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'Memphis Belle' gunner dies at Battle of Britain Bunker during first return visit to England at age of 94
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR3CpfQJ3-4
>U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Melvin Rector long carried England in his heart after he helped defend it during World War II, but 70 years passed without him stepping foot back in the country.
>The 94-year-old finally decided to leave his home in Barefoot Bay, Fla., to visit Britain earlier this month. The National World War II Museum in New Orleans conducts a travel program through which interested parties can visit certain sites of the war. He signed up for one, in hopes of visiting RAF Snetterton Heath in Norfolk.
>On May 6, Rector stepped foot on British soil for the first time in 71 years. The group first visited RAF Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon.
>Rector toured Battle of Britain Bunker, an underground command center where fighter airplane operations were directed during D-Day. After climbing back into the sunlight, he told Jowers he felt dizzy. She grabbed one of his arms, and a stranger grabbed the other. There, just outside the bunker, Rector died quietly.
>Sandy Vavruich, Rector's daughter, said it's how he would have liked to pass on, even though he sadly never did make it to RAF Snetterton Heath. "He couldn't have asked for a better way to go," she told Florida Today. "It was quick and painless. He had just gotten to see two planes, and he passed away between them."
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/memphis-belle-gunner-revisits-england-dies-at-battle-of-britain-bunker-1.411512
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>>30079974
damn
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>>30079974
This is like something right out of Steven Spielberg's ilm, god speed great hero ;_;7
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>>30079974
requiescat in pace
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>>30079974
>"It was quick and painless. He had just gotten to see two planes, and he passed away between them."
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I didn't come here to feel.
>all ww2 and Vietnam vets will die in my lifetime
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May he fly again, in sweeter skies than ours.
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>>30079974
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>>30080179
>All WW2, Vietnam, and Desert Storm vets will die in our lifetimes
>We'll be stuck with angry "dysfunktional" GWOT vets who bitch about everything
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>>30079974
So he died after he saw how far England had fallen, that all he had fought to defend was thrown away?
Poor guy.
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>>30080179
Don't remind me bro.
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>>30080179
>every man who walked on the moon will be dead by 2020
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>>30080227
I firmly believe that Buzz will live to see us settle mars. If he dies before then, i'm going to cry like a fucking baby, he wants to see us succeed so badly....
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>>30080179
>tfw five of my uncles are Vietnam vets
>tfw three have passed away
;-;
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>>30080245
>tfw you will never be hooked by Buzz Aldrin
Why even live
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>>30080227
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>>30079974
F
What a great way to die. RIP Melvin.
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>>30080262
>3/5
Agent Orange?
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>>30079974
jesus fucking christ this hurts. i remember as a kid my favourite movie was the memphis belle, i loved it so much that i wanted to fly B-17's and bomb germany (i was a kid at the time and didn't fully understand that the war had been over for like 65 years). my granddad even found a VCR of the original memphis belle documentary.
this guy was a legit hero.
rest in peace based belle gunner good work on getting your ship home 25 times
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>>30079974
>U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Melvin Rector long carried England in his heart after he helped defend it during World War II
>Memphis Belle 'defending' the UK
Pretty sure we'd done that ourselves in 1940.
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>>30079974
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>>30081860
He said he HELPED defend it, you yellow-toothed limey.
Meanwhile, you idiots can't even defend yourself against third world goat herders or liberal politicians.
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>>30081896
He's got a point, by the time Memphis Belle was kicking ass, they were really carrying out offensive operations for Britain.
It's nitpicky of the original anon, I think the spirit of the article is very true (we pass a US memorial to airman up near Santa Pod occasionally, nice to see that it's well kept), but you didn't have to go off the deep end about it.
Now you both look like asshats.
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>>30081927
You're right, that comment was out of line.
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>>30081860
I see what the problem is. It should say "defending the future of israel".
>>30081896
They actively fought for the future destruction of their nations. Why would they defend themselves from what they asked for the entire time?
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I still remember being a young boy and going to the bar with my dad while he sat and talked with his friends, many of them a generation older than him and WW2 veterans, I took it for granted that all the old guys I would meet and talk with had fought in the 'the war'. And I grew up on books, and stories and the History Channel when it was good so for me WW2 was about the most interesting thing ever.
And now there's so few left.
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>>30079974
Rest in peace Melvin Rector.
Thread posts: 31
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Thread images: 12