OK gang, I have a request. My wife’s grandfather, age 92, was a flight mechanic in VP 14 on PBY-A. He was at Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941.
He is pretty deaf so finds enjoyment from the cool PBY stuff I find on Ebay for him. Today he was looking through some stuff and mentioned, no one ever has a photo of the flight engineer station. He used to sit at that station for hours.
So here is the mission, I know there are some of these still flying. Can someone point me to an owner that can source some interior photos for me?
That is sure a mess load of photos but as I have encountered 99% are great exterior flying photos. Google has been my best friend in locating stuff for him.
But you did give me an idea. I would happily make a donation to a museum that could take some photos or video. I bet Pensacola has one.
I received some photos from Pensacola museum today of a cut away they have. When I am back in the US I will also try the preservation group. That was a great tip.
Finding cool stuff for him has become a hobby. It gets him excited and prompts him to start in on stories.
I can’t imagine the stories he must have… My uncle was an artillery forward observer in the European theater and some of his stories (when he did share them) were absolutely mind-boggling, far beyond what Hollywood could ever dream up.
Best of luck in your efforts to help give back to a deserving vet. People often tend to forget that people like him are valuable first-hand witnesses and participants to some very important world history.