Yup-- Mae and I were in Washington D of C- July 1995 (dedication of the long-overdue Korean War memorial then) and the Enola Gay was also on display at my favorite place in our "Disneyland of the Potomac" The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum-- Was looking at a ME-109D with that nasty 20mm cannon in the prop hub- remember, in WW1 the Germans were the first to use a cam synchronizer to fire the Maxim MG's through the prop spin- A lady next to me was trying to figure out the German phrasing on the fuselage just behind the radiator- so I translated it for her- then felt a hand on my shoulder and a "doppelganger" for the late Kurt Jergens complimented me on my reasonably accurate German- he was a pilot in Jagstaffel 131-was shot down in the Channel and retrieved by the Brits- sent to POW camp in Canada, married a RCAF nurse after 1946, became a Canadian citizen- was visiting the "Smith" with his grandson Hans-
We had lunch together- schnitzel, saurebraten und schnapps- well Hans had a pepsi- age 12-- and he retold me the old joke about- "Ya, der Fokkers fluegenit Messerschmidts aud dem schrim"!! there is a brotherhood amongst the "Knights of the Skies" that us ground pounders can only stand back and admire- and the ME-109 was one damn fine fighter- ruled the European Continent's skies until we got the even better P-51 Mustang over there- IMO anyway!!
Last edited by Run With The Fox; 11/21/11 12:27 PM.
