[Dragon Lady]

I loving Memory of my uncle Roy B. Bass. He lied about his age when he was 16 so he could join the war. Served in Framingham, England from 1943-1944 as a top turret gunner on B17s. Was shot down over Germany on a daylight bombing raid on Berlin. He was flying in Pistol Packin Mama when they took a direct hit on the top turret. The plane broke in half and plummetted from the sky. With hydraulic fluid in his eyes he managed to find his chute and his toolbox and threw himself clear of the craft. He then pushed his arms through the straps and hugged the chute while he pulled the chord. He made a decent landing under the circumstances and the farmer whose field he landed in turned him over to the Germans. He spent the last year of the war marching from one end of Germany to the other with a broken back. Broken by a rifle butt slamed into his back by a soldier. He never complained. After the war and his liberation from the camp he separated from service for less than a year, then rejoined and continued through Korea and Viet Nam. He finally retired in 1976.
He passed last year just two months after finally receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was my personal hero through out my whole life and I didn't know about his WWII service until just 13 years ago when he finally told me. Not a day went by that I didn't tell him how special he was to me.
God Bless you Uncle Roy! I will always love you.