Tag Archives: b-17

Air Force History You Wouldn’t See Today

Update: A WWII pilot’s family reports on finding the nose art from their grandfather’s plane… in the risqué section of the museum.

eaanoseartThe Commemorative Air Force has loaned a collection of nose art saved from to-be-scrapped B-17s and B-24s to the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for display for at least the next year.

The collection of 34 pieces of “nose art”…is the largest of its kind…

The double-entendres, bravado and pride reflected in the nose art speak to the intimate bond the crews had with their planes. Young men, some not even in their 20s, put their Read more

World War II POW Held Jewish Services in POW Camp

A local article recalls the story of then-Army Lieutenant Henry Levine, a B-17 navigator who was shot down over Nazi Germany and captured in February 1944. While in Stalag Luft 1,

he led secret Jewish religious services for fellow POWs, right under the noses of their Nazi captors.

“Many people risk their lives to pray to their god,” his son Ron Levine, of Cedar Rapids, says. “He was one of them.”

The article reveals the Nazis technically permitted “Jewish church” for appearances, though actual Jewish rites weren’t permitted. As a result, with the assistance of non-Jewish POWs, Levine led Read more