Dem
47
GOP
53
We intended to run these throughout the month of June. However, due to various developments, we've got more material than we do days left for it. So, we'll keep going into July. Up today, it's P.R.P. in Lincoln, VT:
My father, Edward "Ned" Parsons, was a great storyteller. My brother and I knew he served in World War II. He had his M1911 hidden in the attic and sometimes wore an old, beat up sweatshirt from St. Anselm's College, which he attended as an Aviation Cadet. We would ask what he did during the war, and he would tell us that he was training to be a pilot, but the engine would put him to sleep and he was washed out. He then told us he ended up as an aerial gunner in the back seat of an A-20 in the Pacific. Dad proudly told us his Good Conduct Medal proved he was a good soldier and he was proud of it. When pressed, he said that he would train using a shotgun as a gunner, as the shot pattern was similar, and he never fired his guns because then he would have to clean them. He had his squadron patch; Donald Duck with a bomb over his shoulder. 312th Bomb Group, 389th Bomb Squadron, flying the A-20G Havoc. He would then tell us that his outfit was transitioning to the Consolidated B-32 Dominator, a little-known back up to the B-29 Superfortress. Think of a B-24 Liberator's big brother—that's a B-32.
The only actual war story he told us was from when his plane was on an attack run as the lead ship and dropped down in a valley. He watched the trailing plane suddenly lose its vertical stabilizer and slide sideways into a hillside, exploding. The Japanese, he surmised, had strung a cable between the tops of the mountain and his plane flew underneath it.
Those are the stories told to a 10-year-old, but the truth was of course, different. Dad gave up a job working as an electrician wiring up P-40s for Curtiss Wright and enlisted to be a pilot cadet. He didn't fall asleep, but the truth was rather more mundane: He was reassigned based on the needs of the service. I imagine a formation where an instructor said "You, you, you and yes, the short guy in the front. Congratulations, you are now gunners. Get on the damn train..." Kids don't want to hear that—falling asleep is more fun for them.
He went to Morris Field, trained as a gunner in the A-20 because he was small. Spent June and July of 1945 flying out of New Guinea and the Philippines on combat missions. His diary indicates that at least one mission he came home with holes in the aircraft from enemy fire. I'm filled with dread when I imagine that skinny kid I see in old photographs folding himself into that tiny turret, bouncing down a runway and flying at treetop level to do this over and over. Truly braver than what he pretended to be for us.
He passed away in 2001, and I inherited all of his books, photos and materials. I parachute as part of a demonstration team in honor of World War II veterans to keep their stories alive. I carry with me his crew wings, a photo of him with the Good Conduct ribbon beneath it and a photo of his friend, Sgt. Heinz "Dutch" Wolf, who served in the 100th BG, 350th BS in Europe. Dutch told me before he died in 2019 that he and my father took 20 years to admit to each other they were gunners. Every jump, they're in my cargo pocket that I touch when I hear "Stand UP!", so as to remind me of their stories. I'll never hear all of it, but what I know of my father's, Dutch's, my uncles' and 1LT Rodney Parsons of the Dog Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd PIR is enough to be very, very proud of them.
Thanks, P.R.P.
We still welcome submissions, if anyone cares to share their story, or that of a family member, acquaintance, etc. Send them to comments@electoral-vote.com, with subject line "Never Forget." (Z)
The current House Majority Leader is Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA).