---

Some remembrances by Frank Mackey, son of S/Sgt. Frank M. Mackey.

1. On missions, anytime someone used a forward relief tube they were supposed to alert my father so that he could rotate the turret.  Though not mentioned in his notes, he did tell me that some *#!*?@|*! used it without alerting him—shortly into the mission.  The turret was faced forward—everything froze and he flew almost the entire mission blind.  He said it really wasn’t a lot of fun at the time.  In reflecting back, he always smiled when he reiterated this story.
2. On one mission the tail gunner, Francis H. Carbonneau (Frenchy) {now deceased} was chattering away with his “New Hampshire” accent about how the Group behind them was really “catching Hell” and that “it’s really bad back there”.  I guess he must have really carried on and was quite emphatic, because, my Dad said the pilot got on and asked-------“Where in the Hell do you think you’ve been”?  My Dad said “Frenchy” said to him later, that he never really had any idea that that stuff was in front of them too.
3. The ball turret gunner had to fly in the ball with all his equipment except his parachute.  The waist gunner Joe S. Passmore {now deceased} always reassured my father that “don’t worry, if anything ever happens, I’ll get you out—I’ll never leave you behind”.
   
4. My Dad always said, “We had the best pilot and copilot, if it weren’t for them we never would have made it”.