World War II veterans greet trusted old friend in Conroe
Two World War II veterans sat side by side on a recent weekday as they were reunited with a B-17 bomber at its new home in Conroe.
Mounted guns and radio communications equipment are still inside the 20-foottall, 74-foot-long B-17 Flying Fortress “Texas Raiders” with a 104-foot-long wingspan. The bomber still requires a duck of the head for a peek into the world of those who served in World War II, like veterans Curtis Blair, 97, of Spring, and R. B. Kelley, 92, of Conroe.
On April 8, the public will have a chance to get a glimpse of the experience with cockpit tours of the flying museum starting at 10 a.m. and flights in the afternoon at General Aviation Services on the north side of Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport, where the bomber has been relocated.
Crashed in France
The bomber is maintained and operated by the Commemorative Air Force Gulf Coast Wing, a group of volunteers that uses the aircraft as an educational tool to honor and remember those who served in World War II. The B-17 was recently welcomed to the city by Conroe/Lake Conroe Area Chamber of Commerce President Brian Bondy, CAF President and CEO Stephan C. Brown and the Gulf Coast Wing of Houston, which operates the iconic bomber. Blair and Kelley were also recognized at the event last week.
“When you are among American heroes, a couple who flew in this exact plane or one just like it, it really humbles me to be a part of something like this,” Bondy said. “Hopefully there will be a long, long relationship between the community, the Commemorative Air Force and the airport because it is an economic engine just by itself.”
Kelley enlisted in the Army Air Corps as soon as he graduated from Conroe High School, he said. He served as a ball turret gunner while stationed in England when the B-17 he flew in was shot down with nine people on board Feb. 14, 1945.
“We bombed Dresden, Germany, and were hit over the target by the enemy,” said Kelley. “We lost one engine. The formation (of P-51 Mustangs that protected the bomber from enemy fire) went off and left us 800 miles from England,” where he was stationed.
The heavy bomber turned west to go to France. With two of its four engines were lost, Kelley said, a third engine went out.
“We were throwing everything out of the airplane to lighten it up. We hit the ground in Dijon, France, in a plowed field. Weren’t anybody hurt. We were beat up and bruised up but no broken bones.”
There’s a reason the “sturdy” aircraft is called “the Flying Fortress,” CAF wing leader Wayne Kennedy said.
While Kelley’s unscathed crew survived the crash, they remained in danger as they didn’t know whether they were behind enemy lines.
“We didn’t know where we were,” Kelley said. “We were there 30 minutes when we saw a Jeep coming. (It was Army General) George Patton’s group — ‘Old Blood and Guts.’ It was the surprise of my life. I was scared. I’ve met a lot of prisoner-ofwar guys who have been captured. Since we weren’t hurt, we would’ve ended up in a POW camp, and that’s the last place you would want to be.”
‘The greatest thing’
Kelley went on to fly in a B-17 and B-24 to complete another 21 missions, He’s also flown twice in the Texas Raiders at air shows in the Conroe and Houston area.
Now he meets every Wednesday with a Lone Star veterans group, which he says includes about 15 World War II veterans.
For veterans like Kelley and the men in his group, having Texas Raiders in Conroe is meaningful.
“I think it is the greatest thing to ever happen,” Kelley said. “I’m glad. It will be a drawing card. It teaches kids. We need to get the kids involved. Kids don’t know what patriotism is.”
Former Montgomery County Judge Jimmie Edwards III, a retired Marine, attended the ceremony. Edwards, a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, is spearheading an effort to move and expand the Montgomery County War Memorial.
“It’s fantastic,” Edwards said. “It will help the whole area. Not only is it great to see and to learn, but it is a learning experience and a remembering experience.”
Nine still flying
Completed in 1945, “Texas Raiders” is one of the last 20 B-17’s ever built. While World War II combat ended before Texas Raiders flew overseas, the warplane served during the Korean War. The aircraft’s military career included scouting, search and rescue and weather reconnaissance. After the war, the B-17 now in Conroe went on to become a seismic survey aircraft. It was acquired in 1967 by the CAF to be restored to her military configuration.
Of the 12,731 B-17 aircraft that saw combat, only about nine B-17 bombers still fly, according to information from CAF.
According to Blair, he is the only surviving World War II veteran of the 12 young men from his Fort Worth neighborhood who enlisted in 1941.
“I’m the last one left,” said Blair, who served as B-17 flight engineer after he enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age 21. “It brings back memories.”