Past meets present: WWII B-17 nav talks with B-1 pilots

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joel Mease
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  It's not every day that a 1933 Abilene High School graduate, who flew the first daylight bombing raid into Germany during World War II, stops by to visit with two bomber pilots of today. 

Mr. Paul Rehm (92), still decked out in his original 1942 aviator jacket from his unit in the war, got the opportunity to view his old plane in the Dyess Air Park and speak with Col. Gavin Ketchen, 7th Bomb Wing vice commander, and Capt. Jeffrey Clesse, 7th Operations Group, about his flying days as a navigator in a B-17 over Germany. 

The differences as he told the two pilots are fairly stark about how bombing missions were done then and now. For instance they had nearly 5,000 B-17s in England, while the 7th Bomb Wing only has around 30 B-1s. The other difference was when and how low they had to fly. 

"On our first raid into Germany, there was so much flack in the air you could practically navigate by it," Mr. Rehm said. "The German fighters were pretty good at attacking us too. It was a little tense at times, but it was an exciting experience." 

Unfortunately not everyone who participated in the raid made it out safe. 

"Of all the planes we had flying we published only 60 went down, but we actually lost about 120 on one day," he said. "We didn't want the Germans to know how many they actually had been able to shoot down." 

Nicknamed the Flying Fortress, the B-17 had a crew of nine and a bomb load of just more than 17,000 pounds. Initially the casualty totals for those who flew the B-17 were extremely high, because the missions were flown during daylight hours. Mr. Rehm made it through 26 missions. 

After completing his final mission, he got an opportunity of a lifetime - to view the sea assault across the English Channel on D-Day. 

"The channel was so packed with ships it looked like you could walk across them to the other side of the channel," Mr. Rehm said. "It wasn't easy knowing many wouldn't make it back home." 

While his flying ended more than 70 years ago, the Texas A&M graduate said he enjoyed the opportunity to see a B-17 again up close. He also liked the opportunity to talk flying with two bomber pilots of today. 

"The people here at Dyess are so important to keeping us free," he said. "Thank you for everything you do." 

For Capt. Clesse, talking to Mr. Rehm is one he will remember for awhile. 

"It was a great honor to be able to meet Mr. Rehm and hear firsthand the stories and experiences that he lived through in WWII," Capt. Clesse said. "It's incredible to know here in Abilene some of our nation's true heroes live right next door and without many people even knowing what they did or how their hard work has shaped the future of our Air Force and our country."