Hickory Daily Record
Published: March 22, 2009
Photographs bring back memories for veteran
By Richard Gould
As Joe Miller looked through piles of black and white photos, his eyes narrowed and he leaned forward in his wheelchair. "That was our officers' club," he said.
The picture had been taken in Grottaglie, Italy, in 1944 and showed a two-story, white stucco building.
The officers' club was downstairs and each pilot had his own glass with his name on it. When the flight rosters were issued, the glasses of the pilots going out on the next mission were turned upside down until the mission was over.
Pilots weren't allowed to drink alcohol for eight hours prior to a mission.
"Eight hours between bottle and throttle," recalled Miller, 86.
He spent hours looking through the stacks, files and albums of pictures brought to the Hickory airport from Cary by Amy Shue Hays.
Her father, Ralph Norman Shue, had taken the pictures in his role as the official photographer for the 718th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group during World War II.
Hays found the photos in 2004 after her father's death. They'd been stored in boxes in no particular order and she's been working to catalogue them and learn about the history they depict.
Miller was a B-24 Liberator pilot in the 717th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group. He looked through the pictures searching for old friends, familiar planes and forgotten places.
Some of the pictures had faded, most were curled and worn, but each evoked memories of a time 65 years ago when Miller was a young captain leading his men on a total of 44 missions during World War II.
Miller said he was a kind of father figure to his crew during the war. They called him "Boss Man." He said he got into a few tough spots, had two planes shot out from under him and saw a lot of action, but he never lost a crewman.
Hays said her father's photos fall into three main categories: Official shots including public relations photos and pictures documenting crashed planes and bomb sites, casual photos of soldiers' daily lives at war and pictures of Italian life and countryside.
She said the pictures are historical documents and she's working to catalogue and preserve them.
Kyle Kirby, curator of the Hickory Aviation Museum, was among aviation enthusiasts looking at the pictures with Miller. As he looked through the photos with a big smile and wide eyes, he said, "This is better than Christmas — this is unbelievable."
Hickory Daily Record © Copyright 2012 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company.
http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2009/mar/22/recollections-war-ar-95527/
Published: March 22, 2009
Photographs bring back memories for veteran
By Richard Gould
As Joe Miller looked through piles of black and white photos, his eyes narrowed and he leaned forward in his wheelchair. "That was our officers' club," he said.
The picture had been taken in Grottaglie, Italy, in 1944 and showed a two-story, white stucco building.
The officers' club was downstairs and each pilot had his own glass with his name on it. When the flight rosters were issued, the glasses of the pilots going out on the next mission were turned upside down until the mission was over.
Pilots weren't allowed to drink alcohol for eight hours prior to a mission.
"Eight hours between bottle and throttle," recalled Miller, 86.
He spent hours looking through the stacks, files and albums of pictures brought to the Hickory airport from Cary by Amy Shue Hays.
Her father, Ralph Norman Shue, had taken the pictures in his role as the official photographer for the 718th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group during World War II.
Hays found the photos in 2004 after her father's death. They'd been stored in boxes in no particular order and she's been working to catalogue them and learn about the history they depict.
Miller was a B-24 Liberator pilot in the 717th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group. He looked through the pictures searching for old friends, familiar planes and forgotten places.
Some of the pictures had faded, most were curled and worn, but each evoked memories of a time 65 years ago when Miller was a young captain leading his men on a total of 44 missions during World War II.
Miller said he was a kind of father figure to his crew during the war. They called him "Boss Man." He said he got into a few tough spots, had two planes shot out from under him and saw a lot of action, but he never lost a crewman.
Hays said her father's photos fall into three main categories: Official shots including public relations photos and pictures documenting crashed planes and bomb sites, casual photos of soldiers' daily lives at war and pictures of Italian life and countryside.
She said the pictures are historical documents and she's working to catalogue and preserve them.
Kyle Kirby, curator of the Hickory Aviation Museum, was among aviation enthusiasts looking at the pictures with Miller. As he looked through the photos with a big smile and wide eyes, he said, "This is better than Christmas — this is unbelievable."
Hickory Daily Record © Copyright 2012 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company.
http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2009/mar/22/recollections-war-ar-95527/
Hickory Daily Record
Published: March 22, 2009
Photographs bring back memories for veteran
By Richard Gould
As Joe Miller looked through piles of black and white photos, his eyes narrowed and he leaned forward in his wheelchair. "That was our officers' club," he said.
The picture had been taken in Grottaglie, Italy, in 1944 and showed a two-story, white stucco building.
The officers' club was downstairs and each pilot had his own glass with his name on it. When the flight rosters were issued, the glasses of the pilots going out on the next mission were turned upside down until the mission was over.
Pilots weren't allowed to drink alcohol for eight hours prior to a mission.
"Eight hours between bottle and throttle," recalled Miller, 86.
He spent hours looking through the stacks, files and albums of pictures brought to the Hickory airport from Cary by Amy Shue Hays.
Her father, Ralph Norman Shue, had taken the pictures in his role as the official photographer for the 718th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group during World War II.
Hays found the photos in 2004 after her father's death. They'd been stored in boxes in no particular order and she's been working to catalogue them and learn about the history they depict.
Miller was a B-24 Liberator pilot in the 717th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group. He looked through the pictures searching for old friends, familiar planes and forgotten places.
Some of the pictures had faded, most were curled and worn, but each evoked memories of a time 65 years ago when Miller was a young captain leading his men on a total of 44 missions during World War II.
Miller said he was a kind of father figure to his crew during the war. They called him "Boss Man." He said he got into a few tough spots, had two planes shot out from under him and saw a lot of action, but he never lost a crewman.
Hays said her father's photos fall into three main categories: Official shots including public relations photos and pictures documenting crashed planes and bomb sites, casual photos of soldiers' daily lives at war and pictures of Italian life and countryside.
She said the pictures are historical documents and she's working to catalogue and preserve them.
Kyle Kirby, curator of the Hickory Aviation Museum, was among aviation enthusiasts looking at the pictures with Miller. As he looked through the photos with a big smile and wide eyes, he said, "This is better than Christmas — this is unbelievable."
Hickory Daily Record © Copyright 2012 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company.
http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2009/mar/22/recollections-war-ar-95527/
Published: March 22, 2009
Photographs bring back memories for veteran
By Richard Gould
As Joe Miller looked through piles of black and white photos, his eyes narrowed and he leaned forward in his wheelchair. "That was our officers' club," he said.
The picture had been taken in Grottaglie, Italy, in 1944 and showed a two-story, white stucco building.
The officers' club was downstairs and each pilot had his own glass with his name on it. When the flight rosters were issued, the glasses of the pilots going out on the next mission were turned upside down until the mission was over.
Pilots weren't allowed to drink alcohol for eight hours prior to a mission.
"Eight hours between bottle and throttle," recalled Miller, 86.
He spent hours looking through the stacks, files and albums of pictures brought to the Hickory airport from Cary by Amy Shue Hays.
Her father, Ralph Norman Shue, had taken the pictures in his role as the official photographer for the 718th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group during World War II.
Hays found the photos in 2004 after her father's death. They'd been stored in boxes in no particular order and she's been working to catalogue them and learn about the history they depict.
Miller was a B-24 Liberator pilot in the 717th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group. He looked through the pictures searching for old friends, familiar planes and forgotten places.
Some of the pictures had faded, most were curled and worn, but each evoked memories of a time 65 years ago when Miller was a young captain leading his men on a total of 44 missions during World War II.
Miller said he was a kind of father figure to his crew during the war. They called him "Boss Man." He said he got into a few tough spots, had two planes shot out from under him and saw a lot of action, but he never lost a crewman.
Hays said her father's photos fall into three main categories: Official shots including public relations photos and pictures documenting crashed planes and bomb sites, casual photos of soldiers' daily lives at war and pictures of Italian life and countryside.
She said the pictures are historical documents and she's working to catalogue and preserve them.
Kyle Kirby, curator of the Hickory Aviation Museum, was among aviation enthusiasts looking at the pictures with Miller. As he looked through the photos with a big smile and wide eyes, he said, "This is better than Christmas — this is unbelievable."
Hickory Daily Record © Copyright 2012 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company.
http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2009/mar/22/recollections-war-ar-95527/
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