Clark Gable 8th USAAF 1943

[Ettoredipugnar]

Gay seaside community ? lol.

[reddevilparatrooper]

Sorry for the typo guys....Just deslyxic...

[reddevilparatrooper]

Hell I volunteered for Iraq at 38 for my second and spent 18 months in the Sand Box as an Infantryman and the GVT never complained !

[reddevilparatrooper]

Hell I volunteered for Iraq at 38 for my second and spent 18 months in the Sand Box as an Infantryman and the GVT neber complained.

[abukamoon]

The real cowards are our current crop of politicians. No candidate for president, with the exception of RON PAUL has ever served in the military. They think they are qualified to be "Commander in Chief" of something they didn't have the backbone to serve in.

RON PAUL in 2012!

[yankeeofficer21]

My dad flew on the B-17 Miss Ouachita; and met Captain Gable briefly in England; 8th AF; 323rd sqd.....

[6Goon7]

My Dad also was with Capt. Gable when he was at the 303rd in Molesworth, but I have yet to find any video or pics that show them together. My dad is Herbert E. "Goon" Miller, NAV on the B-17 "Skywolf". He was in the 358th BS of the 303rd Bomb Group.

[jimlagos]

Very corny propaganda film, however that was the style in those times. Clark Gable looks very much like my Dad. Jim (Bob) Hope, he fought the Japanese in Burma for the whole campaign, came back with a lot of scars, but never talked about it. He was a bren gunner in the Gloucesters, I'd love to see a film of his exploits, but sadly not possible. Whatever, I'd like to salute the armed forces that gave so much during this period in our history.

[sardonie]

My God! No Post Traumatic Stress Disorder here, looks like holydays in Bahamas. OK the cause was good but at all means? I might be idealistic but trust in fair and free choices should be enough, no? Well, Europe was far away, maybe not. War is just a nightmare. Nobody should be involved in this kind of thing. 17? Did they really know the price they would go through? Honor and respect, because they saved the world.

[Manongjojo]

Amazing how the times have changed. Back in those days Hollywood loved our military and this country. Now days Hollywood hates our military and supports the bad guys who try to do this country harm.

[rsfitness07]

My grandfather is Lt. Theodore Argiropulos. He was a great man and recently passed away. He was always very quiet about all he accomplished during WWII, He finished all 25 missions and went through a couple of aircraft doing so. You can see him at the 6:30ish mark. Thanks for posting this.

[zipper179]

I agree with teller121..Mind you, he was over forty, and didn't have to enlist. Imagine, going through basic training, or, boot camp at 41! Hell, at 17 yrs old, I thought I was gonna die! And he did get his commission, too..Basic training? OCS? At 41? Try it, pal! You're right, Teller121!

[hudsoninbury]

@zipper179 We have many US airmen coming into our business where I live in Suffolk England. I have the greatest respect for them and the work they do supporting us in the west and putting everything on the line which is not true of all people that enjoy the current freedom of life in Europe and North America. While brave US military carry out their duties, our leaders hand our country over to the third world and religious nuts still living in the stone age

[rickschramm]

Bob Burns was my mom's cousin. They kept in close touch while Bob was in WWII. Later on he was shot down over Korea and was a POW 19 months (solitary confinement).

"His third combat mission occurred on July 24, 1943 flying with Lt.Col . Robert W. Burns from the 351st Bomb Group at Polebrook in 'Argonaut III' #2-29851 and bombing Heroya, Norway."

[DPA47]

My dad, David H. Palmer, was the co-pilot on the B-17 The Duchess, upon which Clark Gable flew on a mission on 9/23/43 to the harbor of Nantes, France.

[j0buck0]

@DPA47 My father JB Carraway was the pilot of The Duchess and mentions your father in his journal.

[hudsoninbury]

@DPA47  Thanks for the info --very impressive

[littlelouie11]

Did you that Gable was Hitler's favorite actor. He offered a fortune to his troops if Gable could have been captured.

[teller121]

And he was 42! The draft age ended at 26 and you could only volunteer until age 36. He had to really want to help to get in at 42. I've heard of celebrity status getting you OUT of war but it looks he used his status to kind of get IN one! Go Clark. Bunch of candy-asses today.

[DadsBlueAngel]

i think he was drafted.

[teller121]

At 42? Wikipedia, for whatever that's worth, says he volunteered at age 42 after his wife, Carol Lombard, died

[zipper179]

@DadsBlueAngel No, he was not drafted; he was 41 years old, when he volunteered.. And, Clark Gable was at the very peak of his career.. He enlisted in the US Army as a private! A man of limited education, as well, as being over the age, he graduated from OCS, as a lieutenant; saw action overseas, as a gunner/combat photographer.. There was even a price on his head, to be captured alive! He was Hitler's favorite actor! 1944, Gable was discharged, with the rank of major..

[sarntelias]

Do you seriously think he flew on ops???

Candy wot?

[teller121]

He flew on missions because he insisted he did not want to be seen as not doing his share once overseas. They gave him what he wanted: they let him in in the 1st place even though he was about 6 yrs past the max age (unlike my grandpa who got politely kicked out 1/2way through basic when they found out he was 40). If you click on the description to the right ("more info"), there is a well detailed account of his WWII adventures.

Also, 1943 was the worst year for our air casualties in Europe.

[radiomodeller]

@teller121

Certainly had some balls, at any age, to do what these guys did for us all.

[rickbar123]

wow

[DadsBlueAngel]

My father would have seen this when he was 17. By

volubteering, you could join the Flying Tigers in China.

The things tthese boys did and saw, the massive civilian suffering as the Japanese pushed them into the icy Himilayas, the strafig, the bombing of Sampans and Junks belonging to enslaved civilians--the human infant

meat sold by starvin families to starving reseraunt owners to feed the troops, Nanking and the Indian Famine of 1945-6... Read Pearl Buck's Dragon Seed.

[Wingdoss]

Interesting to note the supposed combat footage where Gable doesn't have his oxygen mask on. Either this was an untypical low level raid at 10,000 feet or less or it's staged.

The experience certainly had an effect on him, as he began to get increasingly upset over the losses he witnessed until he was ordered home.

[badbestfriend]

thats stock footage of him at the training grounds he's not even off the ground at that point, the videos on youtube somewhere

[Wingdoss]

Excellent clip, thanks for posting. Gable certainly did his part and flew in combat. Interesting that he was saluting on an operational base as this was only usually reserved for ceremonial purposes. Was this filmed at Polebrook.