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Burt Vardeman

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Burt Vardeman was a B-24 crewman who had a great deal of respect for the soldiers and sailors he felt had a rougher time than he did. He expected to go to the Pacific after VE Day but he got some good news while recuperating in Miami. (4:44)

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Where was this Pearl Harbor? Burt Vardeman was still in high school when the sneak attack occurred and when he graduated in 1943, he became one of the many draftees called up for the fight. (5:31)

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An aptitude for radio put draftee Burt Vardeman on a track to become a crewman in the Army Air Corps. Once he learned radio he had to learn gunnery and then he became part of a B-24 crew. He was the only Southerner but he learned to get along with the Yankees. (4:46)

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Would it be Europe or the Pacific? When Burt Vardeman's crew was sent to Virginia, they knew it would be Europe. They crossed the Atlantic on a Liberty ship and went ashore in Italy. They would be flying their bombing missions from there. (5:27)

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It happened right in front of him. On his very first mission, B-24 radio operator Burt Vardeman saw a plane up ahead in the formation explode from a direct hit by a flak shell. I'm never going to get home, he thought. (5:30)

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They were nearly all high altitude missions but, occasionally, there would be a low level target. Burt Vardeman recalls a mission targeting the Brenner Pass during which the plane was actually the target of flak fired from above. (4:21)

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Burt Vardeman was at his waist gun when one of the fighter escorts flew close enough to see the pilot's face. Was that a black pilot? He really got an eye opening experience when his plane developed engine trouble and had to crash land at what turned out to be the base of the Tuskegee Airmen. (7:17)

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Burt Vardeman describes the flak faced by the B-24 crew on nearly every mission. Even without a direct hit the shrapnel could kill a man or bring down a plane, as it did to his bomber. (3:16)

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Everyone hated it, especially the pilot. Sometimes, when a mission was scrubbed, the planes had to return to base with a full bomb load. Burt Vardeman remembers one of these missions which nearly ended in disaster despite an almost perfect landing. (4:09)

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What was it like in a B-24 on a bombing mission? Burt Vardeman discusses the practical aspects of flying such as dealing with the cold and what you have to do to relieve yourself. What about the bad weather and what do you do when you get back to the base? (9:29)