C2 CELEBRATE! TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2002, DECATUR, ILLINOIS

DONALD GRUBER
Prairie Talk

Heroic airmen 'just did it'

On Dec. 23, 1944, during World War II, the 397th Bomb Group of the U.S. 9th Air Force was ordered to bomb the Eller railroad bridge over the Moseile River, 25 miles southwest of Coblenz, Germany.

The 397th sent 35 B-26 Marauder medium bombers into the mist that morning from their base at Perone, France. Eleven planes and 67 men did not return. For its exploits on the Eller Bridge mission, the 397th was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.

My father, Lloyd Gruber, a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, was a B-26 tailgunner in the 397th. That day, his plane was attacked by a German fighter and badly damaged. The pilot ordered the crew to bail out. My father and the others abandoned the stricken plane and were rescued by elements of the 29th U.S. Infantry near Malmedy.

I RECENTLY HAD the chance to meet some of the men who survived the Eller Bridge mission at the annual reunion of the 397th Bomb Group in Tucson, Ariz. My father invited my son and me to accompany him. I had heard of the exploits of the "Bridge Busters," as they were known, from many sources over the years, and it was with childlike excitement that I looked forward to meeting the actual characters in the adventures I had painted in my mind.

I was expecting doddering old men wheezing into nasal canulla, lurching about with the aid of walkers and air tanks. After all, these guys are in their 70s and 80s. But the men we met were vital and vigorous, many looking years younger than their actual ages.

I met "Big" Jim Louden, my father's pilot. The two of them are the only ones left from their crew of six. They flew 65 missions together and received 13 Air Medals each. We also met a highly decorated 397th pilot, Irv Cook, and John Hathorn, the only pilot to ever snap-roll a B-26 and live to tell about it.

MY SON AND I were in awe as we sat with these men during dinner listening to their stories. It was not difficult to see these old warriors as young men my son's age. As an Air Force veteran myself, I felt some kinship with these men, but my military exploits paled in comparison to theirs.

These were wonderful, grandfatherly types who at one time faced danger and death on a daily basis without complaint. How, I wondered, could the Loudens or the Cooks or the Hathorns, or any number of other young men, hold their planes on a steady course while enemy fighters and gunners zeroed in on them? And they did it day after day. I asked my father how they could climb into those planes every day, not knowing if they would see the sun set that evening. His answer: "We just did it."

THESE ARE ORDINARY men who were called by their country to fight and die for the cause of freedom. Ordinary men who performed extraordinary deeds.

The reunion of the 397th Bomb Group was just one of many such gatherings of veterans that take place all over the country. These veterans are proud of their service. I did not meet one man who expressed regret for what he went through. There was no bitterness, no residual hatred - just a powerful sense of camaraderie and accomplishment that they had endeavored and prevailed. This reunion was not just a gathering of old men telling war stories. This was truly a gathering ofheroes.

Donald Gruber was born and raised in Decatur A four-year 7etnam-era Air Force veteran, he is a teacher and lives in Clinton.