Capt. Albert J. Lane was 9 years old when a plane landed just yards from him as he was walking down a gravel road to the one-room schoolhouse where he went to school in Mason, Mich.
It was the first time Lane had ever seen an airplane, but he was already fascinated with flying from reading the Red Baron comic strips about the famous World War I pilot. That enthusiasm drove him to volunteer for military service in the Air Force in his early 20s.
Now 90, Lane sat aboard the Memphis Belle — a B-17 bomber plane exactly like the one he piloted over Italy, Germany and Austria in World War II — as it took off from the Tallahassee Regional Airport on Monday.
The plane stopped in Tallahassee as part of the Liberty Foundation’s 2012 Salute to Veterans tour, which shows the Memphis Belle around the United States, educating the public on World War II history and allowing them to fly on the plane. Since 2005, the Liberty Foundation has flown to more than 50 cities.
The Liberty Foundation is a nonprofit from Douglas, Ga., founded by Don Brooks to honor his father, a tailgunner on a B-17 called the Liberty Belle in World War II, the thousands who served in the 91st Bomb Group that used the B-17s and the many who fought for the Allies.
The Memphis Belle that flew over Tallahassee and the Veterans Day parade Monday is one of only 13 B-17s flying today. The plane was built in 1945 and never saw combat. It now serves as a replica to the famous Memphis Belle plane and crew, which were the first to successfully complete their mission in World War II with every crew member surviving the 25 missions. Dubbed the “Flying Fortress” for its amount of defensive firepower, the original Memphis Belle went down on its 64th mission.
In 1990, the Memphis Belle was used in the film “Memphis Belle,” based on the crew of the original bomber.
Throughout the ride, Lane continually pointed out the plane’s interior workings, the outward expression of a passion for planes and a need to inform a generation that seems so far removed from the war experiences of those commonly known as “the greatest generation.”
It had been more than 60 years since Lane had been in a bomber, something he never thought he’d do again. The flight brought back memories.
“Every mission you generally say, ‘Well maybe I’ll make this, maybe I’ll make this one,’ ” said Lane.
Of the over 12,000 B-17 bombers constructed during World War II, a third were destroyed in combat with each plane carrying 10 crew members, according to Ron Gause, one of the pilots of the Memphis Belle for the Liberty Foundation.
Gause said the “icing on the cake” to educating the younger generations throughout the country is having World War II veterans fly in the planes years later and tell their stories.
“When they tell us the things that happened to them, you cannot write a book of fiction that comes close to comparing what happened to our men during combat,” Gause said.
Story: http://www.tallahassee.com
2012 “Salute to Veterans” tour
If you go
• The Memphis Belle will offer public tours Sunday at the Tallahassee Regional Airport. $450 per person for a 25-30 minute flight experience. Ground tours also offered following flights.
• For more information visit, Libertyfoundation.org or call, 918-340-0243.
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