George B Underwood

George and Bev Underwood, fro Hollywood, LA, Calif.  Sat. 15 May, 2010

      "1929 Model A Truck "tows" 1945 B-25 !"

Model A Truck owned by George Underwood 310th Bomb Group, 381st Bomb Squadron / B-25's Corsica/MTO, WWII is shown "towing" the Heavenly Body, a fully restored flyable B-25 J on Armed Forces Day, 2010.  George led a Model T Ford Club on a tour to the aircraft at Van Nuys Airport, CA. where the visitors were allowed to climb in, on and around the aircraft, authenticly painted to represent a 13th Air Force aircraft that flew Combat Missions in the South Pacific.   Several WWII Vets attended including Jim Nelson, 310th BG, the 428th Bomb Squad who was shot-down on his 22nd Mission over the Apennine Mountains of Italy.   (By George Underwood)

Goerge B Underwood was born in the State of New York 24 March, 1923.  During WW II George was a S/Sgt Gunner and Up-THar ! in the Top-Turret... in the 57th Bomb Wing, the 310th Bomb Group and the 381st Bomb Squadron on Corsica in 1944.

I was a Staff Sergeant who flew 68 combat missions over Italy from January to July 1944 assigned to the 310th Bombardment Group, 381st Bombardment Squadron. I was not wounded, save for a scratch on my nose from flying Plexiglas and a hit on the shin by a piece of flak, nor was any member of the crew given the Purple Heart.  I received four Air Medals for missions I scarcely recall except for one or two.  Our aircraft was hit many times by flak   and we had a couple of crash landings.  Aside from that, nothing extraordinary happened.  Out of the original six- crewmembers there are only two of us left.  I was always “the kid” of the crew, and the “older guys” took pretty good care of me. 

Aerial gunnery school in Laredo, Texas proved to be an exciting follow up after Armament School at Buckley Field just north of Denver, Colorado. I was closing in on my way to combat at last.  The North American “Texan” AT-6s used for gunnery training created their share of noise while taking off and landing on the airfield near our barracks.  At times I could even hear the distant yammer of machine guns being fired.

We fired all kinds of weapons.  . Continue;

http://57thbombwing.com/GU_310th/

One of George's favorite things to do is "work on" and "show off" his Red Ford Truck !  It is a measure of great pride that he keeps her in tip-top shape, and all of the kids drove her to college, and returned each time, only once changing from pure red to red with black fenders.

   George has kept a running LOG of sorts, highlighting the special times for the RED TRUCK. . . . This is called "Gramps and Me" [in pdf]

PRINCESSBARBI_B25@msn.com