Sgt Tom Neilan was a nose gunner on a B-24, so he had a ringside seat for the German fighters and flak.
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Tom was part of Alve's crew.
Front row L to R Tom Neilan, Bob Jordan, Al Magner, Hertz, Willard Riggs. Back Row L to R Charlie Parker, Moore, Alve, Marks, Dewey Horton. The plane behind them was flown by another crew the next day and was shot down.
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This picture is of Tom's friend Ed Stevens and Tom. The photographer was another friend, the now famous actor Walter Mathau.
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"There seemed to be a thousand planes in the sky at any given time". And you could take a pretty good photo from the nose gun position. I wonder how many of these came home that day?
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The escape kits included a card that gave translation phrases in Dutch, French, Spanish, and German. The German translation didn't ask where the nearest American troops were.
