[Jim O]

Thanks for sharing Dave. My uncle (father's brother) flew on 30 bombing raids over Europe as a member of the US Army Air Corp and many more than that number of sorties over the continent, North Sea, etc. The requisite number of bombing missions was 25 but he and his crew "volunteered" for an additional five. Like your great uncle, he completed his missions prior to D-Day from a base in England. He was fortunate enough to come back to the States later in 1944 and serve as an instructor for the duration of the war and lived until 1996. He had volunteered for the service shortly after his 18th birthday which came the month after the attack at Peal Harbor.

In that war pretty much all families had someone involved. In Germany and USSR pretty much all families suffered at least one death. My father and his two brothers all served and all survived. They were fortunate. I'm sorry for your loss.