11-200 Garand Picture of the Day

[Harlan (Deceased)]

One of my buddies at work was a tail gunner in the old B-52's and told me there were gunners who were actually beaten to death back there.

I've always thought the tail gunner position would have been the loneliest place in war. The Germans designed aircraft in WWII intentionally so that crew members were near each other for the benefit of not feeling alone and to assist each other in battle.

Several years ago my son and I took a day off and flew to Midland, TX just to take a tour of the CAF's derelict Douglas B-23 Dragon parked out in the desert. It's on the MAF International Airport grounds so the only time you got to see it was when taxing past it from the main runway. They tried to restore it many years ago and gave up and parked it out there. I was talking to someone at CAF HQ and asked about seeing it and a lady working there said she could get us clearance to walk out there. The tail gun position is what reminded me of taking these photos. The lady at HQ told me that she didn't think anyone had even been inside it for ten years, so look out for snakes and wasps if I could get inside. I took a lot of photos as a virtual tour and never used them so attached them here if anyone is interested. It was kind of like walking into a ghost town. Sad to see it like this, but where it is the weather is nearly like Davis Monthan, so if it has to be outside it won't deteriorate as quickly as some other places.