WWII Veteran Gets Special Birthday Gift | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.13.24

Airborne-NextGen-05.14.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.15.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-05.16.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.17.24

Sun, Mar 12, 2017

WWII Veteran Gets Special Birthday Gift

Flies In A B-17 For His 99th Birthday

A WWII veteran received a special gift for his 99th birthday ... a ride in a restored B-17 bomber. And Sergeant Eugene Leonard said the experience took him right back to 1941.

Fox News reports that the flight was arranged by Guy Coulombe, who befriended Leonard at a monthly meeting of Pearl Harbor survivors in San Diego two years ago. Leonard had recently lost his second wife, and Coulombe hoped that the B-17 experience would cheer him up.

Leonard joined the Marines in 1936, and later served in the Air Force as a mechanic. During the war, he was shot down and survived, according to the report.

While Leonard said he spent "thousands of hours in the R4D and C46," the birthday ride was his first time in a B-17.

Coulombe said that Leonard was probably indirectly responsible for saving about 40 lives during the war through his work on airplanes and "preventing pilots from making mistakes."

(Image from file)

FMI: Full Story

Advertisement

More News

Classic Aero-TV: Remembering Bob Hoover

From 2023 (YouTube Version): Legacy of a Titan Robert (Bob) Anderson Hoover was a fighter pilot, test pilot, flight instructor, and air show superstar. More so, Bob Hoover was an i>[...]

ANN FAQ: Follow Us On Instagram!

Get The Latest in Aviation News NOW on Instagram Are you on Instagram yet? It's been around for a few years, quietly picking up traction mostly thanks to everybody's new obsession >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.15.24)

Aero Linx: B-52H Stratofortress The B-52H Stratofortress is a long-range, heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions. The bomber is capable of flying at high subsonic spee>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.15.24):Altimeter Setting

Altimeter Setting The barometric pressure reading used to adjust a pressure altimeter for variations in existing atmospheric pressure or to the standard altimeter setting (29.92).>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.16.24)

"Knowing that we play an active part in bettering people's lives is extremely rewarding. My team and I are very thankful for the opportunity to be here and to help in any way we ca>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC