Maj. John H. Luckadoo (USAAF – ret.) has passed away. He was 103.
Maj. Luckadoo was a pilot in the 100th Bombardment Group, also known as “the Bloody 100th”.
… even in a campaign that saw extensive losses of planes and crews, it stood out for its deadly turnover: During its 306 missions, the unit lost 757 men and 229 planes.
“Prior to being sent over, our commander called us together and he said, ‘Now I want you to look to your right and you look to your left and look ahead and look behind you, and only one of you is gonna come home,’” he recalled in January to News Channel 9 in Chattanooga, Tenn., his hometown.
…
Mr. Luckadoo’s most harrowing mission came on Oct. 8, 1943, as U.S. forces launched a series of massive air raids over the German port city of Bremen. By then, the life expectancy of a B-17 pilot like Mr. Luckadoo was 11 missions — a virtual death sentence for the officers, who were required to fly 25 missions during their tour.
“Some later described the flak that day as being so thick we could have put down our wheels and taxied on it!” he said in an interview for the 100th Bombardment Group’s historical association.
At one point Mr. Luckadoo looked up to see a flight of German Fw-190 fighters headed straight for them. The lead plane, either by accident or because the pilot was shot, slammed straight into the bomber directly above Mr. Luckadoo’s. Both aircraft exploded, nearly taking down his B-17 with it.
By the time they dropped their payloads, Mr. Luckadoo’s formation had lost 12 of its 18 bombers. An engine had been shot out, and a hole had been punched into a window near his seat. Freezing air poured in. Even with heated sheepskin boots, Mr. Luckadoo’s foot froze to a control pedal.
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Maj. Luckadoo was the last surviving pilot from the 100th.
Greg Ellifritz has a nice obit up for John Holschen, professional trainer. I recommend you go read it, if for no other reason than the story about the “rocket attack”. I don’t want to quote it here, because I would like for you to go over to Active Response Training and read it yourself.
While you are there, I also recommend you read the related “The Gas Station Clerk”.
By way of the Rap Sheet, I’ve learned that Thomas Perry passed away on Monday.
Mr. Perry is one of those writers who I haven’t read a lot of, but would like to read more. I’m especially interested in his “Butcher’s Boy” trilogy. The only book of his I’ve read so far is Pursuit, which I thought was terrific: the world’s best criminalist goes up against the world’s best hit man.
Ethan Iverson wrote a pretty good essay on Mr. Perry’s work, which I commend to your attention.
Thanks for this. I love his “Metzger’s Dog.” I’ll have to read the rest.
Do yourself a huge favor and read Perry’s “Metzger’s Dog.” One of his very best, it is also at times hilariously funny. Allow several hours; you’ll get sucked in and read it in one sitting.
SP RN
Well, shucks. You both talked me into it. “Metzger’s Dog” should be here Sunday.
[…] I don’t have room for this elsewhere, so: my thanks to SP RN and Bones. I finished Metzger’s Dog over the weekend, and their recommendations were right on target. […]