the sight.
One day the crew is assigned to a routine trucking mission. Because this is not considered dangerous, the guns are taken off the planes for weight relief, and only one Gunner is assigned as a look out. The other few gunners have the day off.
Dwight is free for the day and decides to take a tour London’s beautiful cathedrals and catch a movie or play.
Later when he returns to the camp and enters the barrack, a GI walks over to him.
“Dwight.” The GI softly speaks, “Your crew…um…your crew is dead.”
Dwight stares at him in disbelief. He sees the words coming from the GI’s mouth, but no longer hears him. He stares off into the distance.
Finally, he mutters questions, “Was it because of weather, or mechanical difficulties, what?” No one knows exactly what happened. It will continue to be a mystery forever.
After spending a short time on enforced leave, Dwight comes back as a spare gunner, filling in for the sick and the dead. He finds it difficult to get close to anyone after losing his friends, but has developed an inner strength and a new admiration for life.
After 31 missions, Dwight finally returns home. As he steps onto American ground, he feels a deep appreciation for the freedom he fought for, and the freedom so many died for. He heads home knowing what America offers him; the ability to make a life for himself.
This naive and self-conscious boy comes back a man; one who represents all of the men who fought for freedom. The world’s “Ordinary Heroes”.
Published U.S. Legacies November 2002
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