Monday, 21 April 2008 Meeting

Thanks to Flight Member Ralph Trapaga, our Flight was honored this evening with another guest speaker from The Greatest Generation – Mr. Alton Reeves.

We were awed by Mr. Reeves’ stories, as he described some of his combat missions as a navigator/bombardier on the B-17.  We were all amazed as we listened to Mr. Reeves describe the mission when he parachuted from his flak-ridden bomber.

Seconds after flak hit the B-17 and blew him towards the back of the aircraft, the Captain gave the “bail out” call.  Mr. Reeves had just enough time to put on his parachute and bail out. Falling face up before pulling the ripcord, he witnessed his wounded Flying Fortress “disintegrate” only seconds after parachuting from the wounded bird.

After staring down a German fighter coming his way during parachute descent, he landed safely and was eventually captured and interned in a Stalag camp.

We all enjoyed viewing the several memorabilia items Mr. Reeves placed on display.

What an amazing story…what an amazing Man!

Photos from the meeting:

Case telling fib	Wayne telling fib	Mr. Reeves receives gift	Ed Andrews takes Oath	Don, Clint & Emory
Emory and Mr. Reeves	Get out of the way Bill!	Great turnout	JW showing Gordie formation references	Mr. Reeves
Neat 3 ship	Neat 4 ship	Rn, Case & Friends	Tom and the gang