Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition is Melvin Hurwitz. He's a US Army Air Corps veteran of World War II. He served as a gunner and radio man aboard a B seventeen bomber in the four hundred and ninety third Bomb Group during the final months of the war in Europe. Today we'll hear about why he joined the Air Corps, his role as a radio man, and his most memorable missions during and after the war. Melvin Hurwitz was born in Baltimore, Maryland,
in March nineteen twenty five. He was sixteen years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December seventh, nineteen forty one, and he remembers it vividly.
That was interesting. Oh I don't remember, zach me what I heard of the attack itself, but I remember sitting in my senior year in high school and we had little sound systems going into ease classroom and President Tellanor Roosevelt made his famous speech saying that the Empire of Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and we now were in a state of war. I remember that very clearly.
Even though he was too young to join the service at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Herwit says he still wasn't fired up to join the military, but by nineteen forty three he was ready.
At that moment, I really didn't know too much about war, having the idea of the extent of the damage without at Pearl Harbor. But as a time go on, I knew I was going to enter the service, said, I entered college for six months until I turned eighteen, and then I joined the Art Corps.
Herwitz new he wanted to join the US Army Air Corps, which would later become the US Air Force. So was it a love for flying, or knowing someone else in the Air Corps, or maybe some financial incentive that drove his decision? Not at all. His teenage brain placed one factor above all the others.
I wonder way that George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. My brothers are all going down there. I knew I'd only short time to fill in until I was eighteen, and the fellows the city around the dorm's talking, and why didn't you join the Air Corps? You'll always have a bed you'll always have a hospital, you'll always have food, and you'll wear silver wings. And the girls love silver wings. So that sold me and I went down to the
recruitment center in Nashville. I joined the Air Corps, but I wasn't old enough, so when I became eighteenth, I went back to my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, and was inductor at Fort Hollibirn, Maryland. I went for basic training. The first place was Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Hurwitz family devoted a great deal to the war effort. Melvin says, all the boys in the family were eager to serve, but none of them could agree unaware to serve.
There were four boys in my family, and all four of us served in World War Two, and each one in a different branch of the service. My youngest brother, Jerry, served in the US Army. Brother Will was an ensign in the Navy, serving the Pacific. My oldest brother, Albert was a marine served in the first Marine Division, also in the Pacific, And I, of course was in the Air.
As Herwitz mentioned a moment ago, he did his basic training in North Carolina, but there was a lot more preparation to come and aptitude tests showed that he was ideally suited to serve as a radio man on a B seventeen bomber, and that led to a lot more training and the formation of a crew before Hurwitz could head overseas quite.
A long time. From Nisai Air Center, I went to a radio school at Scottfield, Illinois. And from Scottchfield, Illinois, Miama was radio gunner. So after Scottchfield, Illinois, I went to gunnery school in Yuma, Arizona. And after gunnery school I was qualified. Then from there we I went to
McDill field in Florida. McDill field was a center for putting crews together before going overseas, and it was at McDill field that I met the nine that other gentlemen fellows that I became members of crew with, and we stayed together till the end of the war.
That crew would be serving aboard B seventeen bombers. As we said a moment ago, Herwitz describes what those big planes were like.
B seventeen was tough airplane. It took a lot of battery and took a lot of injury. But at matt it's always as much as possible to come home safely or enough to justified being what it was. The quarters of the B seventeen was very tight, very narrow, very rough deal and so forth. There's not a lot of comfort there. I was fortunate. I was the few of the un listened men that have a seat because we had I had a little table with the radio on it. But the wastegunners some of the others did not have
that luxury. Of course, the navigator did. Of course.
Bob deer Herwitz elaborated a bit on his radio operator training as well. He says his ability to tap out Morse code very quickly made him a natural.
Fit standards about twenty twenty five words a minute. I was talking about twenty eight to thirty words of an I think. But once you were able to do that, you were passed the tests and love with some other slightly technical law lessons on the radio itself, but the main thing was be able to take and receive Morse code.
Herwitz also says his main focus was as a gunner, and his job as a radio man only mattered if there was a crisis.
Well, on a plane, we did not do anything with our radio unless have had an emergency the pilot had its own method of communicating with us, with the base and other airplanes, but in case of emergency, we had the long distance capability of contacting. We also had both known as a trailing wire antetta, which was all of war less spool with a weight, and you could unravel that down below the plane and that would give you have an opportunity to go spark to go for the distance.
In early nineteen forty five it was time to go to Europe. Herwitz says they didn't take a ship. They flew their B seventeen over to England, but getting there was a bit of an adventure as well.
Shortly after our cruise made up around was as follows. We stopped at Hunterfield, Georgia for refueling on the way north, and we flew up to Bangor, Maine, and Bagor, Maine was the last stop. We flew overseas completely in by P seventeen. We never took a ship. We flew up bag Or, Maine, and then Gann in Newfoundland and Goose Bay, Labrador. We were refueling each one of those stations, and then we stopped at Greenland refueled. The Greenland did not get
off the plane there. From Greenland we went into Iceland. Iceland was one of the more memorable times in my World War Two experience because we got there with a large snow storm and we were snowbound in Iceland for probably seven or eight days. We had to lock arms three or four fellows at the same time, but to go to bess Hall, but so we wouldn't get blown off our truck. I had an interesting experience there. One person out to stand guard on the airplane each night
with Chase. We never left the airpload alone. Our play was right there, a little tin hunt with three or four Welsh arabin had a little pot belly stove and they fixed me tea and they were happy to see a Yank and talk to someone different, talking to some Welsh words and for a kid away from home, had no experience of any figure in the world. There was a lot of a lot of excitement. And then from Iceland to cleared up and we went into landed at the Hollyhead, Wales in England.
From there it was onto their new base in East Anglia in the UK.
Our base was in Debitsch, England. Could train from Wales down to uh Davits, which was there the city of Ipswich, all in East Sanglia, where most of the Air Corps bases were. In East Aanglia, it's closest to the to the coast. I stayed that the four ninety third Bomb Group. The four ninety third Bomb Group was the last bomb group to be formed in the Eighth Air Force.
But even then it was still not quite time to get in the fight. Herwitz says there were still some more flights they had to complete before getting the green light for their first real bombing run.
Now we were flying sped Frice at that time. The weather Dengler was terrible. We had the bath Stone and Margan Bridge and and all these uh battles going on, and UH they're waiting for us to come in to give them air support. Were ignored the bars, just waiting for the h weby to clear.
That's Melvin Hurwitz. He's a US Army Air Corps veteran of World War Two and served as a gunner and radio man on board of B seventeen bomber. In a moment, Hurwitz takes us with him on his first mission and remembers what he was thinking as he joined the fight. Near the end of the war. I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles.
Sixty seconds of Service.
This sixty seconds of Service is presented by T Mobile. T Mobile offers exclusive discounts for a veteran and military families and are proud supporters of the National Defense Network. Visit t mobile dot com slash military to learn more about how they support our military community. Three Corps veteran Kevin Thompson from Phoenix noticed the lack of support for veterans dealing with PTSD, so he took matters into his
own hands. Kevin started a peer led support group called Silent Warriors, offering a space where veterans could talk openly about their struggles and find comfort in knowing they weren't alone. The group provides emotional support and connects veterans to local resources like counseling and therapy. Through his efforts, Kevin has helped dozens of veterans heel and thrive after the military service. Today's sixty seconds of Service is brought to you by Prevagen.
Prevagen is the number one pharmacist recommended memory support brand. You can find Prevagen in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere.
This is Veterans' Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition is Melvin Hurwitz. He's a World War Two veteran and a veteran of the US Army Air Corps, the precursor to the US Air Force. He served as a gunner and radio man on a B seventeen bomber crew. Hurwitz and his crew did not enter the fray against Germany until the spring of nineteen forty five, and as they got ready for their first bombing run, there was still one final piece of unfinished business naming the plane.
Herwitz explains how they're B seventeen got tagged with the name Organized Confusion.
Towards the end of the war, and our plane did not have a name, and we had all these glory names of place they sided as a plane, so we decided to name it. One of the guys came up with a plane organistitution. So then one of our crew was a French boy. We called him Fredgy, and he was an artist. He did a beautiful painting of our
plane on the back of our A two jackets. I'm proud to say that my A two jacket is now on display in our museum in Devitch, England, and it's the only A two jacket in the museum that originated from that airbase.
Finally, it was time for the real thing. Herwitz remembers some of the thoughts that ran through his mind as that B seventeen climbed into the sky, got into formation, and prepared to strike enemy targets.
I remember figuring what I was up at first time. I was up at about thirty thousand feet twenty eight thousand feet, had the mask on and the flying suit and everything. I'd say, so, how did you get here? What did you do to get here? But I'm not frightened, that was excited, it's nervous, but the whole out of this world experience first time.
Hurwitz referenced the special suit and goggles he and the others had to wear on their bombing missions. It was standard attire and without it anyone would pass out and likely die.
Well because you would freeze the death if you get over ten thousand feet. The human body can't take that cold. If your fingers are exposed for more than ten minutes at a time, that you could, you could freeze, freezelf.
Hurwitz and the rest of his crew were fortunate to arrive in England when they did. Being on a bomber crew towards the beginning of the war was not only a possible death sentence, it was almost a guarantee. The combination of bombers flying without escorts from fighter planes, aggressive German pilots in relentless anti aircraft fire or flak made
completing enough missions to go home virtually impossible. By the time Hurwitz and the rest of his crew took to the skies, the danger was still very real, but the odds were far less daunting, as evidenced by Hurwitz explaining how much flak he dealt with in the skies over Europe.
None we had to flack the one player go down with flock. But uh, very little of that too. But we saw it, but no, I saw no fighters.
The other major benefit was that after just a few missions the war was over.
Ali flew four combat missions. I say only, but one could be fatal. In fact, the four ninety third bob group flew one hundred and fifty seven missions the day before the war ended. On the final missions, one did not return her.
What's elaborated on those four missions where the targets were and the other details that stand out from the final weeks of the war. But it was a mission targeting Germans who were still in France that stands out the most.
After one mission into Germany and one into Czechoslovakia and two into France. That's another story that's very interesting to me. There was a pocket resistance of Germans in Rayon fress Roya n and there's about fifty thousand German soldiers there that were entrenched and would not give up, and the French and the Allies let them stay because they had to conquer the continent. They stayed there, but the end of the war was near and they still would not
give up. My plate was one of them. Our mission and I have verified it was the first planes in World War Two in Europe to drop napalm bobs. Napalm was never used in Europe after that. It was predominantly used in the Far East the Pacific. But we dropped napalm onto these Germans in Rayne and the first they did not give up. The second mission dropped them and
they did give up. We dropped the napalm and then the planes behind us dropped the bobs at the far Remember the bomb and deer said to me, Hapes, Parky, He said, let me show you something. Come over here. He never called me over when he dropped Bob's I see, but it was new to him too. So I went over to looked down and there's like pipes, long black pipes were sort of bundled up, and these buddles were
dropping from the bomb by instead of the bobs. And that was the n A bomb and that was new to him too.
But there were more missions to come after the combat ended. They were missions to save lives in two very different ways. And we'll learn how Hurwitz was planning to join the war in the Pacific. Our guest is Melvin Hurwitz. He's a US Army Air Corps veteran of World War Two, serving as a gunner and radio man on a B seventeen bomber crew. I'm Greg Corumbus, and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is Melvin Hurwitz. He's a US Army Air Corps veteran of World War II. He served as a gunner and radio man on a B seventeen bomber in the four hundred and ninety third bomb group operating out of England. We just heard Hurwitz explain his four bombing missions, with a special focus on the German forces still holding out in France. But soon Hurwitz's focus shifted from combat
to humanitarian missions. He shared his memories of carrying out General Eisenhower's orders to provide badly needed food to parts of Europe left on the brink of starvation by the Nazis.
I have four missions after that that stood out vividly in my mind. The week before the war ended, the Allies had made a truce for the Germans that if we came in and dropped food, they were not far on us. Well, the Germans were starving too. The Dutch and Belgium were really our need of food, and eyes hired General Bill Smith. They all knew, and they stuck out tons and tons of food in England. And we called it Americans called it our our drop operation Chowhound.
That sounded very American chow The British used another name, Regency or something like that, but we didn't like that. So we think that Chowhound and our pictures, wonderful pictures of uh We're coming in about three hundred feet and hoping the bomb bays and dropping this food and big axes marked in fields and one uh one field and hatover which is a tool of capital at the stand of the world, and hadover had a big field thank you Yanks, made out of flowers, tulips and so forth,
and it was maybe four or five acre field. It was very heartwarming, and it got choked up thinking about it because here we are so far away from home, and everything we did was with it ourselves. We did not shoot at anybody, We did not look at anybody, was just up there and here these people doal below had made this thank you Shanks sucked for us, and it was very heartwarming. And uh, I remember talked to this somewhat afterwards, who's a sort of a historian on
the Dutch droppings. I said, you know, Alex, I said, when we weren't head over, I think I remember dropping food in the stadium because I saw people cheering from a stadium. He fakes permitted quietly, and he said it was a it was a racetrack. We had dropped the food in the middle of a racetrack.
The Germans surrendered in Europe in May nineteen forty five, Not long after that, Herwitz says he and his crew were tasked with flying to pick up prisoners of war from the Germans and bring them back to Western Europe.
Two other flies that are very memorable that I'll never forget. We went on two missions to repatriate French prisoners of war from Germany back to France. We flew into Lynz, Austria, right on the Danube. I never saw, I'd ever see the Danube, the Blue Danube, which was a buddy at the time the war. But we flew into Lynz, Austria and picked up these prisoners had been just like you see in the movies, emaciated and shrunken and glass eyed
and uh in rags. And we stripped them of all their clothes, and we burned the clothes on a pile of fire, and we deloused them with some sort of powder, and each wrapped each one in a blanket, and we lined them up with a fuselage on each sidey you know, huddled up against the back. And we must have had thirty or forty prisoners each strip. And we had stripped taken out the gods, we stripped the place of everything that were over, so we had were able to carry
the the fellows, and we did that twice. We went from Let's to Chantay, France. We say, said Tilly here, but SCHALTI and that big carnival that night, and we were kids were just we were heroes, you know.
Her what says the condition of these prisoners was all you needed to know about the cruelty of the Germans during World War Two.
They were too weak and two almost like in a daze. They just looked at us, you know, they wanted to say thank you, but they couldn't speak English, we couldn't speak French. And they're just so almost like walking zombies sort of, you know, just but I'm sure they couldn't believe that this was happening to them taking them home.
Soon after those missions, Hurwitz was on his way home, but there wasn't much rest. The fighting was over in Europe, but the US was still at war on the other side of the world, and Melvin Hurwitz fully expected to be in the middle of it.
I went home too weak leave and then I went to be twenty nine training in the Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico. And the first week I was there, they had us a classroom, studying the plane and preparing us to get up in there. But I remember looking out across out of the window the clan froom and looking across the tarbaccent and see these monsters be twenty nines, and thinking to myself, our play was like a toothpick compared to these guys. They were monsters
compared to the B seventeen. And while I was there for the week, then they dropped the bomb and.
That was it.
I did not go right over, but I did not get to Japan.
Melvin Hurwitz left the service in nineteen forty six and went back to civilian life. He spent his professional life in the jewelry business, but he hasn't slowed down much at all. In recent years, Hurwitz has traveled back to Europe to take part in remembrances of the war, including at Normandy. He says it's critical that no one forgets the war, why it was fought, and the cost of victory.
It's history, it's remembering. It's you've got to know what happened before before you know it's going to happen in the future. I was taken over by the Bens of Fence Foundation, so wonderful organization. Paut Donnie Edwards and his wife found that they've taken me to Germany. They've taken me to Pearl Harbor and uh three years to France, and I'm most grateful for that, all expenses paid.
Herwitz was among the veterans honored at the eightieth anniversary of the D Day landings in twenty twenty four, and much to his surprise, he became a bit of a celebrity thanks to his interaction with Ukrainian President Voladimir Zelenski.
They said, Melvine, you went Varral. Yes, I said, I didn't what Varrel meant. He said, you want a fox? You wanted to be see he said. And then I got a call from my niece in Frederick, Maryland. They have she said. The New York Times just called it. That's not just call. He came down to me, the only one. I looked up Fritz for privates of Canada and New Zealand and then it's my wife went down. Then I kept down. I looked at him. Oh, I
like that. He came on down. He just took my hand and I told pray for good and it went up on the biggest screen in France. You know Olvahall Beach. At the time, I thankd him for what he was doing, his courage and saving this country, and uh, he thanked me so much, and uh, I just I pray for you. I remember everything was going along quietly, and the minute he bends down, these newspaper journalists are like, oh, it's like vultures. Your vultures surrounding a dead asshole. They know
in a second he thanked me. I said, I think, I said, you're my hero. He says, no, he said, you're the hero.
In reflecting on his service some eighty years later, Herwitz says it's what he learned during his service that he's most proud of.
I was proud I was able to I learned so much about life and people. I learned about the interaction with people getting along you're crewel the different types of individuals that are out in the world. I didn't know I grew up.
Herwitz also offered plenty of reflection on why he makes sure to share his story of service. He says it's not just about what he did in uniform. Herwit says he wants younger generations to understand what war is really like and the importance of doing everything you can to avoid.
It everything because you have to. You have to know and remember because wars. Somebody said war as hell when they were kid. It's terrible, it's it's unspeakable. The horus and lots of friendships have come out of that. I think it's human nature. I'll think, man, I'll never stop fighting. So somebody along the way, it's going to do it again. It's happening now. So we just baked two to each other, to the best we can.
Melvin Hurwitz is a US Army Air Corps veteran of World War Two. He served as a gunner and radio man aboard a B seventeen bomber in the four hundred and ninety third Bomb Group during the final months of the war in Europe. I'm Greg Corumbus, and this is Veterans' Chronicles. Hi, this is Greg Corumbus, and thanks for listening to Veterans Chronicles, a presentation of the American Veterans Center.
For more information, please visit American Veteranscenter dot org. You can also follow the American Veterans Center on Facebook and on Twitter. We're at AVC update. Subscribe to the American Veterans Center YouTube channel for full oral histories and special features, and of course please subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks again for listening, and please join us next time for Veterans Chronicles