As baby boomers most of us hardly paid attention to the heroes around us. They may have been our parents, aunts, uncles , mailmen steelworkers or teachers. More than likely we chose our heroes from the bulky box in the family room that flickered black and white images across the screen. John Wayne, Davey Crockett, The Lone Ranger, were all bigger than life and we thought at that time, deserving of our admiration and the status of hero.
So it was for me as in 1960 as a Freshman at Garfield High School I scrambled into the bus leaving for the one mile trip to the middle/elementary school (now the ymca building). The basement of this building still contained the equipment needed for “shop class,” (later to become “industrial arts,”) The bus driver followed us off the bus and introduced himself as Mr. Apple, our shop teacher. Of course, we had no way of knowing at that time that besides being our shop teacher he was also a husband, father, right side waist gunner inside a B-17 Flying Fortress, and prisoner of war in the infamous Stalag 17B, a prisoner of war camp in the heart of Germany. There was no hint that this quiet kindly man had done anything heroic. He certainly did not brag about his sacrifice or about the dangers he faced during WW II. He did not have the physical stature of John Wayne or Daniel Boone (at least the television versions). So how could we have known?
The following is a sketchy rendition of knowledge gained from The Mighty Eighth Museum just outside of Savannah, Georgia and the American Museum in Britain (used the website for Britain).
Waist Gunner Gerald Apple flew aboard the B-17 bomber Chief Chilletacaux (Missouri tribal chief). After stateside training, Chief Chilletacaux’s crew of 10 deployed to Bury ST. Edmunds air field in Great Britain on Dec. 23rd 1943.
Flying a mission aboard a B-17 or B-24 Liberator had to be a hair raising experience. Cruising speed was a lumbering 287 miles per hour. The much faster German fighters downed the four engine bombers regularly despite the five 30 caliber machine guns mounted in the turrets. After the British and American fighters dropped their escort due to fuel limitations the even more perilous dangers began. Without fighter protection German fighters buzzed through the bomber formations like angry bees. After these menaces withdrew, the flack started. Shells bursting everywhere could mean the bombing run could easily end with an abrupt explosion inside the plane. One of every four crew members never returned. Four thousand bombers never returned. The death toll rose to twenty six thousand men before the end of hostilities. As if the dangers of the enemy weren’t enough, the conditions inside the slow moving bombers were extremely challenging. Flying at an altitude of between 25,000 and 35,000 feet there was no oxygen inside the unpressurized, unheated cabin. This necessitated all crew wear oxygen masks and electrically heated flying suits as the temperatures dipped to an unbearable 60 degrees below zero. On top of the heated suits heavy flack jackets were to be worn. Parachutes could not always be worn over all this but rather attached with a belt so it would always be nearby.
It is unknown how many missions were flown by Chief Chilletacaux after its arrival until April 18th 1944, the day it was listed as FTR or Failed to Return. What is known is that the bomber went down in the Brandenburg region of Germany that has Berlin within its borders. The amazing fact that 9 of the 10 crew members survived the crash was most likely a credit to the flight crew. This, coupled with the fact that the plane was never found, could mean that it landed on a lake and sank. Only the co-pilot was not taken prisoner and thus assumed killed in action. For prisoners of war, the conditions were beyond horrific. As I looked over the crew list of the Chief it showed only Mr. Apple as being liberated in May of 1945. With food scarce for everyone during the last year of war, prisoners were not a high priority.
Like most veterans of the Greatest Generation, servicemen did not seek or expect special notice for their special service. He came home to raise a family, gain a degree for teaching, and continue his service to mankind. As a student of his and later a colleague, I knew him to be a kind, calm gentleman. But then how could a high school freshman upset a man who had been through what he had experienced?
I wrote this article after having been inspired while visiting the Mighty Eighth Museum on Interstate #95 just outside of Savannah, Georgia. While there it was learned that Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were recent visitors. It seems they are working on a new HBO series about the Mighty Eighth. So if you found “Saving Private Ryan” or the HBO series “Band of Brothers” as riveting as I did I’m sure you will enjoy the new series to be released, hopefully, in 2020.
