Steve Steinbring

Hey Mike!

Glad to see your Dad is doing well and still with you. My father was a WWII Navy fighter pilot who flew F4U Corsairs off the carrier Midway in the Mediterranean when it was a straight decked carrier. The Midway was later converted to an angle deck and is now on permanent display in San Diego. Took a tour of that ship on my last trip out to California, some 500,000 men served on that boat during its 50 years of active commission time. I ended up an Air Force pilot no small ribbing there from Dad at times about needing long runways. Flew AEW&C and AF Rescue for eighteen years retiring out of the Reserves.

When you get down south give me a call its not too far to Boynton. Love to meet up with you and your Dad to fly some. You can get a hold of me through Erik you have the number for Epo-Grip or PM me.

Steve

MinnFlyer

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I'll be down there later this month Steve, let's get together

Steve Steinbring

Your on Mike! Just need to know the schedule.

Lnewqban

Thank you for posting the pictures and the story, Mike!

You have been blessed in more ways than you may know.

I am really impressed by the two pictures of the pilot and mechanic shaking hands with about 68 years in between!!

It blows my mind to think of all the decisions these men have had to make and all the difficult situations that they had to solve or suffer, not only during so many years, but during the terrible and ugly times of the war.

"Men of action, above all those whose actions are guided by love, live forever. Other famous men, those of much talk and few deeds, soon evaporate. Action is the dignity of greatness.
There is happiness in duty, although it may not seem so. To fulfill one's duty elevates the soul to a state of constant sweetness. Love is the bond between men, the way to teach and the center of the world."
Jose Marti, Cuban Hero

goirish

Let's all go to Steve's place.

noveldoc

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Amazing story and many thanks to your dad and Mr. Frey.

I note the WWII photo shows some victory flags on the ship. Do we know how many Germans this team shot down?

Tom

DSDRC

Thanks to men like these we all have the freedom to do what we love.  Great story I will be picking up the mag.  Thanks for your courage and service MEN!  Surely its still in some of us, but what I would have given to been a part of that great generation.

MinnFlyer

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Capt Frey was credited with two confirmed kills

bigdanusa

I'm sure glad I wasen't one of them!

big dan

Pretorian435

That's one awesome story! Thank you for sharing it.

hairy46

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It is a great story! RCU has been such a great place to get info make lasting friendships and lots of other great stuff, But storys like these are such a welcome! Thank you!!!!!!!!!

Papa Bill

I've been following the forums for a while now but haven't felt compelled to post until I read this great story. To have all of these pieces come together with the timing and locations working out is just great.

Last spring I was fortunate to have attended a talk by Col. Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson and it was an experience I won't forget. Col. Anderson is a triple ace and flew the P-51 "Old Crow". He gives a spellbinding account of his time in the service (thirty years) and has written the book "To Fly and Fight" documenting his life. It's a great read and I highly recommend it. An important point he made several times is the respect and admiration he had for his ground crew and especially his crew chief. Without these great guys on the ground a P-51 would be good for one flight, and not even that if someone didn't prep her first.

Mike, a fabulous story. Many thanks to you for posting it, and your Dad and Capt. Frey for making it possible. Awesome...

Papa Bill
Grandfather of nine.

cannonball200

My Feedback: (36)

Mike, Tell your dad and Captain Frey thanks for their service to our country. This should be made into a short movie. Absolutely awesome story. Thanks for posting this and for the pictures. I saved every one of the pic's.
My Uncle Joe Flori, (88 years young) who lives in Austin, Tx., flew B-17's over Germany for 36 missions and still tells me the stories when we get together (I'm 66 my self). Captain Frey may have just given my Uncle an escort on some of those runs!!!! These men are my hero's.
Thanks,
cannonball200 of OKC, OK

hairy46

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Thanks for the tip on the book, I will find it and buy it! As far as the story in the Mag about the P-51 have not found where to get it, any idea's?

MinnFlyer

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You might find a copy in the magazine rack of a book store (most small stores don't carry many airplane magazines) or you can buy the magazine on line here:

http://wdcart.warbirddigest.com/Prod...uctCode=wdbi34

summerwind

Mike this is priceless.........i wish i still had my Dad.......only got to enjoy him for 37 of his 58 years.................enjoy him.

noveldoc

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Capt Frey got two German fighters but that is not the whole story. "Little Friends" like him in that P 51 kept a lot of intereceptors off the backs of the "big friend" bombers and saved a lot of lives.

These long range escort fighters made it possible finally for the bomber crews to break the back of the German economy and shorten the war.

And just about any book you read about a fighter pilot is full of praise for the ground people who kept the birds in the air and made the whole thing possible.

Tom

DGUY

My Feedback: (9)

Minn,
That is absolutely priceless.

Lnewqban

Does anybody know what happened to the real "Ain't Misbehavin" after the war?

MinnFlyer

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No, we searched all of the records we could find, but it just seems to have disappeared []

noveldoc

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Gotta respect those bomber guys also, especially in the earlier part of the war when they had to fly missions without the little friends escorts.

26,000 8th Air Force crew members were killed in action in WWII. That is more than the entire US Marine Corps for the war. Also 28000 became POWs.

Flak continued through the war but the escorts massively cut down losses due to enemy fighters, even on the longer missions, especially when we got the long range P 51 that could take the bombers to Berlin and back. The Tuskegee airmen took great pride that none of the bombers they escorted were lost to enemy fighters.

Tom

cannonball200

My Feedback: (36)

MinnFlyer;
I got on youtube, searched for "Ain't Misbehaven", and watched the video's of your dad's & Captain Frey's reunion and the P-51. It was awesome to see all his smiles after he got out of the plane and Captain Frey and him visiting and having fun reminiscing old and new times together after all the years passed. I also saw you getting ready to get in for your ride..... We're all jealous!!!!!!!!!! Thanks,
cannonball200 of OKC

Insanemoondoggie

Mike the video is awesome! I love the part where he say's WE PULLED 6 G's! I couldn't catch all of what he was saying, but his gestures sure say it was a good ride.

Clay Walters

I love this thread and all the great stories. My dad was an ordinance man on the USS Hornet in WWII and maintained the on plane weapons as well as arming/disarming bombs. Was on her when she sailed out of San Francisco as a new ship (renamed Hornet after the first Hornet carrier was sunk) and on her when she returned with a damaged flight deck from running under cover of a hurricane.

The ship saw lots of action but he never made it sound glamorous, it was either boredom or extremely busy. In fact he rarely spoke of it. I do know that one of the major points for him was obtaining an on deck duty assignment not long after he was aboard if only to enjoy some breeze from time to time. He made it a point to say that every man onboard had a job to do and was proud to have been one of them.

Like so many of you and your fathers, mothers, aunts and uncles............I'm proud he was too,

Clay

ChuckW

I happened to wander into Barns & Noble earlier today and they had the magazine issue on the shelf near all the aviation magazines.