Speaker 1: Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
Speaker 1: this edition is Melvin Hurwitz. He's a US Army Air
Speaker 1: Corps veteran of World War II. He served as a
Speaker 1: gunner and radio man aboard a B seventeen bomber in
Speaker 1: the four hundred and ninety third Bomb Group during the
Speaker 1: final months of the war in Europe. Today we'll hear
Speaker 1: about why he joined the Air Corps, his role as
Speaker 1: a radio man, and his most memorable missions during and
Speaker 1: after the war. Melvin Hurwitz was born in Baltimore, Maryland,
Speaker 1: in March nineteen twenty five. He was sixteen years old
Speaker 1: when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December seventh, nineteen
Speaker 1: forty one, and he remembers it vividly.
Speaker 2: That was interesting. Oh I don't remember, zach me what
Speaker 2: I heard of the attack itself, but I remember sitting
Speaker 2: in my senior year in high school and we had
Speaker 2: little sound systems going into ease classroom and President Tellanor
Speaker 2: Roosevelt made his famous speech saying that the Empire of
Speaker 2: Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and we now were in
Speaker 2: a state of war. I remember that very clearly.
Speaker 1: Even though he was too young to join the service
Speaker 1: at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Herwit
Speaker 1: says he still wasn't fired up to join the military,
Speaker 1: but by nineteen forty three he was ready.
Speaker 2: At that moment, I really didn't know too much about war,
Speaker 2: having the idea of the extent of the damage without
Speaker 2: at Pearl Harbor. But as a time go on, I
Speaker 2: knew I was going to enter the service, said, I
Speaker 2: entered college for six months until I turned eighteen, and
Speaker 2: then I joined the Art Corps.
Speaker 1: Herwitz new he wanted to join the US Army Air Corps,
Speaker 1: which would later become the US Air Force. So was
Speaker 1: it a love for flying, or knowing someone else in
Speaker 1: the Air Corps, or maybe some financial incentive that drove
Speaker 1: his decision? Not at all. His teenage brain placed one
Speaker 1: factor above all the others.
Speaker 2: I wonder way that George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 2: My brothers are all going down there. I knew I'd
Speaker 2: only short time to fill in until I was eighteen,
Speaker 2: and the fellows the city around the dorm's talking, and
Speaker 2: why didn't you join the Air Corps? You'll always have
Speaker 2: a bed you'll always have a hospital, you'll always have food,
Speaker 2: and you'll wear silver wings. And the girls love silver wings.
Speaker 2: So that sold me and I went down to the
Speaker 2: recruitment center in Nashville. I joined the Air Corps, but
Speaker 2: I wasn't old enough, so when I became eighteenth, I
Speaker 2: went back to my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, and was
Speaker 2: inductor at Fort Hollibirn, Maryland. I went for basic training.
Speaker 2: The first place was Greensboro, North Carolina.
Speaker 1: The Hurwitz family devoted a great deal to the war effort.
Speaker 1: Melvin says, all the boys in the family were eager
Speaker 1: to serve, but none of them could agree unaware to serve.
Speaker 2: There were four boys in my family, and all four
Speaker 2: of us served in World War Two, and each one
Speaker 2: in a different branch of the service. My youngest brother, Jerry,
Speaker 2: served in the US Army. Brother Will was an ensign
Speaker 2: in the Navy, serving the Pacific. My oldest brother, Albert
Speaker 2: was a marine served in the first Marine Division, also
Speaker 2: in the Pacific, And I, of course was in the Air.
Speaker 1: As Herwitz mentioned a moment ago, he did his basic
Speaker 1: training in North Carolina, but there was a lot more
Speaker 1: preparation to come and aptitude tests showed that he was
Speaker 1: ideally suited to serve as a radio man on a
Speaker 1: B seventeen bomber, and that led to a lot more
Speaker 1: training and the formation of a crew before Hurwitz could
Speaker 1: head overseas quite.
Speaker 2: A long time. From Nisai Air Center, I went to
Speaker 2: a radio school at Scottfield, Illinois. And from Scottchfield, Illinois,
Speaker 2: Miama was radio gunner. So after Scottchfield, Illinois, I went
Speaker 2: to gunnery school in Yuma, Arizona. And after gunnery school
Speaker 2: I was qualified. Then from there we I went to
Speaker 2: McDill field in Florida. McDill field was a center for
Speaker 2: putting crews together before going overseas, and it was at
Speaker 2: McDill field that I met the nine that other gentlemen
Speaker 2: fellows that I became members of crew with, and we
Speaker 2: stayed together till the end of the war.
Speaker 1: That crew would be serving aboard B seventeen bombers. As
Speaker 1: we said a moment ago, Herwitz describes what those big
Speaker 1: planes were like.
Speaker 2: B seventeen was tough airplane. It took a lot of
Speaker 2: battery and took a lot of injury. But at matt
Speaker 2: it's always as much as possible to come home safely
Speaker 2: or enough to justified being what it was. The quarters
Speaker 2: of the B seventeen was very tight, very narrow, very
Speaker 2: rough deal and so forth. There's not a lot of
Speaker 2: comfort there. I was fortunate. I was the few of
Speaker 2: the un listened men that have a seat because we
Speaker 2: had I had a little table with the radio on it.
Speaker 2: But the wastegunners some of the others did not have
Speaker 2: that luxury. Of course, the navigator did. Of course.
Speaker 1: Bob deer Herwitz elaborated a bit on his radio operator
Speaker 1: training as well. He says his ability to tap out
Speaker 1: Morse code very quickly made him a natural.
Speaker 2: Fit standards about twenty twenty five words a minute. I
Speaker 2: was talking about twenty eight to thirty words of an
Speaker 2: I think. But once you were able to do that,
Speaker 2: you were passed the tests and love with some other
Speaker 2: slightly technical law lessons on the radio itself, but the
Speaker 2: main thing was be able to take and receive Morse code.
Speaker 1: Herwitz also says his main focus was as a gunner,
Speaker 1: and his job as a radio man only mattered if
Speaker 1: there was a crisis.
Speaker 2: Well, on a plane, we did not do anything with
Speaker 2: our radio unless have had an emergency the pilot had
Speaker 2: its own method of communicating with us, with the base
Speaker 2: and other airplanes, but in case of emergency, we had
Speaker 2: the long distance capability of contacting. We also had both
Speaker 2: known as a trailing wire antetta, which was all of
Speaker 2: war less spool with a weight, and you could unravel
Speaker 2: that down below the plane and that would give you
Speaker 2: have an opportunity to go spark to go for the distance.
Speaker 1: In early nineteen forty five it was time to go
Speaker 1: to Europe. Herwitz says they didn't take a ship. They
Speaker 1: flew their B seventeen over to England, but getting there
Speaker 1: was a bit of an adventure as well.
Speaker 2: Shortly after our cruise made up around was as follows.
Speaker 2: We stopped at Hunterfield, Georgia for refueling on the way north,
Speaker 2: and we flew up to Bangor, Maine, and Bagor, Maine
Speaker 2: was the last stop. We flew overseas completely in by
Speaker 2: P seventeen. We never took a ship. We flew up
Speaker 2: bag Or, Maine, and then Gann in Newfoundland and Goose Bay, Labrador.
Speaker 2: We were refueling each one of those stations, and then
Speaker 2: we stopped at Greenland refueled. The Greenland did not get
Speaker 2: off the plane there. From Greenland we went into Iceland.
Speaker 2: Iceland was one of the more memorable times in my
Speaker 2: World War Two experience because we got there with a
Speaker 2: large snow storm and we were snowbound in Iceland for
Speaker 2: probably seven or eight days. We had to lock arms
Speaker 2: three or four fellows at the same time, but to
Speaker 2: go to bess Hall, but so we wouldn't get blown
Speaker 2: off our truck. I had an interesting experience there. One
Speaker 2: person out to stand guard on the airplane each night
Speaker 2: with Chase. We never left the airpload alone. Our play
Speaker 2: was right there, a little tin hunt with three or
Speaker 2: four Welsh arabin had a little pot belly stove and
Speaker 2: they fixed me tea and they were happy to see
Speaker 2: a Yank and talk to someone different, talking to some
Speaker 2: Welsh words and for a kid away from home, had
Speaker 2: no experience of any figure in the world. There was
Speaker 2: a lot of a lot of excitement. And then from
Speaker 2: Iceland to cleared up and we went into landed at
Speaker 2: the Hollyhead, Wales in England.
Speaker 1: From there it was onto their new base in East
Speaker 1: Anglia in the UK.
Speaker 2: Our base was in Debitsch, England. Could train from Wales
Speaker 2: down to uh Davits, which was there the city of Ipswich,
Speaker 2: all in East Sanglia, where most of the Air Corps
Speaker 2: bases were. In East Aanglia, it's closest to the to
Speaker 2: the coast. I stayed that the four ninety third Bomb Group.
Speaker 2: The four ninety third Bomb Group was the last bomb
Speaker 2: group to be formed in the Eighth Air Force.
Speaker 1: But even then it was still not quite time to
Speaker 1: get in the fight. Herwitz says there were still some
Speaker 1: more flights they had to complete before getting the green
Speaker 1: light for their first real bombing run.
Speaker 2: Now we were flying sped Frice at that time. The
Speaker 2: weather Dengler was terrible. We had the bath Stone and
Speaker 2: Margan Bridge and and all these uh battles going on,
Speaker 2: and UH they're waiting for us to come in to
Speaker 2: give them air support. Were ignored the bars, just waiting
Speaker 2: for the h weby to clear.
Speaker 1: That's Melvin Hurwitz. He's a US Army Air Corps veteran
Speaker 1: of World War Two and served as a gunner and
Speaker 1: radio man on board of B seventeen bomber. In a moment,
Speaker 1: Hurwitz takes us with him on his first mission and
Speaker 1: remembers what he was thinking as he joined the fight.
Speaker 1: Near the end of the war. I'm Greg Corumbus and
Speaker 1: this is Veterans Chronicles.
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Speaker 1: This is Veterans' Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
Speaker 1: this edition is Melvin Hurwitz. He's a World War Two
Speaker 1: veteran and a veteran of the US Army Air Corps,
Speaker 1: the precursor to the US Air Force. He served as
Speaker 1: a gunner and radio man on a B seventeen bomber crew.
Speaker 1: Hurwitz and his crew did not enter the fray against
Speaker 1: Germany until the spring of nineteen forty five, and as
Speaker 1: they got ready for their first bombing run, there was
Speaker 1: still one final piece of unfinished business naming the plane.
Speaker 1: Herwitz explains how they're B seventeen got tagged with the
Speaker 1: name Organized Confusion.
Speaker 2: Towards the end of the war, and our plane did
Speaker 2: not have a name, and we had all these glory
Speaker 2: names of place they sided as a plane, so we
Speaker 2: decided to name it. One of the guys came up
Speaker 2: with a plane organistitution. So then one of our crew
Speaker 2: was a French boy. We called him Fredgy, and he
Speaker 2: was an artist. He did a beautiful painting of our
Speaker 2: plane on the back of our A two jackets. I'm
Speaker 2: proud to say that my A two jacket is now
Speaker 2: on display in our museum in Devitch, England, and it's
Speaker 2: the only A two jacket in the museum that originated
Speaker 2: from that airbase.
Speaker 1: Finally, it was time for the real thing. Herwitz remembers
Speaker 1: some of the thoughts that ran through his mind as
Speaker 1: that B seventeen climbed into the sky, got into formation,
Speaker 1: and prepared to strike enemy targets.
Speaker 2: I remember figuring what I was up at first time.
Speaker 2: I was up at about thirty thousand feet twenty eight
Speaker 2: thousand feet, had the mask on and the flying suit
Speaker 2: and everything. I'd say, so, how did you get here?
Speaker 2: What did you do to get here? But I'm not frightened,
Speaker 2: that was excited, it's nervous, but the whole out of
Speaker 2: this world experience first time.
Speaker 1: Hurwitz referenced the special suit and goggles he and the
Speaker 1: others had to wear on their bombing missions. It was
Speaker 1: standard attire and without it anyone would pass out and
Speaker 1: likely die.
Speaker 2: Well because you would freeze the death if you get
Speaker 2: over ten thousand feet. The human body can't take that cold.
Speaker 2: If your fingers are exposed for more than ten minutes
Speaker 2: at a time, that you could, you could freeze, freezelf.
Speaker 1: Hurwitz and the rest of his crew were fortunate to
Speaker 1: arrive in England when they did. Being on a bomber
Speaker 1: crew towards the beginning of the war was not only
Speaker 1: a possible death sentence, it was almost a guarantee. The
Speaker 1: combination of bombers flying without escorts from fighter planes, aggressive
Speaker 1: German pilots in relentless anti aircraft fire or flak made
Speaker 1: completing enough missions to go home virtually impossible. By the
Speaker 1: time Hurwitz and the rest of his crew took to
Speaker 1: the skies, the danger was still very real, but the
Speaker 1: odds were far less daunting, as evidenced by Hurwitz explaining
Speaker 1: how much flak he dealt with in the skies over Europe.
Speaker 2: None we had to flack the one player go down
Speaker 2: with flock. But uh, very little of that too. But
Speaker 2: we saw it, but no, I saw no fighters.
Speaker 1: The other major benefit was that after just a few
Speaker 1: missions the war was over.
Speaker 2: Ali flew four combat missions. I say only, but one
Speaker 2: could be fatal. In fact, the four ninety third bob
Speaker 2: group flew one hundred and fifty seven missions the day
Speaker 2: before the war ended. On the final missions, one did
Speaker 2: not return her.
Speaker 1: What's elaborated on those four missions where the targets were
Speaker 1: and the other details that stand out from the final
Speaker 1: weeks of the war. But it was a mission targeting
Speaker 1: Germans who were still in France that stands out the most.
Speaker 2: After one mission into Germany and one into Czechoslovakia and
Speaker 2: two into France. That's another story that's very interesting to me.
Speaker 2: There was a pocket resistance of Germans in Rayon fress
Speaker 2: Roya n and there's about fifty thousand German soldiers there
Speaker 2: that were entrenched and would not give up, and the
Speaker 2: French and the Allies let them stay because they had
Speaker 2: to conquer the continent. They stayed there, but the end
Speaker 2: of the war was near and they still would not
Speaker 2: give up. My plate was one of them. Our mission
Speaker 2: and I have verified it was the first planes in
Speaker 2: World War Two in Europe to drop napalm bobs. Napalm
Speaker 2: was never used in Europe after that. It was predominantly
Speaker 2: used in the Far East the Pacific. But we dropped
Speaker 2: napalm onto these Germans in Rayne and the first they
Speaker 2: did not give up. The second mission dropped them and
Speaker 2: they did give up. We dropped the napalm and then
Speaker 2: the planes behind us dropped the bobs at the far
Speaker 2: Remember the bomb and deer said to me, Hapes, Parky,
Speaker 2: He said, let me show you something. Come over here.
Speaker 2: He never called me over when he dropped Bob's I see,
Speaker 2: but it was new to him too. So I went
Speaker 2: over to looked down and there's like pipes, long black
Speaker 2: pipes were sort of bundled up, and these buddles were
Speaker 2: dropping from the bomb by instead of the bobs. And
Speaker 2: that was the n A bomb and that was new
Speaker 2: to him too.
Speaker 1: But there were more missions to come after the combat ended.
Speaker 1: They were missions to save lives in two very different ways.
Speaker 1: And we'll learn how Hurwitz was planning to join the
Speaker 1: war in the Pacific. Our guest is Melvin Hurwitz. He's
Speaker 1: a US Army Air Corps veteran of World War Two,
Speaker 1: serving as a gunner and radio man on a B
Speaker 1: seventeen bomber crew. I'm Greg Corumbus, and this is Veterans Chronicles.
Speaker 1: This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
Speaker 1: this edition is Melvin Hurwitz. He's a US Army Air
Speaker 1: Corps veteran of World War II. He served as a
Speaker 1: gunner and radio man on a B seventeen bomber in
Speaker 1: the four hundred and ninety third bomb group operating out
Speaker 1: of England. We just heard Hurwitz explain his four bombing missions,
Speaker 1: with a special focus on the German forces still holding
Speaker 1: out in France. But soon Hurwitz's focus shifted from combat
Speaker 1: to humanitarian missions. He shared his memories of carrying out
Speaker 1: General Eisenhower's orders to provide badly needed food to parts
Speaker 1: of Europe left on the brink of starvation by the Nazis.
Speaker 2: I have four missions after that that stood out vividly
Speaker 2: in my mind. The week before the war ended, the
Speaker 2: Allies had made a truce for the Germans that if
Speaker 2: we came in and dropped food, they were not far
Speaker 2: on us. Well, the Germans were starving too. The Dutch
Speaker 2: and Belgium were really our need of food, and eyes
Speaker 2: hired General Bill Smith. They all knew, and they stuck
Speaker 2: out tons and tons of food in England. And we
Speaker 2: called it Americans called it our our drop operation Chowhound.
Speaker 2: That sounded very American chow The British used another name,
Speaker 2: Regency or something like that, but we didn't like that.
Speaker 2: So we think that Chowhound and our pictures, wonderful pictures
Speaker 2: of uh We're coming in about three hundred feet and
Speaker 2: hoping the bomb bays and dropping this food and big
Speaker 2: axes marked in fields and one uh one field and
Speaker 2: hatover which is a tool of capital at the stand
Speaker 2: of the world, and hadover had a big field thank
Speaker 2: you Yanks, made out of flowers, tulips and so forth,
Speaker 2: and it was maybe four or five acre field. It
Speaker 2: was very heartwarming, and it got choked up thinking about
Speaker 2: it because here we are so far away from home,
Speaker 2: and everything we did was with it ourselves. We did
Speaker 2: not shoot at anybody, We did not look at anybody,
Speaker 2: was just up there and here these people doal below
Speaker 2: had made this thank you Shanks sucked for us, and
Speaker 2: it was very heartwarming. And uh, I remember talked to
Speaker 2: this somewhat afterwards, who's a sort of a historian on
Speaker 2: the Dutch droppings. I said, you know, Alex, I said,
Speaker 2: when we weren't head over, I think I remember dropping
Speaker 2: food in the stadium because I saw people cheering from
Speaker 2: a stadium. He fakes permitted quietly, and he said it
Speaker 2: was a it was a racetrack. We had dropped the
Speaker 2: food in the middle of a racetrack.
Speaker 1: The Germans surrendered in Europe in May nineteen forty five,
Speaker 1: Not long after that, Herwitz says he and his crew
Speaker 1: were tasked with flying to pick up prisoners of war
Speaker 1: from the Germans and bring them back to Western Europe.
Speaker 2: Two other flies that are very memorable that I'll never forget.
Speaker 2: We went on two missions to repatriate French prisoners of
Speaker 2: war from Germany back to France. We flew into Lynz, Austria,
Speaker 2: right on the Danube. I never saw, I'd ever see
Speaker 2: the Danube, the Blue Danube, which was a buddy at
Speaker 2: the time the war. But we flew into Lynz, Austria
Speaker 2: and picked up these prisoners had been just like you
Speaker 2: see in the movies, emaciated and shrunken and glass eyed
Speaker 2: and uh in rags. And we stripped them of all
Speaker 2: their clothes, and we burned the clothes on a pile
Speaker 2: of fire, and we deloused them with some sort of powder,
Speaker 2: and each wrapped each one in a blanket, and we
Speaker 2: lined them up with a fuselage on each sidey you know,
Speaker 2: huddled up against the back. And we must have had
Speaker 2: thirty or forty prisoners each strip. And we had stripped
Speaker 2: taken out the gods, we stripped the place of everything
Speaker 2: that were over, so we had were able to carry
Speaker 2: the the fellows, and we did that twice. We went
Speaker 2: from Let's to Chantay, France. We say, said Tilly here,
Speaker 2: but SCHALTI and that big carnival that night, and we
Speaker 2: were kids were just we were heroes, you know.
Speaker 1: Her what says the condition of these prisoners was all
Speaker 1: you needed to know about the cruelty of the Germans
Speaker 1: during World War Two.
Speaker 2: They were too weak and two almost like in a daze.
Speaker 2: They just looked at us, you know, they wanted to
Speaker 2: say thank you, but they couldn't speak English, we couldn't
Speaker 2: speak French. And they're just so almost like walking zombies
Speaker 2: sort of, you know, just but I'm sure they couldn't
Speaker 2: believe that this was happening to them taking them home.
Speaker 1: Soon after those missions, Hurwitz was on his way home,
Speaker 1: but there wasn't much rest. The fighting was over in Europe,
Speaker 1: but the US was still at war on the other
Speaker 1: side of the world, and Melvin Hurwitz fully expected to
Speaker 1: be in the middle of it.
Speaker 2: I went home too weak leave and then I went
Speaker 2: to be twenty nine training in the Cannon Air Force
Speaker 2: Base in Clovis, New Mexico. And the first week I
Speaker 2: was there, they had us a classroom, studying the plane
Speaker 2: and preparing us to get up in there. But I
Speaker 2: remember looking out across out of the window the clan
Speaker 2: froom and looking across the tarbaccent and see these monsters
Speaker 2: be twenty nines, and thinking to myself, our play was
Speaker 2: like a toothpick compared to these guys. They were monsters
Speaker 2: compared to the B seventeen. And while I was there
Speaker 2: for the week, then they dropped the bomb and.
Speaker 3: That was it.
Speaker 2: I did not go right over, but I did not
Speaker 2: get to Japan.
Speaker 1: Melvin Hurwitz left the service in nineteen forty six and
Speaker 1: went back to civilian life. He spent his professional life
Speaker 1: in the jewelry business, but he hasn't slowed down much
Speaker 1: at all. In recent years, Hurwitz has traveled back to
Speaker 1: Europe to take part in remembrances of the war, including
Speaker 1: at Normandy. He says it's critical that no one forgets
Speaker 1: the war, why it was fought, and the cost of victory.
Speaker 2: It's history, it's remembering. It's you've got to know what
Speaker 2: happened before before you know it's going to happen in
Speaker 2: the future. I was taken over by the Bens of
Speaker 2: Fence Foundation, so wonderful organization. Paut Donnie Edwards and his
Speaker 2: wife found that they've taken me to Germany. They've taken
Speaker 2: me to Pearl Harbor and uh three years to France,
Speaker 2: and I'm most grateful for that, all expenses paid.
Speaker 1: Herwitz was among the veterans honored at the eightieth anniversary
Speaker 1: of the D Day landings in twenty twenty four, and
Speaker 1: much to his surprise, he became a bit of a
Speaker 1: celebrity thanks to his interaction with Ukrainian President Voladimir Zelenski.
Speaker 2: They said, Melvine, you went Varral. Yes, I said, I
Speaker 2: didn't what Varrel meant. He said, you want a fox?
Speaker 2: You wanted to be see he said. And then I
Speaker 2: got a call from my niece in Frederick, Maryland. They
Speaker 2: have she said. The New York Times just called it.
Speaker 2: That's not just call. He came down to me, the
Speaker 2: only one. I looked up Fritz for privates of Canada
Speaker 2: and New Zealand and then it's my wife went down.
Speaker 2: Then I kept down. I looked at him. Oh, I
Speaker 2: like that. He came on down. He just took my
Speaker 2: hand and I told pray for good and it went
Speaker 2: up on the biggest screen in France. You know Olvahall Beach.
Speaker 2: At the time, I thankd him for what he was doing,
Speaker 2: his courage and saving this country, and uh, he thanked
Speaker 2: me so much, and uh, I just I pray for you.
Speaker 2: I remember everything was going along quietly, and the minute
Speaker 2: he bends down, these newspaper journalists are like, oh, it's
Speaker 2: like vultures. Your vultures surrounding a dead asshole. They know
Speaker 2: in a second he thanked me. I said, I think,
Speaker 2: I said, you're my hero. He says, no, he said,
Speaker 2: you're the hero.
Speaker 1: In reflecting on his service some eighty years later, Herwitz
Speaker 1: says it's what he learned during his service that he's
Speaker 1: most proud of.
Speaker 2: I was proud I was able to I learned so
Speaker 2: much about life and people. I learned about the interaction
Speaker 2: with people getting along you're crewel the different types of
Speaker 2: individuals that are out in the world. I didn't know
Speaker 2: I grew up.
Speaker 1: Herwitz also offered plenty of reflection on why he makes
Speaker 1: sure to share his story of service. He says it's
Speaker 1: not just about what he did in uniform. Herwit says
Speaker 1: he wants younger generations to understand what war is really
Speaker 1: like and the importance of doing everything you can to avoid.
Speaker 2: It everything because you have to. You have to know
Speaker 2: and remember because wars. Somebody said war as hell when
Speaker 2: they were kid. It's terrible, it's it's unspeakable. The horus
Speaker 2: and lots of friendships have come out of that. I
Speaker 2: think it's human nature. I'll think, man, I'll never stop fighting.
Speaker 2: So somebody along the way, it's going to do it again.
Speaker 2: It's happening now. So we just baked two to each other,
Speaker 2: to the best we can.
Speaker 1: Melvin Hurwitz is a US Army Air Corps veteran of
Speaker 1: World War Two. He served as a gunner and radio
Speaker 1: man aboard a B seventeen bomber in the four hundred
Speaker 1: and ninety third Bomb Group during the final months of
Speaker 1: the war in Europe. I'm Greg Corumbus, and this is
Speaker 1: Veterans' Chronicles. Hi, this is Greg Corumbus, and thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to Veterans Chronicles, a presentation of the American Veterans Center.
Speaker 1: For more information, please visit American Veteranscenter dot org. You
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Speaker 1: and of course please subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast
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Speaker 1: please join us next time for Veterans Chronicles