Page 5 - March ARB Beacon 7-31-15

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Through the glass: Veteran remembers his past

By Airman 1st Class Amber Carter “A voice actually told me, ‘Bruce, &RXUWHV\SKRWR
WK$LU0RELOLW\:LQJ3XEOLF$IIDLUV you need to get out of here because
there’s no future for you.’ That’s when 5HWLUHG/W&RO%UXFH6RR\UHFHLYHVDGHPRQVWUDWLRQÀLJKWDW1XW7UHH$LUSRUW
(This feature is part of the “Through I went down to the recruiter’s office &DOLI-XO\,WKDGEHHQ\HDUVVLQFHKHKDGODVWÀRZQDQDLUFUDIW
Airmen’s Eyes” series. These stories fo- and joined the Army Air Corps for
cus on individual Airmen, highlighting $21 a month.” neath the 44th Bomb Group so they off course.
their Air Force story.) couldn’t drop their bombs,” Sooy said. “That’s when the fighters hit us,”
Sooy enlisted Sept. 20, 1939, and “His leader called and told the 44th he
Museums display artifacts that pro- World War II was already in motion. would go north about 15 minutes off he said.
vide evidence of times from the past. course and then turn back.” German fighter pilots in elements of
He started off his career working on
Walking into a military museum is B-17 Flying Fortress engines, and then Those 15 minutes took Sooy and his five were flying at Sooy and his crew
like sitting down with a senior veteran he entered pilot training school in June 10-person crew approximately 50 miles
and hearing their war stories from the 1942. He graduated as a second lieuten- See BACK page 7
“good old days.” ant and went on to become a B-24 Lib-
erator pilot. He was stationed in Eng-
The heritage center at Travis Air land in 1943, ready to fly the Pink Lady
Force Base has many pieces of military, over Germany.
history rich with old war stories. One
piece, a bullet-riddled B-24 Libera- During the war, Sooy flew 23 bomb-
tor windshield, tells the story of a man ing missions beginning in November
from a small town who went on to fight 1943. During his 23rd bombing mission
in World War II and gave more than 40 on March 18, 1944, with the primary
years of service to his country. being Friedrichshafen, Germany, the
lead plane in Sooy’s formation made a
Retired Lt. Col. Bruce Sooy, an critical error.
Army Air Corps and Air Force veteran,
was born April 17, 1917, in Greenbank, “Picture 900 bombers in a stream,”
New Jersey. he said. “We were doing 192 mph,
which is fast at more than 20,000 feet
Before joining the military, Sooy with a load of bombs. Our normal
worked at a machine shop, hardening speed was around 165.
with bars of cyanide for approximately
50 cents an hour. “(The lead plane) had flown under-

Being a spiritual man, Sooy said,

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