"I always felt nothing was going to happen to our crew." (Video Interview, 19:41)
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Norman C. Adams
Norman Adams [2005]
War: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953; Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Army Air Forces/Corps Unit: 93rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force; 22nd Bomb Group, 15th Air Force Service Location: England; North Africa; United States Rank: Major POW: Yes Place of Birth: CA
A December 8, 1941 enlistee, Norman Adams chose the Army Air Force, with dreams of becoming a pilot. Though he washed out of pilot school, he did get to train on the new Norden bombsight as a bombardier. (He demonstrates how the Norden works at the end of his interview, which was conducted in an aviation museum.) Flying missions over Italy, he felt confident that the flak would never catch up to his plane. In the bombing raids over Ploesti, Romania's oil fields on August 1, 1943, Adams' luck ran out. After his plane lost two engines, he survived a horrific crash landing that killed several of his crew. Adams' luck returned when he was released after only 14 months in captivity, and he was home for Christmas 1944. By the end of the war, he decided to re-enlist, flying Cold War missions for SAC and remaining in the Air Force until 1967.