THIS DAY IN 1944

It was now the 21st. The sky was heavly overcast with a lot of ground fog as
well and freezing temperatures. We all walked around looking at the sky for any
sign of a break in the weather. Then we all descended on the Metro office where
our weatherman 1st.Lt. Paul Forant (Boston) was working up his charts. We
hoped for good news but Paul had none to give us. "Maybe the 23rd" he said. But
no guarantees. In the meantime ground crews were loading bom bays and ammo
belts, cleaning guns, topping off tanks and cleaning Plexiglas. When the sky
opened up we would be ready to go. Darkness fell and we climbed into our
sleeping bags wearing our full winter sheepskin flying clothes. And as we fell
asleep
we thought of those guys of the 101st. fighting for their lives in
Bastogne, and prayed for clear weather tomorrow. And we knew that those guys in
Bastogne were also searching the sky saying "where the hell is our air force?"
And I thought. "we'll be there. I hope in time.





Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer