"When [Patton] found out we were glider pilots, he said anybody would be a damn fool to do that, fly one of those things, nothing to defend yourself in the air, no motor, no parachute. A bunch of crazy bastards. 'I'll buy the first drink.' And he did." (Video Interview, 20:43)

Lawrence W. Kubale, Sr.

Lawrence Kubale, 2003 [detail] War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army Air Forces/Corps Unit: 77th Troop Carrier Squadron, 435th Troop Carrier Group Service Location: Oxford and Nottingham, England; Normandy, France; Holland; Austria; Hungary; Germany; Italy; European Theater Rank: Flight Officer Place of Birth: WI

Larry Kubale enlisted in the Air Force in 1941 and became a glider pilot. Landing in Normandy on D-Day, he helped to transport German POWs back to the States. Later, because of the shortage of navigators at the time, he began serving as a navigator on the C-47 planes in Europe until 1945, when he was discharged and returned home to marry his sweetheart.