Looking Back
World War II veteran recalls time as top turret gunner
COLLEGEVILLE » World War II veteran George Lentz only has one hope in mind as he recalls his service to his country.
“I think children in school should know a little bit about the history and really that’s the only thing that I would want to pass on,” said Lentz.
Lentz, 95, of Collegeville, was a staff sergeant in the 385th Bomb Group, 548th Bomb Squadron in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. His job as a top turret gunner in a B-17 required him to make sure that all the bombs the plane was carrying had been dropped.
“I went in as an air cadet but they washed out so many of them that I wound up going to airplane mechanic school,” said Lentz. “I went halfway through medium bombers, B-25 and B-26s, and they came in one day and said, ‘you, you and you, pack your bags.’ They flew us up from Wichita, Texas to Amarillo, about 150 miles away, to heavy bombers, B-17s and B-24s. I wound up on a B-17 in the 385th bomb group. Then I flew my missions over Germany and came home.”
Lentz flew 29 missions with his crew, missing only two after being injured during one on April 3, 1945, a mission he still recalls clearly.
“On the mission to Kiel — that’s where the Germans had the sub-pens — we could only hold two bombs, thousand pounders. They had 20 to 35 feet of concrete over their subpens so we had to have big bombs to try to pierce them. On the way home from that mission, I got down out of my turret. The turret only consists of a little strap about 4 inches wide that I sat on,” Lentz explained.
“I went to get down out of it when we were back over the North Sea to light cigarettes for the pilot and co-pilot. When I went to step down I fell right into the navigator’s compartment which is in the front of the plane between the pilot and the co-pilot. I didn’t know it but my heated boot went out and I had a frostbitten leg. It was turning blue and we got back to the base and they put me in the base hospital and I missed two missions with my regular crew,” he said.
Lentz, however, managed to heal quickly. After two days he was able to return to duty.
“I got my pilot to talk them into letting me out because I didn’t want to miss any more missions. My leg was OK by then because they caught it in time. They just packed it in ice in those days. Today they do just the opposite,” he added.
Missions and injuries weren’t the only things Lentz recalled, however. He said he remembers vividly the celebrations that took place once the war came to an end.
“When they surrendered, it was the happiest day,” said Lentz. “There was just a lot of big celebration. The officers would be shooting guns off and just a lot of celebrating. I was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, getting ready to be shipped to Pueblo, Colo., for B-29 school when Japan surrendered. Then they cancelled the B-29 school, which was good. That was quite a celebration. They burned a Model T in the main square of Sioux Falls and they really carried on, more so than we did in England during the surrender of Hitler. I remember the celebration in Sioux Falls more than Pueblo.”
Now, Lentz is retired after having spent most of his life after the war as a painting contractor, a business that has flourished in his family for three generations. Lentz even spent some time compiling a book recounting his experience during World War II. He says the book is called “One of the Lucky Ones” in reference to the fact that he was able to come home. He had enough copies made to be given to members of his family.
“I just sum it up as it’s something I wouldn’t want to have missed and something I wouldn’t want to do over,” said Lentz.