29 芝加哥举办展出活动向二战老兵致意.pdfVIP

29 芝加哥举办展出活动向二战老兵致意 Chicago Honors WWII US Veterans Michael Leland Chicag o4 Jul 2001 15:03 UTC When William Thompson was just out of high school in the eastern U.S. city of Pittsburgh in the 1930s, he wanted to join the 1)military and fly planes. When (Charles) Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, I was like all the other kids in the world - I wanted to become a 2)pilot, Mr. Thompson 3)recalled. By the time the United States became 4)involved in World War II, Mr. Thompson became one of the first African-Americans 5)commissioned into the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was 6)assigned to the 7)legendary Tuskeegee Airmen, an all-black pilots 8)squadron. Among his duties was 9)escorting Allied bombers over Europe. The bomb groups that were bombing the 10)interior of Europe were losing something like 600 men a day. You can imagine, 10 crew members aboard one of these B-17 or B-24s (bombers), and the aerial attacks were very 11)furious. Consequently, so many of those planes were shot out of the air, Mr. Thompson added. 12)Photographs of a much-younger Lt. Colonel Thompson and a model of the small fighter plane he flew are just a few of the items included in the exhibit, Spirit of 41, that just opened in the Chicago suburb of Glenview. Exhibit curator David Wendell says the 50 model World War II aircraft, plus photos, books, and other war 13)memorabilia come from his personal collection. He says he wants Chicago-area World War II veterans to be honored while they are still alive. Of the 32 acesfighter pilots) from World War II that called Chicago home, only seven of them remain today, he said. Ten years from now, sadly, that number will be even less. Among those on hand for the exhibits opening was retired Captain Chuck Downey, the youngest commissioned pilot in the U.S. Navy during the war. He 14)participated in the Battle of Midway in 1942, considered a major turning point for the U.S. forces in the Pa