Sunday marked the 66th anniversary of V-J Day - the day the Japanese surrendered. I dropped by the El Dorado Community Center in Long Beach to photograph the Spirit of '45 party for the Long Beach Press Telegram. Many veterans attended the event, including Mr. Jack Williams shown in the bottom photo of this tear sheet. Mr. Williams was a glider pilot during the war.
For more information about WW2 glider pilots and what it was like to fly these missions, check out this site and quote:
One veteran American glider pilot painted a vivid picture of the stark terror they experienced. "Imagine", he said, "flying a motorless, fabric-covered CG-4A glider, violently bouncing and jerking on a 11/16 inch thick nylon rope 350 feet back of the C-47 tow plane. You see the nervous glider infantrymen behind you, some vomiting, many in prayer, as you hedge-hop along at tree-top level instinctively jumping up in your seat every time you hear bullets and flak tearing through the glider. You try not to think about the explosives aboard. It's like flying a stick of dynamite through the gates of Hell."
Amazing.
