Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 13, 1995 TAG: 9509130059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Fifty-one years ago today, the B-17G Jack Lucas served on went down over Germany.
Tuesday, Lucas got the chance to fly again on a plane similar to the one that protected him for 42 bombing missions during World War II.
Lucas and his son, Ron, both of Roanoke, said they had remarked to each other how they wished they could fly in the B-17G on display at the Roanoke Regional Airport. When they discovered rides were available for a $475 donation to the Experimental Aircraft Association Foundation, they signed up immediately.
Tuesday morning, father and son boarded the B-17G and flew into the clouds.
``I didn't sleep a whole lot last night, I was so excited,'' Jack Lucas said.
Ron Lucas said it was a longtime dream of his to fly in the plane that was a part of so many of his father's war stories.
``It was fantastic ... unbelievable,'' he said. ``The whole experience was just beyond comprehension.''
The elder Lucas said the plane stirred his emotions.
``I have to admit to you, the engines revving up does something - it put a choke right here,'' Jack Lucas said, pointing to his throat.
The target of his mission that September day in 1944 was an oil refinery close to Krakow, Poland. He normally would have watched the bombs all the way down to their target.
But he never got a chance after hearing the ``bombs away'' call.
``I don't know really what happened. ... There was an awful lot of flak; you could almost walk on it,'' he said.
One engine on the four-engine bomber had been shot into silence. Another was leaking oil badly.
``There was an explosion, and the left wing dropped, and we went into a spin,'' he said.
Although the crew members were able to right the plane, they knew they had to abandon their Flying Fortress.
Lucas was in the ball turret - a round cavity equipped with a machine gun that hangs from the belly of the plane. He said the space was so tight, only the smaller men could fit inside.
His knees were bent close to his body in a fetal position during the five- and six-hour stints inside the turret.
It was one of the most dangerous posts on the plane, because it was exposed to enemy gunfire and the gunner was unable to wear a parachute because of the cramped quarters.
``You feel like you're a tiny ball hurling through space,'' he said.
Lucas climbed out of the turret and searched for his parachute.
``[There] was so much dust, I didn't see anybody,'' he said.
In the confusion, he found a parachute in the back of the plane and a hole big enough to leap out of.
It was his first-ever parachute jump.
``I was captured before I got up off the ground,'' Lucas said.
Two of the 10-member crew died before being captured. One man landed on the plane wreckage, rolled off and ran away right as it exploded.
After his capture, Lucas spent 291 days as a prisoner of war. He marked his 21st birthday in a German POW camp.
He admitted he was frantic when his plane was shot down.
``You think it's not going to happen to you, and all the time you wonder how you will react when it does,'' he said.
by CNB