Joe Stevens was a young farmer when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps on April, 24th of 1944. In many ways he exhibited the same qualities of dedication and self-sacrifice displayed by the other sixteen million United States citizens who went to serve in WW II. He answered the call of his country in a time when freedom around the world seemed a bit precarious. Joe initially enlisted to become a navigator. The course of the war at that time favored the United States and her allies, so the need for new pilots, bombardiers, and navigators lessened. Joe's training changed to prepare him to be a waist gunner and filght technician. Joe found himself working in this capacity as a member of a B-24 bomber crew. The first mission of which Joe was a part was flown on March 16th, 1945 to Amstetten, Germany. This served as a right of passage for a young man who would celebrate his 19th birthday twenty days after the mission.
Joe graduated with the class of 1943 of Towanda High School. Serving a relatively small farming community, Towanda High witnessed a number of her sons leave to fight either in Europe or the Pacific. The graduation program wintnesses that at least 24 young men from this graduating class ahd either alreqady gone off to war, or soon would be joining those struggling to defend liberty. The community possessed a tradition of supporting the country in times of need. During the Civil War Joe's Great-Grandfather W.J. Cole helped to organize Company C of the 141st Pennsylvania Voluntary Infantry Regiment. Another of Joe's Great-Grandfathers from the area, Elias Ellis, served in the 171st Nine Month Drafted Militia.
Joe was not the only one of the Stevens/Ellis clan from the New York/Pennsylvania area to go to war. In fact there were six grandsons of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Wlimot Ellis, serving in the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. Joe's brother Clarence, known to all as Bud, joined the United States Marine Corps in early 1943 and fought in The Pacific Theatre. Bud participated in the Tarawa landing, where he served as a backpack held flamethrower operator and as a member of an anti-airgraft battery. These men, known to some as "Human Zippos," would be called in to deal with problematic enemy emplacements. Joe had a number of cousins and one uncle engaged in the fight.
This image shows the plane, "Forever Amber", in which Joe flew the missions listed below.... .
Missions |
Date |
Amstetten |
03/16/1945 |
Muhldorf |
03/19/1945 |
Neuburg |
03/21/1945 |
Krapuly |
03/22/1945 |
Munich/Reim |
03/24/1945 |
Szombathely |
03/26/1945 |
Linz |
03/31/1945 |
Bologna |
04/15/1945 |
Bologna |
04/16/1945 |
Bischofshofen |
04/19/1945 |
Padua |
04/23/1945 |
Linz |
04/25/1945 |
Joe may have been active for a relatively short time, but he did his part in fighting to rid the world of the scourge of Nazism. His duties included manning the waist gun during missions, as well as setting the reconnaissance cameras to take photographs of the bomb drop pattern. These images served to assist in determining the success of the mission.
This image provides a unique view into the formation flying used to protect Allied bombers during WWII. The massed firepower of 400 bombers flying closely to each other, each armed with ten 50 caliber machine guns, coluld be quite intimidating. Those same 400 bombers could deliver devastation through the 8,000 pound bomb payload each B-24 possessed. Dropping over 3 million pounds of bombs on a target produced havoc and could result in the destruction of an intended target. This image provides visual evidence of the skills possessed by United States Army Air Corps bomber pilots. It was necessary for them to fly in close formations such as these for as much as eight hours just to get to the target. they then had to hold the plane steady during the bombing run so the bombardier could deliver the payload. Then the plane had to be flown safely home. Success on missions such as these required close cooperation between all crew members.
The Pilots of a crew provided leadership for a WW II bomber crew. Among the members of the Forever Amber crew this was provided by Lieutenants Brown and Allen. These men, pilot and co-pilot, functioned as the most integral part of the crew. It is true that all members had specific vital jobs to do, but without the skills of the pilots danger could spring from many directions.
Joe relates the story that on one mission the damage from flak was so heavy that their hydraulic lines had been punctured, and the fluid drained out. These lines were necessary to move various parts of the plane, such as the wing flaps and wheels. Flaps were necessary to slow an aircraft moving at 240 miles per hour, and wheels were necessary to make a safe landing. The crew was unable to use hand cranks to lower the wheels, so they had to prepare for a belly landing with no flaps to slow them down. This event occurred at the end of a mission, so extreme danger of explosion existed if the vent on the wing gas tanks had also become damaged in the fight. A damaged vent meant a possible build-up of explosive gas fumes. In order to bring the plane down successfully the pilots had parachutes tied to the posts of the waist guns, and popped at the appropriate moment. These preparations allowed the skill of the pilots to bring the plane and the crew safely back to land.
Humor functions as an active form of entertainment in all seasons. At times humor also helps us take our minds off of unpleasant things we have experienced, or are about to experience. In this vain humor has been an active force among soldiers, most likely since warfare began. Americans during the Revolution sang the somewhat irreverent song “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” During the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War soldiers of the Union 12th Corps marched to battle throwing balls of cheese at each other that were too noxious to eat. During the battle at Spotsylvania in the same war a Confederate artillery sergeant made a narrow escape before charging Union troops as he raised his thumb and fingers to his nose and gave them the raspberries. United States troops in WW I popularized the song “Hinky Dinky Parlezvous.”
It was no different in WW II. Kilroy showed up everywhere and on everything. Soldiers expressed their views in humorous ways in journals and letters written home. They shared jokes while at rest or on duty. Oftentimes these humorous expressions allowed the soldiers to face their own mortality and get their fears and concerns out in the open while not exhibiting weakness.
The song “As Flak Goes By” functions as a means for men going repeatedly into battle to deal with their fears about their own mortality. The author of these words is lost to posterity, but the words themselves live on as an expression of the raw feelings of the airmen. As Flak Goes By, set to the music of the 1931 song “As Time Goes By,” provides for us a window into the thought of airmen of the time.
You gain here a glimpse into the living quarters of WW II airmen stationed in Italy. They lived, as service men have since time immemorial, in tents. Based on this image it appears the structure was somewhat permanent in nature. Joe staked out his own personal area, complete with a storage locker of some sort. You notice that on the top of this unit he had stationed various pictures and other objects. One image is recognizable as a studio portrait of Joe's Father and Mother. Many soldiers down through time have used photographs to remind themselves of home. It would have been to this area Joe came to not only sleep, but also engage in relaxation activities such as reading. One can well imagine bomber crew members coming back to a tent such as this after a long mission. At times the rest after a mission would have been bittersweet, as not all crew always returned alive. It is intgeresting to note that there is a high roof to thhe tent as evidenced by the dark shades above the walls.
This picture was taken after the war was over, but it serves to give us an interesting view of an historical geographic feature. It also tells us that the young men who has not yet come home after V-E day were using the opportunity to see the sights of the world. This image was taken a few months more than a year after the March, 1944 eruption of the volcano. Other images were taken of this volcano by members of The Tuskeegee Airmen during its eruption in 1944. The African American fighter pilots known as the Tuskeegee Airmen, or Redtail Angels, flew support and bomber escort missions during the war. Joe mentions that whenever his crew realized it was the Redtail Angels escorting them they knew they had nothing to worry about. The men from Tuskeegee fought not just the germans, but the racial prejudice inherent in a United States army that had been segregated since the Civil War.
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