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WW: We had four guys get Purple Hearts, four out of the ten. But I was -- there again, I was lucky. I didn't get hit. EM: That'd be good. WW: But, when we were over a target one time, and I was sitting on a bench like this, huddled up, trying to be as small as I could, and the guy in the upper turret was right here. And, he was hanging there like that. And he got -- a piece of flak hit him in the arm. And that was right over my head. See how lucky I was? EM: Sure were. WW: It was Jim (inaudible). It wasn't too bad a hit. But, he got hit. The tail gunner got hit. Nose gunner got hit twice. EM: All on the same flight? WW: No. EM: These are different stories? WW: That nose gunner deal wasn't a very good deal. You're looking at -- you'd see every target that they were firing at you.
EM: You can almost see too much up there. WW: Yeah, you could. You really could see too much. Glad I didn't get that. I couldn't have used that because you go in, you're sitting like this in the turret, and it's hooked behind you like that. And then you could, with hydraulic
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wendell Wilkins. Wilkins joined the Army Air Forces around 1942. He completed radial engine and gunnery schools, and served as an aerial engineer. In 1943, Wilkins deployed to Italy. He completed 50 combat missions over Munich, North Italy, along Brenner Pass, Austria and Romania.
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Wilkins, Wendell.Oral History Interview with Wendell Wilkins, August 31, 2012,
text,
August 31, 2012;
Fredericksburg, Texas.
(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606300/m1/36/:
accessed August 15, 2024),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.;
crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.